adenoidal
exhibiting the characteristics (as snoring, mouth breathing, and voice nasality) of one affected with abnormally enlarged adenoids
admonished
warned or reprimanded
aegis
auspices; sponsorship; controlling or conditioning influence
annealed
heated and then cooled (as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle
apocryphal
of doubtful authenticity; spurious
arduous
hard to accomplish or achieve; difficult
atavars
a handle or appearance used to represent oneself; wordplay on avatar, 'atavistic' meaning reappearance of a remote ancestral characteristic, throwback; reversion to an earlier type
auto de fe
Spanish for "act of faith"; during the Spanish Inquisition, a ritual of public penance preceded the punishment - typically execution by burning - of heresy.
chassis
the supporting frame of a structure (as an automobile or television)
consanguinity
a close relation or connection
demagogue
a politician or leader who appeals to popular desires and opinions rather than through rational argument
dialectic
logic; discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation
dysynchronous
out of phase
effulgence
brightness, radiance
flagellate
whip, scourge
florid
very flowery in style; ornate
homburg
a felt hat
imprecation
curse
mackinaw
a short woolen coat
macrocephalic
having an abnormally large head (medical condition)
mawkish
sentimental; overly sweet
pantograph
an electrical trolley carried by a collapsible and adjustable frame
perfidy
Treachery, treason.
plenitude
completeness
ponderous
of very great weight
proles
From George Orwell's classic 1984, the term for the working class; derived from proletariat.
pugnacity
having a quarrelsome or combative nature; truculent
pusillanimous
lacking courage and resolution; marked by contemptible timidity
raga
one of the ancient traditional melodic patterns or modes in Indian music
Seabees
Nickname for members of the US Navy Construction Battalion (CB)
siddur
a Jewish prayer book
sinecure
an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income
Sinologist
a person who studies China
strontium
a soft malleable ductile metallic element of the alkaline-earth group occurring only in combination and used especially in color TV tubes, in crimson fireworks, and in the production of some ferrites
strop
strap
symbiosis
a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups)
tallis
a Jewish prayer shawl
tendentious
marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view; biased
tenuous
not thick; slender; having little substance or strength
trachomatous
marked by a chronic contagious conjunctivitis marked by inflammatory granulations on the conjunctival surfaces
unctuous
smooth and greasy in texture or appearance; oily
undulate
to form or move in waves; fluctuate; to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence
vehement
with great passion or force
visceral
relating to deep emotion rather than intellect
