| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| baleful |
threatening harm; full of malice; ominous. |
| devolve |
of a duty or the like, to be passed on to someone else. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| inculcate |
to cause to accept an idea or value; imbue. |
| insinuate |
to suggest (something derogatory) subtly and indirectly. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| knurled |
having small ridges. |
| misanthrope |
someone who hates or distrusts humanity. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| obviate |
to prevent or eliminate in advance; render unnecessary or irrelevant. |
| opprobrious |
expressing condemnation or scorn; accusing of shameful behavior. |
| reconnoiter |
to go through or over (an area) so as to gain information about it, as for military or engineering purposes. |
| Sabbatarian |
one who observes the Sabbath on Saturday, as Jews and certain Christians. |
| seminal |
of critical importance; essential. |