| advocate |
to speak or act in favor of. |
| clinch |
to make certain or final; settle. |
| conclusive |
serving to reach a final answer or decision, or to settle. |
| diminution |
the act, process, or result of decreasing or declining. |
| dissonant |
not in harmony or agreement; discordant. |
| excoriate |
to denounce or criticize severely. |
| gentry |
people who come from families of high social standing. |
| idealist |
a person with high or noble principles, goals, or codes of action. |
| immobility |
the state or condition of not moving or being motionless. |
| incise |
to cut into the surface of. |
| obligatory |
required; compulsory. |
| onerous |
unwanted, unpleasant, and burdensome. |
| tyrannical |
imposing one's will on others by threat or force; despotic; oppressive. |
| untested |
not having been tried or used in a way that would prove or disprove effectiveness or validity. |
| wasteland |
land where there are no living things or where nothing will grow. |