| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| belie |
to give a false impression of. |
| contumely |
contemptuous insolence; rudeness. |
| flummox |
(informal) to confuse or puzzle. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| insularity |
the condition of being closed to new ideas or outside influences; narrow-mindedness. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| malfeasance |
an illegal act or wrongdoing, especially by a public official. |
| nonplus |
to cause (someone) to be unable to think of what to say, do, or decide; perplex; bewilder. |
| picayune |
having little value or significance; small; paltry. |
| reconnoiter |
to go through or over (an area) so as to gain information about it, as for military or engineering purposes. |
| shyster |
a person, usually a lawyer, who uses underhanded, unethical methods. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |
| 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. |
| voluble |
characterized by a steady flow of words; fluent; talkative. |