| assail |
to attack with vigor or violence; assault. |
| benign |
causing little or no harm. |
| determinism |
the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably brought about by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist. |
| fealty |
faithfulness or loyalty. |
| fungible |
interchangeable. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| libertine |
acting without restraint; dissolute; amoral. |
| obviate |
to prevent or eliminate in advance; render unnecessary or irrelevant. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| pastiche |
a work of visual art, music, or literature that consists mostly of materials and techniques borrowed from other works, sometimes done as an exercise to learn the technique of others. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| profligate |
totally given over to immoral and shameful pursuits; dissolute. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| unadulterated |
unmixed with or undiluted by additives or extraneous elements; pure; complete. |
| uxorious |
excessively or foolishly devoted to one's wife, and often thereby submissive to her. |