| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| aleatory |
pertaining to or depending on luck, chance, or contingency. |
| antediluvian |
hopelessly old-fashioned; primitive; outdated. |
| bathos |
a sudden descent from an exalted style or esteemed state to the commonplace. |
| cession |
the act of formally giving up or signing over, as a territory; ceding. |
| coalesce |
to grow together or unite to form a single body or organization; unify; fuse. |
| disallow |
to refuse to allow or admit; reject. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| indistinct |
not clearly perceived or perceiving. |
| ineptitude |
incompetence; lack of skill. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| lorgnette |
eyeglasses, such as opera glasses, that have a short handle by which one holds them in position. |
| revetment |
a facing of stone, masonry, or the like to support or protect a wall, embankment, or mound of earth. |
| rodomontade |
puffed-up boasting or bravado. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |