| austere |
having only what is needed; very simple or plain. |
| caparison |
decorative trappings to cover a horse's saddle or harness. |
| cloture |
in U.S. parliamentary procedure, a method of ending debate and causing an immediate vote on the matter being discussed. |
| contretemps |
an embarrassing or unfortunate happening; mishap; mischance. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| declivity |
a downward or descending slope. |
| dissimulate |
to hide one's true feelings, intentions, or the like by pretense or hypocrisy. |
| idiosyncrasy |
a characteristic of temperament, habit, or physical structure particular to a given individual or group; peculiarity. |
| impromptu |
without advance plan or preparation; spontaneously. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| misanthrope |
someone who hates or distrusts humanity. |
| neophyte |
a beginner or novice at any activity. |
| pandemic |
a widespread outbreak of disease that afflicts many people over different continents. |
| rapacious |
capable of capturing and eating live prey; predacious. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |