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400 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Abscond
(v.) to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide
Aberrant
(adj.) deviating from the norm (n form: aberration)
Alacrity
(n.) eager and enthusiastic willingness
Anomaly
(n.) deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality (adj. form: anomalous)
Approbation
(n.) an expression of approval or praise
Arduous
(adj.) strenuous, taxing; requiring significant effort
Assuage
(v.) to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
Audacious
(adj.) daring and fearless; recklessly bold (n. form: audacity)
Austere
(adj.) without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic (n. form: austerity)
Axiomatic
(adj.) taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth (n. axiom)
Canonical
(adj.) following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards (n. form: canon)
Capricious
(adj.) inclined to change one's mind impulsively; erratic, unpredictable
Censure
(v.) to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
Chicanery
(n.) trickery or subterfuge
Connoisseur
(n.) an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert
Convoluted
(adj.) complex or complicated
Disabuse
(v.) to undeceive; to set right
Discordant
(adj.) conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound
Disparate
(adj.) fundamentally distinct or dissimilar
Effrontery
(n.) extreme boldness; presumptuousness
Eloquent
(adj.) well-spoken, expressive, articulate (n. form: eloquence)
Enervate
(v.) to weaken; to reduce in vitality
Ennui
(n.) dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy
Equivocate
(v.) to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent (adj. form: equivocal)
Erudite
(adj.) very learned; scholarly (n. form: erudition)
Exculpate
(v.) exonerate; to clear of blame
Exigent
(adj.) urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
Extemporaneous
(adj.) improvised; done without preparation
Filibuster
(n.) intentional obstruction, esp. using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action
Fulminate
(v.) to loudly attack or denounce
Ingenuous
(adj.) artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication
Inured
(adj.) accustomed to accepting something undesirable
Irascible
(adj.) easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts
Laud
(v.) to praise highly (adj. form: laudatory)
Lucid
(adj.) clear, easily understood
Magnanimity
(n.) the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. in forgiving (adj. form: magnanimous)
Martial
(adj.) associated with war and the armed forces
Mundane
(adj.) of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary
Nascent
(adj.) coming into being; in early developmental stages
Nebulous
(adj.) vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form
Neologism
(n.) a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses
Noxious
(adj.) harmful, injurious
Obtuse
(adj.) lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression
Obviate
(v.) to anticipate and make unnecessary
Onerous
(adj.) troubling; burdensome
Paean
(n.) a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
Parody
(n.) a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, esp. in literature and art
Perennial
(adj.) recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly
Perfidy
(n.) intentional breach of faith; treachery (adj. form: perfidious
Perfunctory
(adj.) cursory; done without care or interest
Perspicacious
(adj.) acutely perceptive; having keen discernment (n. form: perspicacity)
Prattle
(v.) to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner
Precipitate
(v.) to cause or happen before anticipated or required
Predilection
(n.) a disposition in favor of something; preference
Prescience
(n.) foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring (adj. form: prescient)
Prevaricate
(v.) to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
Qualms
(n.) misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy
Recant
(v.) to retract, esp. a previously held belief
Refute
(v.) to disprove; to successfully argue against
Relegate
(v.) to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position
Reticent
(adj.) quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts or feelings
Solicitous
(adj.) concerned and attentive; eager
Sordid
(adj.) characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul
Sporadic
(adj.) occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances
Squander
(v.) to waste by spending or using irresponsibly
Static
(adj.) not moving, active, or in motion; at rest
Stupefy
(v.) to stun, baffle, or amaze
Stymie
(v.) to block; thwart
Synthesis
(n.) the combination of parts to make a whole (v. form: synthesize)
Torque
(n.) a force that causes rotation
Tortuous
(adj.) winding, twisting; excessively complicated
Truculent
(adj.) fierce and cruel; eager to fight
Veracity
(n.) truthfulness, honesty
Virulent
(adj.) extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic
Voracious
(adj.) having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; ravenous
Waver
(v.) to move to and fro; to sway; to be unsettled in opinion
Abate
(v.) to lessen in intensity or degree
Accolade
(n.) an expression of praise
Adulation
(n.) excessive praise; intense adoration
Aesthetic
(n.) dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
Ameliorate
(v.) to make better or more tolerable
Ascetic
(n.) one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion
Avarice
(n.) greed, esp. for wealth (adj. form: avaricious)
Axiom
(n.) a universally recognized principle (adj. form: axiomatic)
Burgeon
(v.) to grow rapidly or flourish
Bucolic
(adj.) rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural ares and their inhabitants
Cacophony
(n.) harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance (adj. form: cacophonous)
Canon
(n.) an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature (adj. form: canonical)
Castigation
(n.) severe criticism or punishment (v. form: castigate)
Catalyst
(n.) a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
Caustic
(adj.) burning or stinging; causing corrosion
Chary
(adj.) wary; cautious; sparing
Cogent
(adj.) appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
Complaisance
(n.) the willingness to comply with the wishes of others (adj. form: complaisant)
Contentious
(adj.) argumentative, quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
Contrite
(adj.) regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness (n. form: contrition)
Culpable
(adj.) deserving blame (n. form: culpability)
Dearth
(n.) smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
Demur
(v.) to question or oppose
Didactic
(adj.) intended to teach or instruct
Discretion
(n.) cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions (adj. form: discreet)
Disinterested
(adj.) free of bias or self-interest; impartial
Dogmatic
(adj.) expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or unprovable principles (n. form: dogma)
Ebullience
(n.) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings (adj. form: ebullient)
Eclectic
(adj.) composed of elements drawn from various sources
Elegy
(n.) a mournful person, esp. one lamenting the dead (adj. form: elegiac)
Emollient
(adj./n.) soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smooths the skin
Empirical
(adj.) based on observation or experiment
Enigmatic
(adj.) mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand (n. form: enigma)
Ephemeral
(adj.) brief, fleeting
Esoteric
(adj.) intended for or understood by a small, specific group
Eulogy
(n.) a speech honoring the dead (v. form: eulogize)
Exonerate
(v.) to remove blame
Facetious
(adj.) playful; humorous
Fallacy
(n.) an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief (adj. form: fallacious)
Furtive
(adj.) marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
Gregarious
(adj.) sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people
Harangue
(v./n.) to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech
Heretical
(adj.) violating accepted dogma or convention (n. form: heresy)
Hyperbole
(n.) an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech (adj. form: hyperbolic)
Impecunious
(adj.) lacking funds; without money
Incipient
(adj.) beginning to come into being or to become apparent
Inert
(adj.) unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
Innocuous
(adj.) harmless; causing no damage
Intransigent
(adj.) refusing to compromise (n. form: intransigence)
Inveigle
(adj.) to obtain by deception or flattery
Morose
(adj.) sad; sullen; melancholy
Odious
(adj.) evoking intense aversion or dislike
Opaque
(adj.) impenetrable by light; not reflecting light
Oscillation
(n.) the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm (v. form: oscillate)
Penurious
(adj.) penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
Pernicious
(adj.) extremely harmful; potentially causing death
Peruse
(v.) to examine with great care (n. form: perusal)
Pious
(adj.) extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion (n. form: piety)
Precursor
(n.) one that precedes and indicates or announces another
Preen
(v.) to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care
Prodigious
(adj.) abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
Prolific
(adj.) producing large volumes or amounts; productive
Putrefy
(v.) to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor (adj. form: putrid)
Quaff
(v.) to drink deeply
Quiescence
(n.) stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest (adj. form: quiescent)
Redoubtable
(adj.) awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
Sanction
(n./v.) authoritative permission of approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to
Satire
(n.) a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision (adj. form: satirical)
Squalid
(adj.) sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
Stoic
(adj.) indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast (n. form: stoicism)
Supplant
(v.) to take the place of; supersede
Torpid
(adj.) lethargic; sluggish; dormant (n. form: torpor)
Ubiquitous
(adj.) existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
Urbane
(adj.) sophisticated; refined; elegant (n. form: urbanity)
Vilify
(v.) to defame; to characterize harshly
Viscous
(adj.) thick; sticky (n. form: viscosity
Acumen
(n.) keen, accurate judgment or insight
Adulterate
(v.) to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients
Archaic
(adj.) outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive time
Aver
(v.) to state as a fact; to declare or assert
Bolster
(v.) to provide support or reinforcement
Bombastic
(adj.) pompous; grandiloquent (n. form: bombast)
Diatribe
(n.) a harsh denunciation
Dissemble
(v.) to disguise or conceal; to mislead
Eccentric
(adj.) departing from norms or conventions
Endemic
(adj.) characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people
Evanescent
(adj.) tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
Exacerbate
(v.) to make worse or more severe
Fervent
(adj.) greatly emotional or zealous (n. form: fervor)
Fortuitous
(adj.) happening by accident or chance
Germane
(adj.) relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter
Grandiloquence
(n.) pompous speech or expression (adj. form: grandiloquent)
Hackneyed
(adj.) Rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage
Halcyon
(adj.) calm and peaceful
Hedonism
(n.) devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses ( a hedonist is someone who pursues pleasure)
Hegemony
(n.) the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others
Iconoclast
(n.) one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions
Idolatrous
(adj.) given to intense or excessive devotion to something (n. form: idolatry)
Impassive
(adj.) revealing no emotion
Imperturbable
(adj.) marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness
Implacable
(adj.) not capable of being appeased or significantly changed
Impunity
(n.) immunity from punishment or penalty
Inchoate
(adj.) in an initial stage; not fully formed
Infelicitous
(adj.) unfortunate; inappropriate
Insipid
(adj.) without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland
Loquacious
(adj.) extremely talkative (n. form: loquacity)
Luminous
(adj.) characterized by brightness and the emission of light
Malevolent
(adj.) having or showing often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred (n. form: malevolence)
Malleable
(adj.) capable of being shaped or formed; tractable; pliable
Mendacity
(n.) the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty (adj. form: mendacious)
Meticulous
(adj.) characterized by extreme care and precision; attentive to detail
Misanthrope
(n.) one who hates all other humans (n. form: misanthropic)
Mitigate
(v.) to make or become less severe or intense; to moderate
Obdurate
(adj.) unyielding; hardhearted; intractable
Obsequious
(adj.) exhibiting a fawning attentiveness
Occlude
(v.) to obstruct or block
Opprobrium
(n.) to disgrace; contempt; scorn
Pedagogy
(n.) the profession or principles of teaching, or instructing
Pedantic
(adj.) overly concerned with the trivial details of learning or education; show-offish about one's knowledge (n. form: penury)
Pervasive
(adj.) having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout
Pine
(v.) to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor
Pirate
(v.) to illegally use or reproduce
Pith
(n.) the essential or central part
Pithy
(adj.) precise and brief
Placate
(v.) to appease; to calm by making concessions
Platitude
(n.) a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful
Plummet
(v.) to plunge or drop straight down
Polemical
(adj.) controversial; argumentative
Prodigal
(adj.) recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish
Profuse
(adj.) given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant
Proliferate
(v.) to grow or increase swiftly and abundantly
Queries
(n.) questions; inquiries; doubts in mind; reservations
Querulous
(adj.) prone to complaining or grumbling; peevish
Rancorous
(adj.) characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment (n. form: rancor)
Recalcitrant
(adj.) obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage
Repudiate
(v.) to refuse to have anything to do with; disown
Rescind
(v.) to invalidate; to repeal; to retract
Reverent
(adj.) marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect (n. form: reverence)
Rhetoric
(n.) the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion
Salubrious
(adj.) promoting health or well-being
Solvent
(adj.) able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance
Specious
(adj.) seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false
Spurious
(adj.) lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit
Subpoena
(n.) a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony
Succinct
(adj.) brief; concise
Superfluous
(adj.) exceeding what is sufficient or necessary
Surfeit
(n./v.) an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to excess
tenacity
(n.) the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued; persistent determination (adj. form: tenacious)
Tenuous
(adj.) having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak
Tirade
(n.) a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation
Transient
(adj.) fleeting; passing quickly; brief
Zealous
(adj.) fervent; ardent; impassioned, devoted to a cause (a zealot is a zealous person)
acerbic
(adj.) having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting
Aggrandize
(v.) to increase in intensity, power, influence or prestige
Alchemy
(n.) a medieval science aimed as the transmutation of metals, esp. base metals into gold
Amenable
(adj.) agreeable; responsive to suggestions
Anachronism
(n.) something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context
Astringent
(adj./n.) having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe
Contiguous
(adj.) sharing a border; touching; adjacent
Convention
(n.) a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude
Credulous
(adj.) tending to believe too readily; gullible (n. form: credulity)
Cynicism
(n.) an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness (adj. form: cynical)
Decorum
(n.) polite or appropriate conduct or behavior (adj. form: decorous)
Derision
(n.) scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment (adj. form: derisive; v. form: deride)
Desiccate
(v.) to dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull
Dilettante
(n.) one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
Disparage
(v.) to slight or belittle
Divulge
(v.) to disclose something secret
Fawn
(v.) to flatter or praise excessively
Flout
(v.) to show contempt for, as a rule or convention
Garrulous
(adj.) pointlessly talkative, talking too much
Glib
(adj.) marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
Hubris
(n.) overbearing presumption or pride; arrogance
Imminent
(adj.) about to happen; impending
Immutable
(adj.) not capable of change
Impetuous
(adj.) hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
Indifferent
(adj.) having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice
Inimical
(adj.) damaging; harmful; injurious
Intractable
(adj.) not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate
Intrepid
(adj.) steadfast and courageous
Laconic
(adj.) using few words; terse
Maverick
(n.) an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

Mercurial

(adj.) characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood

Mollify
(v.) to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity
Neophyte
(n.) a recent convert; a beginner; novice
Obfuscate
(v.) to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
Obstinate
(adj.) stubborn; hardheaded; uncompromising
Ostentatious
(adj.) characterized by or given to pretentious display; showy
Pervade
(v.) to permeate throughout (adj. form: pervasive)
Phlegmatic
(adj.) calm; sluggish; lacking emotion
Plethora
(n.) an overabundance; a surplus
Pragmatic
(adj.) practical rather than idealistic
Presumptuous
(adj.) overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties
Pristine
(adj.) pure; uncorrupted; clean
Probity
(n.) adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness
Proclivity
(n.) a natural predisposition or inclination
Profligate
excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant (n. form: profligacy)
Propensity
A natural inclination or tendency, penchant
Prosaic
(adj.) dull; lacking in spirit or imagination
Pungent
(adj.) characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste
Quixotic
(adj.) foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals
Quotidian
(adj.) occurring or recurring daily; commonplace
Rarefy
(v.) to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
Recondite
(adj.) hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure
Refulgent
(adj.) radiant; shiny; brilliant
Renege
(v.) to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise
Sedulous
(adj.) diligent; persistent; hard-working
Shard
(n.) a piece of broken pottery or glass
Soporific
(adj.) causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep
Sparse
(adj.) thin; not dense; arranged at widely spaced intervals
Spendthrift
(n.) one who spends money wastefully
Subtle
(adj.) not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern
Tacit
(adj.) implied; not explicitly stated
Terse
(adj.) brief and concise in wording
Tout
(v.) to publicly praise or promote
Trenchant
(adj.) sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
Unfeigned
(adj.) genuine; not false or hypocritical
Vacillate
(v.) to waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another; waver
Untenable
(adj.) indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
Variegated
(adj.) multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
Vexation
(n.) annoyance; irritation (v. form: vex)
Vigilant
(adj.) alertly watching (n. form: vigilance)
Vituperate
(v.) to use harsh, condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; berate
Volatile
(adj.) readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive (n. form: volatility
Alloy
(v.) to commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior; unalloyed means pure
Appropriate
(v.) to take for one's own use. confiscate
Arrest, Arresting
(v./adj.) to suspend; to engage; holding one's attention; as in arrested adolescence, an arresting portrait
August
(adj.) majestic, venerable
Bent
(n.) leaning, inclination, proclivity. tendency: "he had a naturally artistic bent"
Broach
(v.) bring up, announce, begin to talk about
Brook
(v.) to tolerate, endure, countenance
Cardinal
(adj.) major, as in cardinal sin
Chauvinist
(n.) a blindly devoted patriot
Color
(v.) to change as if by dyeing, i.e., to distort, gloss or affect (usually the first): "yellow journalism colored the truth"
Consequential
(adj.) pompous, self-important (primary definitions are: logically following; important)
Damp
(v.) to diminish the intensity or check the vibration of sound
Die
(n.) a tool used for shaping, as in a tool and die shop
Essay
(v.) to test or try; attempt, experiment: "the newly born fawn essayed a few wobbly steps"
Exact
(v.) to demand, call for, require, take: "even a victorious war exacts a heavy price"
Fell
(adj.) to cause to fall by striking: "the lumberjacks arrived and felled many trees"
Flag
(v.) to sag or droop, to become spiritless, to decline: think of a flag on a windless day, as in her flagging spirits
Flip
(adj.) sarcastic, impertinent, as in flippant: "a flip remark"
Ford
(v.) to wade across a shallow part of a river or stream
Grouse
(v.) to complain or grumble

Guy

(n.) a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce. Think guide.

Intimate

(v.) to imply, suggest, or insinuate

List

(v.) to tilt or lean to one side

Lumber

(v.) to move heavily and clumsily

Meet

(adj.) fitting, proper

Milk

(v.) to exploit; to squeeze every last ounce of

Mince

(v.) to pronounce or speak affectedly; to euphemize, to speak too carefully. To take tiny steps or tip-toe

Nice

(adj.) exacting, fastidious, extremely precise

Obtain

(adj.) to be established, accepted, or customary

Occult

(adj.) hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension

Pedestrian

(adj.) commonplace, trite, unremarkable

Pied

(adj.) multicolored, usually in blotches

Pine

(v.) to lose vigor (as through grief); to yearn

Plastic

(adj.) moldable, pliable; not rigid

Pluck

(n.) courage, spunk, platitude

Prize

(v.) to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken by force, spoils

Rail

(v.) to complain about bitterly

Rent

(v.) torn; an opening or tear caused by such

Quail

(v.) to lose courage; to turn frightened

Qualify

(v.) to limit

Sap (verb)

(v.) to enervate or weaken the vitality of

Sap (noun)

(n.) a fool or nitwit

Scurvy

(adj.) contemptible, despicable

Singular

(adj.) exceptional, unusual, odd

Stand

(n.) a group of trees

Steep

(v.) to saturate or completely soak, as in a tea bag

Strut

(n.) the supporting structural cross-part of a wing

Table

(v.) to remove (as a parliamentary motion) from consideration

Tender

(v.) to proffer or offer

Waffle

(v.) to equivocate; to change one's position

Wag

(n.) wit, joker

Abjure

(v.) to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid

Adumbrate

(v.) to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow

Anathema

(n.) a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing

Anodyne

(adj./n.) soothing; something that assuages or allays pain or comforts



Apogee

(n.) farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith

Apostate

(n.) one who abandons long-held religious or political conventions

Apotheosis

(n.) deification; glorification to godliness; an exalted example; a model of excellence or perfection

Asperity

(n.) severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony, irritability

Asseverate

(v.) to aver, allege, or assert

Assiduous

(adj.) diligent, hard-working, sedulous

Augury

(n.) omen, portent

Bellicose

(adj.) belligerent, pugnacious, warlike

Calumniate

(v.) to slander, to make a false accusation; calumny means slander

Captious

(adj.) disposed to point out trivial faults; calculated to confuse or entrap in argument

Cavil

(v.) to find fault without good reason

Celerity

(n.) speed, alacrity; think accelerate

Chimera

(n.) an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster

Contumacious

(adj.) insubordinate, rebellious; contumely means insult, scorn, aspersion

Debacle

(n.) rout, fiasco, complete failure

Denouement

(n.) an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot

Descry

(v.) to discriminate or discern

Desuetude

(n.) disuse

Desultory

(adj.) random; aimless; marked by lack of plan or purpose

Diaphanous

(adj.) transparent, gauzy

Diffident

(adj.) reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking in self-confidence

Dirge

(n.) a song of grief or lamentation

Encomium

(n.) glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy

Eschew

(v.) to shun or avoid

Excoriate

(v.) to censure scathingly, to upbraid

Execrate

(v.) to denounce, to feel loathing for, to curse, to declare to be evil

Exegesis

(n.) critical examination, explication

Expiate

(v.) to atone or make amends for

Extirpate

(v.) to destroy, to exterminate, to cut out, to exscind

Fatuous

(adj.) silly, inanely foolish

Gainsay

(v.) to deny, to dispute, to contradict, to oppose

Heterodox

(adj.) heretical, iconoclastic

Imbroglio

(n.) difficult or embarrassing situation

Indefatigable

(adj.) not easily exhaustible; tireless, dogged

Ineluctable

(adj.) certain, inevitable

Inimitable

(adj.) one of a kind, peerless

Insouciant

(adj.) unconcerned, carefree, heedless

Inveterate

(adj.) deep rooted, ingrained, habitual

Jejune

(adj.) vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile

Lubricious

(adj.) lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery

Mendicant

(n.) a beggar, supplicant

Meretricious

(adj.) cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy; attracting by false show

Minatory

(adj.) menacing, threatening (reminds you of a Minotaur, a threatening creature indeed)

Nadir

(n.) low point, perigee

Nonplussed

(adj.) baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think