| cognomen |
a last name; surname. |
| compunction |
uneasiness about the propriety or suitability of an action; qualm. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| declivity |
a downward or descending slope. |
| exponent |
one that expounds or interprets. |
| guttural |
articulated in the back of the mouth; velar. |
| highbrow |
one who has or pretends to have highly sophisticated intellectual and cultural interests and tastes (often used disparagingly). |
| incessant |
never stopping; constant. |
| misfeasance |
a normally lawful act performed in an unlawful way. |
| modus operandi |
a method of accomplishing something; way of working. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| parvenu |
a person who has suddenly acquired wealth or status, without acquiring the tastes, manners, customs, or the like of his or her new station. |
| periphrasis |
an indirect or roundabout way of phrasing something; circumlocution. |
| rebarbative |
tending to irritate or repel; forbidding or unattractive. |
| reconnoiter |
to go through or over (an area) so as to gain information about it, as for military or engineering purposes. |