| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| agog |
highly excited and full of anticipation. |
| bellicose |
easily incited to quarrel or fight; belligerent. |
| decedent |
in law, one who has died. |
| denigrate |
to deny the worth of; sneer at; belittle. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| ersatz |
serving as a substitute, especially when of inferior quality. |
| fealty |
faithfulness or loyalty. |
| gloaming |
late evening; dusk; twilight. |
| gossamer |
delicately fine, gauzelike, or filmy. |
| profligate |
totally given over to immoral and shameful pursuits; dissolute. |
| quotidian |
happening every day or once a day. |
| redoubtable |
inspiring fear; formidable. |
| saturnine |
gloomy, sullen, or cynical in temperament or appearance. |
| topography |
the shape of the earth's surface across an area or region. The topography of an area includes the size and location of hills and dips in the land. |