| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| appellative |
a descriptive name or title, as "Terrible" in "Ivan the Terrible". |
| consummate |
of the highest order or degree. |
| descant |
a secondary, usually higher, melody that is played or sung at the same time as the chief melody. |
| electuary |
a drug mixed with honey, syrup, or the like to form a paste to be smeared on the teeth or gums of a sick animal. |
| epicene |
sharing the traits of both sexes. |
| epigraph |
a pertinent quotation or motto, especially found at the beginning of a literary work or of a chapter. |
| figurehead |
a person whose title sounds important but who has no real power. |
| fungible |
interchangeable. |
| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| 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. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| raffish |
carelessly unconventional or disreputable, sometimes appealingly so. |
| rebarbative |
tending to irritate or repel; forbidding or unattractive. |