| blandishment |
(often plural) flattering or coaxing remarks or stratagems intended to persuade. |
| conversant |
familiar; acquainted; practiced (usually followed by "with" or "in"). |
| foment |
to encourage the development of; instigate or foster. |
| froward |
unwilling to agree or obey; stubborn; perverse. |
| gadfly |
a persistent critic, especially of established institutions and policies. |
| gird |
to surround, bind, or encircle, as with a belt. |
| incessant |
never stopping; constant. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| lugubrious |
sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way; gloomy. |
| magnum opus |
a great work of art, literature, or music, especially a particular person's masterpiece. |
| meretricious |
appealing or attracting in a cheap, showy, or shallow way. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| pretentious |
assuming or marked by an air of importance or superiority that is unwarranted. |
| saturnine |
gloomy, sullen, or cynical in temperament or appearance. |