| astute |
keen in understanding and judgment; shrewd. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| flout |
to show scorn or contempt for, especially by openly or deliberately disobeying. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| imbricate |
overlapping in an even sequence, as roof tiles or fish scales. |
| laconic |
using very few words; succinct; terse. |
| ligature |
a band or tie. |
| malaise |
a state or condition of feeling generally unwell, mentally depressed, sluggish, or uneasy. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| quotidian |
happening every day or once a day. |
| recidivism |
chronic return to bad habits, especially criminal relapse. |
| Sabbatarian |
one who observes the Sabbath on Saturday, as Jews and certain Christians. |