| aplomb |
great self-confidence, composure, or poise. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| coddle |
to simmer in water that is almost at the boiling point. |
| disallow |
to refuse to allow or admit; reject. |
| ineptitude |
incompetence; lack of skill. |
| insipid |
having a bland or uninteresting flavor; tasteless. |
| jejune |
lacking interest or liveliness; dull. |
| loll |
to hang down loosely; dangle. |
| obtrude |
to thrust or force (oneself, one's concerns, or one's opinions) on another or others without being asked. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| penumbra |
an indefinite, borderline area. |
| recurve |
to bend or curve back or backward, as the ends of certain shooting bows. |
| Saturnalia |
an occasion of unrestrained revelry. |
| sententious |
using or marked by pompous, high-flown moralizing. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |