| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| astute |
keen in understanding and judgment; shrewd. |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| condone |
to pardon, disregard, or overlook voluntarily or without condemning. |
| contumely |
contemptuous insolence; rudeness. |
| gird |
to surround, bind, or encircle, as with a belt. |
| hackneyed |
made trite or commonplace by overuse, as an expression or phrase. |
| indomitable |
too strong to be subdued or discouraged; unconquerable. |
| indulgent |
gratifying, or being inclined to gratify or yield to others' wishes, especially rather than enforcing discipline or strictness. |
| insouciant |
having no cares or anxieties; light-hearted; carefree. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| pinchbeck |
false, sham, or counterfeit. |
| putrefaction |
the act or process of rotting or decomposing. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |
| surcingle |
a girth or belt that wraps around the body of a horse to secure a saddle, pack, or the like to its back. |