| aplomb |
great self-confidence, composure, or poise. |
| coddle |
to simmer in water that is almost at the boiling point. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| crass |
lacking in sensitivity or refinement; crude. |
| descry |
to see or make out, especially something obscured or at a distance. |
| duress |
intimidation or coercion. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| equipoise |
a state of balance or equal weight, importance, or the like; equilibrium. |
| louche |
of questionable decency, morality, or taste; shady; disreputable. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| penury |
severe poverty; pennilessness. |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |
| untoward |
unexpected and unfortunate. |