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235 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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ennui
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"dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy.
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ingenuous
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"artless, frank and candid, lacking in sophistication
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obtuse
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"lacking sharpness of intellect, not clear or precise in thought or expression.
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perfunctory
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"cursory, done without care or interest
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adumbrate
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"to foreshadow vaguely, intimate, suggest or outline sketchily.
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anathema
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"a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing
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apocryphal
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"of dubious authenticity or origin; spurious
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apotheosis
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"deification, glorification to godliness, the perfect example
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apposite
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"appropriate, pertinent, relevant, apropos
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arcane
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"mysterious, abstruse, esoteric, knowable only to initiates
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arrant
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"impudent; in every way, being completely such, barefaced, utter
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asperity
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"severity, rigor; roughness, harshness, acrimony, irritability
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ascetic
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"one who practices rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion.
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aspersion
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"an act of defamation or maligning
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augury
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"omen, portrait, the reading of omens.
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auspice
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"1. protection or support, patronage
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auspicious
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"favorable, propitious, successful, prosperous
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aver
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"to state as a fact; to confirm or support
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baleful
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"sinister, pernicious, ominous (look, glare, glance, and others)
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bedizen
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"to adorn, especially in a cheap, showy manner; festoon, caparison
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blandish
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"to coax with flattery, toady or fawn
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blithe
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"carefree, merry
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cadge
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"to sponge, beg, or mooch
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calumniate
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"to slander, make a false accusation
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chimera
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"an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster
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austere
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"without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic
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bucolic
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"rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
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effrontery
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"extreme boldness; presumptuousness
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ephemeral
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"brief; fleeting, short-lived
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extemporaneous
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"improvised; done without preparation
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penurious
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"penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
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perfidy
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"intentional breach of faith, treachery
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pernicious
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"extremely harmful, potentially causing death
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perspicacious
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"acutely perceptive, having keen discernment
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predilection
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"a disposition in favor of something, preference
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reticent
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"quiet, reserved, reluctant to express thoughts and feelings
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sordid
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"characterized by filth, grime, or squalor, foul
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squalid
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The squalid living conditions the migrant laborers were forced to endure were simply inhuman; no one should have to live like that.
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ubiquitous
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"existing everywhere at the same time, constantly encountered, widespread
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virulent
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"extremely harmful or poisonous, bitterly hostile or antagonistic
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churlish
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"boorish, vulgar, loutish; difficult and intractable
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contemn
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"to scorn or despise
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debacle
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"rout, fiasco, complete failure
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deprecate
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"to disparage or belittle
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depredate
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"to plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner
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desuetude
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"disuse
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detraction
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"slandering, verbal attack, aspersion
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diaphanous
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"transparent, gauzy
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discomfit
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"to defeat, put down
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distrait
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"distracted; absent-minded, especially due to anxiety
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doggerel
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"trivial, poorly constructed verse
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dulcet
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"melodious, harmonious, mellifluous
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effusive
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"gushing; excessively demonstrative
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encomium
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"growing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
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epithet
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"disparaging word or phrase
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equanimity
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"composure, self-possession
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avarice
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"greed, especially for wealth
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chary
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"wary; cautious; sparing
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contrite
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"regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
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dearth
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"smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; lack
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demur
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"to question or oppose
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ebullience
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"the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
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emollient
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"soothing, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying
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furtive
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"marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
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impecunious
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"lacking funds; without money
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prodigious
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"abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
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urbane
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"sophisticated, refined, elegant
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eschew
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"to shun or avoid
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expiate
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"to atone or make amends for
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extirpate
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"to destroy, exterminate, cut out, pull out by the roots
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fallow
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"untilled, inactive, dormant
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fatuous
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"silly, inanely foolish
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feckless
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"ineffectual; irresponsible
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felicitous
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"apt; suitably expressed, well chosen, apropos; delightful
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fetid
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"stinking, having a heavy bad smell
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fetter
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"to shackle, put in chains, restrain
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filigree
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"an ornamental work, especially of delicate lacelike patterns resembling such a pattern.
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forswear
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"to renounce, disallow, repudiate
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fractious
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"quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, cranky
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gambol
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"to skip about playfully, frolic
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garner
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"to gather and save, store up, acquire
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gauche
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"crude, awkward, tasteless
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hermetic
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"airtight, impervious to outside influence
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heterodox
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"unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
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hirsute
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"hairy, shaggy
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idyll
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"a carefree, light-hearted pastoral or romantic episode or experience; a literary or musical piece describing such
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imbroglio
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"difficult or embarrassing situation
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imperious
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"commanding, masterful, arrogant, domineering, haughty
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importune
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"to ask incessantly, beg, nag
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impugn
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"attack or assail verbally, censure, execrate, deny
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ineluctable
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"certain, inevitable
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inimical
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"damaging, harmful, injurious, hostile, unfriendly
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amenable
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"agreeable; responsive to suggestion
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fervent
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"greatly emotional or zealous
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flout
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"to demonstrate contempt for
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fortuitous
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"happening by fortunate accident or chance
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glib
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"marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
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halcyon
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"calm and peaceful, prosperous
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hubris
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"arrogant presumption or pride
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idolatrous
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"given to intense or excessive devotion to something
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mendacity
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"the condition of being untruthful, dishonesty
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mercurial
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"characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
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obfuscate
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"to deliberately obscure, to make confusing
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obstinate
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"stubborn; hardheaded; uncompromising
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ostentatious
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"characterized by or given to pretentiousness
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pedantic
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"ostentatious display of learning, excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules, unimaginative
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polemical
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"controversial, argumentative
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rancorous
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"characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment
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salubrious
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"promoting health or well-being
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sedulous
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"diligent, persistent, hard-working
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inimitable
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"one of a kind, peerless
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iniquity
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"wickedness, gross injustice
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inscrutable
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"incapable of being discovered or understood, mysterious
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insouciant
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"unconcerned, carefree, nonchalant
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insular
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"parochial, narrow-minded, like an island
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interdict
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"prohibit, forbid, ban, halt
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inveterate
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"deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
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jejune
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"vapid, uninteresting; childish, immature; lacking nutrition
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jibe
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"to agree, to be in accord
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jocose
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"given to joking; humorous
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labile
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"readily open to change, unstable
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lachrymose
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"causing tears, tearful, showing sorrow
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lassitude
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"listlessness, languor, weariness
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limpid
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"transparent, serene, clear and simple in style, untroubled
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malinger
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"to feign illness so as to avoid work
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maunder
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"to talk or move aimlessly, mutter
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mellifluous
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"sweetly flowing, usually used to describe words or sounds
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mendicant
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"a beggar, supplicant
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meretricious
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"tawdry, pretentious, attractive but false, showy, having to do with prostitution.
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mettlesome
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"courageous, high spirited
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militate
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"to have weight or bearing on, to argue (against)
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minatory
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"menacing, threatening
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misogynist
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"one who hates women
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multifarious
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"varied, motley, greatly diversified
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nadir
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"low point, perigee
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natty
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"trimly neat and tidy, dapper
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nexus
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"a connection, tie, or link; center or focus
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nostrum
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"cure-all, placebo, questionable remedy
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obstreperous
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"noisy, loudly stubborn, boisterous
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officious
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"meddlesome, pushy in offering one's services where they are unwanted
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ossified
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"changed into bone; made rigidly conventional and unreceptive to change
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ostensible
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"seeming, appearing as such, professed
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overweening
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"presumptuously arrogant, overbearing, immoderate
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palliate
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"to make something appear less serious, gloss over, mitigate
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peccadillo
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"a slight offense, literally, a minor sin
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derision
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"scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment
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inimical
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"damaging, harmful, injurious, hostile, unfriendly
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proclivity
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"a natural predisposition or inclination
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profligate
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"excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant
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prosaic
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"dull, unimaginative
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recondite
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"hidden, concealed, difficult to understand, obscure
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refulgent
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"radiant, shiny; brilliant
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renege
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"to fail to honor a commitment, go back on a promise
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tout
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"to publicly praise or promote
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trenchant
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"sharply perceptive, keen, penetrating, biting, clear cut
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untenable
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"indefensible, not viable, inhabitable
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vituperate
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"to use harsh condemnatory language; abuse or censure severely
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penchant
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"strong inclination, a liking
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peremptory
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"admitting of no contradiction, putting an end to further debate, haughty, imperious
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perigee
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"the lowest or closest point, the nadir
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peripatetic
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"itinerant, traveling, nomadic
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petrous
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"like a rock, hard, stony
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petulant
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"impatient, irritable
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picaresque
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"involving clever rogues or adventurers
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pillory
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"to punish, hold up to public scorn
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piquant
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"agreeably pungent, spicy, stimulating
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plangent
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"pounding, thundering, resounding
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plumb
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"to measure the depth (as with a plumb line), to examine critically
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poignant
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"distressing, pertinent, touching, stimulating, emotional
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precept
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"rule establishing standards of conduct, a doctrine that is taught
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profligate
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"excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant
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prolix
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"long-winded, verbose
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propinquity
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"nearness in time or place, affinity of nature, kinship
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propitiate
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"to appease, conciliate
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provident
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"frugal, looking to the future
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puerile
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"childish, immature
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punctilious
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"precise, paying attention to trivialities, especially in regard to etiquette
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pundit
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"an authority on a subject, one who gives opinions
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pusillanimous
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"cowardly, craven
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ramify
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"to be divided or subdivided, branch out
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rapacious
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"voracious, greedy, plundering, subsisting on prey
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rebus
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"riddle, a representation of words by pictures or symbols that sound like the words
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recondite
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"hidden, concealed, difficult to understand, obscure
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recumbent
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"leaning, resting, prone
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redolent
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"fragrant, suggestive or evocative
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remonstrate
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"to protest, object
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repine
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"to feel or express dejection or discontent, long for
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evanescent
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"tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
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impunity
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"immunity from punishment, penalty or harm
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infelicitous
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"unfortunate; inappropriate
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penury
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"extreme poverty, destitution or lack of resources
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platitude
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"a superficial or trite remark, especially one offered as meaningful
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recalcitrant
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"obstinately defiant of authority or guidance, difficult to manage.
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repudiate
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"to refuse to have anything to do with, disown
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specious
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"seeming true, but actually false, misleadingly attractive
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spurious
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"lacking authenticity or validity, false, counterfeit
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surfeit
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"to feed or supply in excess
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tenacity
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"the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued
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salacious
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"appealing to or causing sexual desire, bawdy
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salient
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"prominent, protruding, conspicuous, highly relevant
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salutary
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"remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
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sanctimony
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"self-righteousness, pretended piety
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sanguine
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"cheerful, confident, optimistic
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saturnine
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"gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
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seminal
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"like a seed, constituting a source originative
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simper
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"to smirk, to say something with a silly, coy smile
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sinecure
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"position requiring little or no work and usually providing an income
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sinuous
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"winding, curving, moving lithely, devious
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sophomoric
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"exhibiting immaturity, lack of judgment, pretentious
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splenetic
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"bad-tempered, irritable
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stanch
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"to stop the flow of a fluid
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stygian
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"gloomy, dark
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succor
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"assistance, relief in time of distress
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supercilious
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"disdainful, arrogant, haughty, characterized by haughty scorn
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suppliant
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"asking humbly, beseeching
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supplicant
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"a beggar, one who prays or begs for something
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tamp
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"to plug, to drive in or down by a series of blows
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tautology
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"a repetition, a redundancy, a circular argument
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tawdry
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"cheap, gaudy, showy, tacky, indecent
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tendentious
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"biased, showing marked tendencies
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timorous
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"timid, fearful, diffident
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torrid
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"scorching, ardent, passionate, hurried
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travesty
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"mockery, caricature, parody
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tumid
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"swollen
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turbid
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"muddy, having sediment stirred up, clouded to the point of being opaque, in a state of turmoil
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turpitude
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"depravity, baseness
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umbrage
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"offense, resentment
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undulate
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"to move in a wavelike fashion, fluctuate
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untoward
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"troublesome, unruly, unseemly, adverse
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upbraid
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"to scold, censure, rebuke, chastise
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vaunt
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"to brag or boast
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venal
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"capable of being bought or bribed, mercenary
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waft
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"a light breeze, a puff
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welter
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"to writhe, to toss about, to be in turmoil
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wend
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"to go, proceed, walk
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