| adamant |
unlikely to change in response to any request or argument; firmly decided or fixed; unyielding. |
| apprise |
to inform (often followed by "of"). |
| crass |
lacking in sensitivity or refinement; crude. |
| dissimulate |
to hide one's true feelings, intentions, or the like by pretense or hypocrisy. |
| eulogy |
a spoken or written tribute, especially to honor a dead person; high praise; formal commendation. |
| indurate |
to make hard in texture; harden. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| mirabile dictu |
(Latin) wonderful to say or relate. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| pelf |
money or wealth, usually regarded with disapproval or contempt. |
| risible |
provoking laughter; laughable or funny. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |
| sepsis |
infection, especially by pus-forming bacteria in the blood or tissues. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |
| symbiosis |
a close association, usually a mutually beneficial relationship, between two dissimilar organisms. |