| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| chary |
not dispensing freely. |
| demotic |
of or relating to the common people; popular. |
| elide |
to leave out or slur, as a syllable or letter, in pronunciation. |
| encomium |
a formal expression of praise. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| goad |
something that spurs a person to action; stimulus. |
| hagiography |
an admiring and uncritical biography of anyone. |
| impute |
to ascribe or attribute to a source or cause. |
| insipid |
having a bland or uninteresting flavor; tasteless. |
| periphrasis |
an indirect or roundabout way of phrasing something; circumlocution. |
| picayune |
having little value or significance; small; paltry. |
| pungent |
sharp and strong in taste or smell. |
| seminal |
of critical importance; essential. |
| sere1 |
dried up or withered. |