| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| attenuate |
to cause to be thin, rarefied, or fine. |
| blandishment |
(often plural) flattering or coaxing remarks or stratagems intended to persuade. |
| condign |
well-deserved or fitting, especially of punishment or reprimand. |
| disabuse |
to free (a person) from misconception or deception; set straight. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| eruct |
to belch forth. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| malfeasance |
an illegal act or wrongdoing, especially by a public official. |
| oblique |
not direct or straightforward in intent, means, or achievement; indirect or devious. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| Saturnalia |
an occasion of unrestrained revelry. |
| shunt |
to turn or move aside or out of the way; divert. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |