| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| appose |
to place next to or side by side; juxtapose. |
| apprehensive |
feeling fearful about future events. |
| askance |
with distrust or suspicion. |
| augury |
the art or practice or an instance of predicting the future or obtaining hidden knowledge by interpreting omens. |
| cravat |
a scarf or band of cloth tied loosely about the neck. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| epicure |
a person who has cultivated tastes, as in food or wine; connoisseur. |
| flout |
to show scorn or contempt for, especially by openly or deliberately disobeying. |
| gnomic |
short and pithy, as an aphorism. |
| indolence |
the tendency to avoid exertion or effort; laziness. |
| ineptitude |
incompetence; lack of skill. |
| lien |
a legal claim on a piece of property when the current owner is in default on a debt or obligation. |
| stickler |
one who must observe or conform to something (usually followed by "for"). |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |