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217 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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acumen
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keen, accurate judgment or insight
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adulterate
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to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients
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amalgamate
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to combine several elements into a whole
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aver
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to state as a fact; to declare or assert
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bombastic
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pompous; grandiloquent
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diatribe
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a harsh denunciation
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dissemble
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to disguise or conceal; to mislead
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germane
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relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter
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grandiloquence
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pompous speech or expression
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hackneyed
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rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage
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halcyon
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calm and peaceful
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hedonism
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devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses
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hegemony
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the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others
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iconoclast
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one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions
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idolatrous
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given to intense or excessive devotion to something
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impassive
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revealing no emotion
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imperturbable
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marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness
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implacable
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not capable of being appeased or significantly changed
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impunity
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immunity from punishment or penalty
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inchoate
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in an initial stage; not fully formed
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insipid
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without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland
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mendacity
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the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty
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misanthrope
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one who hates all other humans
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obdurate
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unyielding; hardhearted; intractable
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occlude
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to obstruct or block
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opprobrium
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disgrace; contempt; scorn
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pedantic
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overly concerned with the trivial details of learning or education
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penury
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poverty; destitution
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pirate
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to illegally use or reproduce
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pith
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the essential or central part
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pithy
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precise and brief
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platitude
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a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful
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polemical
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controversial; argumentative
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prodigal
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recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish
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querulous
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prone to complaining or grumbling; peevish
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recalcitrant
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obstinately defiant of authority; 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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salubrious
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promoting health or well-being
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solvent
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able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance
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specious
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seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false
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spurious
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lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit
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subpoena
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a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony
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surfeit
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an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to excess
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acerbic
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having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting
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aggrandize
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to increase in intensity, power, influence or prestige
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astringent
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having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe; something with a tightening effect on tissue
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credulous
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tending to believe too readily; gullible
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glib
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marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
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immutable
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not capable of change
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intractable
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not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate
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laconic
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using few words; terse
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mercurial
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characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
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recalcitrant
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obstinately defiant of authority; 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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rhetoric
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the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion
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salubrious
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promoting health or well-being
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solvent
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able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance
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specious
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seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false
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spurious
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lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit
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subpoena
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a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony
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surfeit
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an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to excess
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acerbic
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having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting
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aggrandize
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to increase in intensity, power, influence or prestige
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amenable
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agreeable; responsive to suggestion
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astringent
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having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe; something with a tightening effect on tissue
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credulous
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tending to believe too readily; gullible
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decorum
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polite or appropriate conduct or ehavior
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garrulous
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pointlessly talkative, talking too much
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glib
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marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
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immutable
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not capable of change
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impetuous
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hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
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intractable
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not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate
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laconic
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using few words; terse
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mercurial
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characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood
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neophyte
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a recent convert; a beginner; novice
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obfuscate
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to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
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phlegmatic
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calm; sluggish; unemotional
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presumptuous
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overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liverties
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probity
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adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness
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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; lacking in spirit or imagination
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quotidian
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occurring or recurring daily; commonplace
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rarefy
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to make or become thin, less dense; to refine
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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; to go back on a promise
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sedulous
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diligent; persistent; hard-working
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soporific
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causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep
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spendthrift
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one who spends money wastefully
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tout
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to publically praise or promote
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trenchant
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sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
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untenable
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indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
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variegated
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multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
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vituperate
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to use harsh, condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; berate
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ascetic
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one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion
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axiom
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a universally recognized principle
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burgeon
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to grow rapidly or flourish
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bucolic
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rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
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canon
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an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
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chary
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wary; cautious; sparing
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complaisance
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the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
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demur
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to question or oppose
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didactic
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intended to teach or instruct
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disinterested
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free of bias or self-interest; impartial
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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, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that soften or smoothes the skin
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facetious
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playful; humorous
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harangue
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to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech
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impecunious
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lacking funds; without money
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intransigent
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refusing to compromise
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inveigle
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to obtain by deception or flattery
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penurious
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penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
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peruse
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to examine with great care
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quaff
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to drink deeply
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quiescence
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stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
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redoubtable
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awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
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supplant
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to take the place of; supersede
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torpid
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lethargic; sluggish; dormant
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urbane
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sophisticated; refined; elegant
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viligy
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to defame; to characterize harshly
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approbation
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an expression of approval or praise
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assuage
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to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify
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axiomatic
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taken as a give; possessing self-evident truth
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censure
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to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
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disabuse
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to undeceive; to set right
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enervate
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to weaken; to reduce in vitality
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equivocate
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to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent
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exculpate
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exonerate; to clear of blame
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exigent
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urgent, pressing; requiring immediate action or attention
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extemporaneous
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improvised; done without preparation
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fulminate
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to loudly attack or denounce
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ingenuous
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artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication
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inured
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accustomed to accepting something undesirable
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neologism
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a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses
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obviate
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to anticipate and make unnecessary
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paean
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a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
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perennial
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recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly
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perspicacious
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acutely perceptive; having keen discernment
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prattle
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to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner
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prevaricate
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to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
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relegate
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to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position
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solicitous
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concerned and attentive; eager
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truculent
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fierce and cruel; eager to fight
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alloy
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to commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior; unalloyed means pure
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broach
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to bring up, announce, begin to talk about
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brook
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to tolerate, endure, countenance
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chauvinist
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a blindly devoted patriot
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essay
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to test or try; attempt, experiment
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exact
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to demand, call for, require, take
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fell
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inhumanly cruel
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guy
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a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce using a guy
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intimate
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to imply, suggest, or insinuate
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meet
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fitting, proper
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mince
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to pronounce or speak affectedly, euphemize, speak too carefully
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obtain
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to be established accepted, or customary
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pied
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multicolored, usually in blothes
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prize
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to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken by force, spoils
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qualify
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to limit
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scurvy
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contemptible, despicable
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abjure
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to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid
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adumbrate
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to foreshadow vaguely or intimate; to suggest or outline sketchily; to obscure or overshadow
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anodyne
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soothing, something that assuages or allays pain or comforts
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apostate
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one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions
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apotheosis
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deification, glorification to godliness, an exalted example, a model of excellence or perfection
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asperity
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severity, rigor; roughness, harshness; acrimony, irritability
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asseverate
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to aver, allege, assert
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assiduous
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diligent, hard-woring, sedulous
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calumniate
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to slander, make a false accusation
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calumny
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slander, aspersion
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captious
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disposed to point out trivial faults, calculated to confuse or entrap in argument
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cavil
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to find fault without good reason
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contumacious
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insubordinate, rebellious
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descry
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to discriminate or discern
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desuetude
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disuse
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desultory
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random; aimless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose
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encomium
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glowing and enthusiastic praise; panegyric, tribute, eulogy
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execrate
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denounce, feel loathing for, curse, declare to be evil
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exegesis
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critical examination, explication
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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, exscind
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fatuous
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silly, inanely foolish
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fractious
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quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, refractory, irritable
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gainsay
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to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose
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heterodox
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unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic
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imbroglio
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difficult or embarrassing situation
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ineluctable
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certain, inevitable
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inimitable
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one of a kind, peerless
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insouciant
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unconcerned, carefree, heedless
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inveterate
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deep rooted, ingrained, habitual
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jejune
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vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile
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lubricious
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lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
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meretricious
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cheap, gaudy, tawdry, flashy, showy, attracting by false show
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minatory
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menacing, threatening
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nadir
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low point, perigee
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nonplussed
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baffled, bewildered, at a loss for what to do or think
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obstreperous
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noisily and stubbornly defiant, aggressively boisterous
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ossified
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tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age
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palliate
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to make something seem less serious, to gloss over, to make less severe or intense.
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panegyric
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formal praise, eulogy, encomium
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parsimonious
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cheap, miserly
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pellucid
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transparent, easy to understand, limpid
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peroration
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the concluding part of a speech; flowery, rhetorical speech
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plangent
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pounding, thundering, resounding
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prolix
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long-winded, verbose
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propitiate
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to appease to conciliate
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puissance
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power, strength
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pusillanimous
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cowardly, craven
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salacious
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lustful, lascivious, bawdy
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salutary
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remedial, wholesome, causing improvement
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saturnine
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gloomy, dark, sullen, morose
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sententious
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aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively
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stentorian
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extremely loud and powerful
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tendentious
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biased; showing marked tendencies
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tyro
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novice, greenhorn, rank amateur
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vitiate
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to corrupt, debase, spoil, make ineffective
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voluble
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fluent, verbal, having easy use of spoken language
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