| arrant |
complete; unmitigated; downright. |
| Byzantine |
characterized by complexity and intrigue. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| disquisition |
a formal, often lengthy, oral or written discussion of a subject. |
| gadfly |
a persistent critic, especially of established institutions and policies. |
| glut |
a greater supply or amount than is needed. |
| hagiography |
an admiring and uncritical biography of anyone. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| meretricious |
appealing or attracting in a cheap, showy, or shallow way. |
| 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. |
| preferment |
the act of promoting or being promoted to a higher position or office. |
| reprisal |
injury inflicted in retaliation for injury received, as in war; revenge. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| somatic |
of or pertaining to the body itself; corporeal. |
| untoward |
unexpected and unfortunate. |