| ascendant |
moving upward; rising. |
| avuncular |
of, concerning, or like an uncle; kind; benevolent. |
| contentious |
inclined to argue; quarrelsome; belligerent. |
| crony |
a close friend or ally (often used pejoratively). |
| decorous |
proper or formal with respect to behavior, manners, appearance, or the like. |
| decrepit |
in poor condition because of old age or much use; dilapidated; worn-out. |
| desist |
to stop acting in a certain way. |
| electrify |
to shock, startle, or excite. |
| empirical |
based on or verifiable by experience or experiment, rather than on or by theory. |
| girth |
the length around something. |
| privation |
lack of necessities or common comforts of life. |
| rescind |
to take back or make invalid; revoke. |
| soliloquy |
an act of talking or a speech by one who is, or is considered to be, alone. |
| suture |
the act or process of surgically joining or sewing together the edges of a wound, incision, or the like. |
| uncharted |
not recorded on any map; unexplored or unknown, as some geographical area or field of research. |