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226 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abjure
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recant solemnly, repudiate, renounce
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abrogate
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abolish or annul by authority; put down
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abstruse
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difficult to comprehend; obscure
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acarpous
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effete, no longer fertile, worn out
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accretion
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growth, increase by successive addition, building up
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alacrity
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cheerful promptness
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alloy
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to debase by mixing with something inferior
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ameliorate
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improve, make better
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apotheosis
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deification, glorification to godliness
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arduous
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steep, difficult ascent; laborious
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austere
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forbiddingly stern, simple, unadorned, very plain
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bane
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cause of injury, poison, source of harm
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baneful
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causing harm or ruin, pernicious, destructive
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bedizen
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to adorn, especially in a cheap, showy manner
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belie
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contradict, give a false impression
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bilge
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bulge, the protuberance of a cask
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blandishment
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flattery, enticement
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broach
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bring up, announce, begin to talk about
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brook
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to tolerate, endure
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burnish
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to polish, rub to a shine
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calumniate
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to slander, present false accusal
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calumny
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slander, aspersion
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capricious
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fickle, whimsical, given to change, unpredictable
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censure
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expression of blame or disapproval; a rebuke
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chastened
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corrected, punished
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chauvinist
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a blindly devoted patriot
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coeval
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of the same period, coexisting
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cogent
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convincing
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conciliatory
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reconciling, soothing, comforting, mollifying
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conjoin
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to join together
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consternation
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sudden confusion or amazement
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contemn
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to scorn or despise
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contentious
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argumentative, pugnacious, combative, quarrelsome
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countenance
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to favor or approve of
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debacle
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a breakup, overthrow, sudden disaster
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denigrate
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blacken, belittle, sully, defame
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deposition
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accretion, depositing, building up layer by layer
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deprecate
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protest against, express disapproval of
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derivative
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unoriginal, obtained from another source
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desultory
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aimless, haphazard, digressing at random
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detraction
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slandering, verbal attack, aspersion
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detumescence
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diminishing or lessening of swelling
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dissemble
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to hide, conceal, disguise
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dissolution
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disintegration, looseness in morals
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doggerel
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trivial, poorly constructed verse
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ebullient
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overflowing with enthusiasm; showing excitement
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edifying
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enlightening
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effluvia
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outflow in a stream of particles; a noxious odor or vapor
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effrontery
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boldness, impudence, arrogance
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elegy
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a lament, a melancholy composition
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encomium
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warm or glowing praise; eulogy, panegyric
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endemic
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prevailing in a specific area
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engender
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cause, produce, give rise to
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episodic
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loosely connected, not flowing logically
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epitome
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brief summary or abstract; representative example; a typical model
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equanimity
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calmness of temperament
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eulogy
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formal praise; panegyric
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evince
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to show clearly, to indicate
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excoriate
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to flay, strip off the skin; to denounce sharply
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exculpate
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to clear from a charge of guilt
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exigency
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emergency, an urgent situation
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expatiate
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to roam, wander freely
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expurgate
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to remove obscenity, purify, censor
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exsert
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thrust out, push forth
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extenuate
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reduce the strength of, lessen seriousness, partially excuse
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facetious
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humorous, funny, jocular
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fatuous
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complacently stupid
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fecund
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fertile
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fervor
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zeal, ardor, intense emotion
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floridness
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ruddiness; heavily decorated; ornateness
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flout
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reject, mock, to go against
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foment
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to stir up, arouse, incite
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forestall
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prevent by taking action in advance, preempt
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fulsome
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disgusting, offensive due to excessiveness
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gainsay
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to deny, declare false, to oppose
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gregarious
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sociable, outgoing
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grievous
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causing grief or pain; serious, dire, grave
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harangue
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a long, passionate speech
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hermetic
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sealed by fusion
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iconoclastic
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attacking cherished beliefs
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idyll
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a carefree episode or experience; a short poem describing a picturesque episode
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ignominious
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shameful, dishonorable, undignified, disgraceful
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impecunious
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poor, penniless
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imperiousness
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arrogance, commanding presence, overbearingness
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impetuous
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having sudden energy, impulsive, thrusting ahead, forceful
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importune
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ask incessantly, to beg, to nag
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inchoate
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not yet fully formed, rudimentary, elementary
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indolence
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laziness
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indomitable
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not easily discouraged or subdued
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ineluctable
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certain, inevitable
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inherent
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ingrained within one's nature; firmly established; a natural part of
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inscrutable
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incapable of being discovered or understood
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insularity
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narrow-mindedness, isolated
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interdict
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prohibit, forbid
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intransigence
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unwillingness to compromise, stubbornness, intractability
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inured
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accustomed to, adapted
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involute
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intricate, complex
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irascible
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irritable, easily angered
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itinerate
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to travel from place to place, to peregrinate
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judicious
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sound in judgment; wise
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lubricious
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lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery
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maladroit
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clumsy, bungling
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malleable
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yielding; easily shaped; moldable; adapting
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maverick
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rebel, nonconformist
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mendicant
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a beggar
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mercurial
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quick, changeable in character, fleeting
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mitigate
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appease, lessen, propitiate
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mollify
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to soothe
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mundane
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worldly as opposed to spiritual; commonplace, everyday
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nadir
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bottom, the lowest point
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nexus
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a connection, tie, or link
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obfuscate
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to darken, make obscure, muddle
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obloquy
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abusively detractive language, sharp criticism, vituperation
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obtain
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to be established, accepted, or customary
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obtrusive
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projecting, prominent, undesirably noticeable
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obviate
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to make unnecessary, get rid of
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occult
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hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension
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odium
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contempt, dislike, aversion
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officious
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meddlesome, pushy in one's services
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opprobrious
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shameful, expressing disgrace
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paean
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a song of praise or triumph
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palliate
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to make something appear less serious, to alleviate, to gloss over, put a postive spin on
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panegyric
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formal praise, eulogy
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paradigm
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a model, example, or pattern
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pedantic
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bookish, showing off learning
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pedestrian
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commonplace, trite, unremarkable
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penury
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extreme poverty
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peregrination
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traveling about, wandering
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peremptory
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urgent, imperative, unchallengeable, ending debate
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peripatetic
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walking
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pernicious
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deadly, very destructive
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perverted
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twisted, corrupted, turned from normal course
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petrify
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to make hard, rocklike
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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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philistine
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a smug ignorant person; one who lacks knowledge
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plaintive
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mournful, melancholy, sorrowful
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platitude
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a trite or banal statement; unoriginality
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poignant
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physically painful, distressing, pertinent, touching, stimulating, emotional
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poseur
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someone taking on airs to impress others; a phony
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precipitate
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(v) to hurl down, to fall headlong (adj) speeding, acting recklessly
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precipitous
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rash, foolhardy; dropping sharply, dangerous
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prevaricate
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to equivocate, to stray from the truth
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pristine
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primitive, unspoiled, pure, as in earlier times, unadulterated
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probity
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uprightness, incorruptibility, principle
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profligate
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wasteful, prodigal, licentious, extravagant
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prolix
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long and wordy
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propinquity
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nearness in time or place, affinity of nature
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propitiate
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appease, mitigate
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propitiatory
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conciliatory, appeasing, mitigating
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propitious
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auspicious, presenting favorable circumstances
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prosaic
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everyday, mundane, commonplace, trite, pedestrian
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proscribe
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ostracize, banish, outlaw
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pugnacious
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contentious, quarrelsome, contumacious, given to fighting, belligerent
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pundit
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a learned scholar, an authority on a subject
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querulous
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complaining, peevish, discontented
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quotidian
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daily; commonplace, pedestrian
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ramify
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to be divided or subdivided; to branch out
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rapacious
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voracious, greedy, plundering
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rarefy
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to make thin, to make less dense, to purify or refine
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recidivism
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relapse into antisocial or criminal behavior
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recondite
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not easily understood, abstruse, inscrutable
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recondite
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profound, abstruse, obscure
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redoubtable
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formidable, causing fear
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regale
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to delight or entertain; to feast
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repudiate
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disown, disavow, reject as untrue
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reticent
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reserved, untalkative, silent, taciturn
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rubric
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heading, title, or category
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sagacious
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having sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like a sage
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salient
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prominent, protruding, conspicuous, highly relevant
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salubrious
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healthful
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sanctimony
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self-righteousness, hypocritical, with false piety
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sanguine
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cheerful, confident, optimistic
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scurvy
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mean, contemptible
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sententious
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short and pithy, full of maxims/proverbs
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sinuous
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winding, undulating, serpentine
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slake
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to assuage, to satisfy, allay
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sophomoric
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self-assured though immature, affected, bombastic, overblown, lacking maturity
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specious
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illogical, of questionable truth or merit
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splenetic
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bad-tempered, irritable
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spurious
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false, counterfeit
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stanch
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to stop the flow of a fluid
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stentorian
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extremely loud and powerful
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stint
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to be thrifty, to set limits
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stygian
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gloomy, dark
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stymie
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to hinder, obstruct, or block
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succor
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assistance, relief in time of distress
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sundry
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various, miscellaneous, separate
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supercilious
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disdainful; characterized by haughty scorn
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suppliant
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asking humbly, beseeching
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surfeit
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satiate, feed to fullness or to excess
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tautology
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a repetition, a redundancy
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temerity
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boldness, brashness, intrepidness
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tenuous
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unsubstantial, flimsy, weak
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timorous
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fearful, timid, afraid
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torpid
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sleeping, sluggish, lethargic, dormant
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trenchant
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forceful, effective, vigorous; extremely perceptive, incisive
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turpitude
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wickedness, shamefulness
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undulate
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to move in wavelike fashion, fluctuate
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untoward
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perverse, unruly, unseemly
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venal
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corruptible, open to bribery
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veritably
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unquestionably, certainly
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virago
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a loud, domineering woman; a scold or nag
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vitiate
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to pervert, debase, make ineffective
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volatile
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changeable, inconstant, fickle, unstable, explosive
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zenith
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top, the highest point
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irresolute
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uncertain how to act; weak
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inundate
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overwhelm, flood, submerge
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bilge
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bulge; the rounded bottom portion of a ship's hull
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specious
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intentionally misleading
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deride
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ridicule, make fun of
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admonish
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warn, reprove
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converge
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approach, come together
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rancorous
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characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment
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voracious
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insatiable appetite for activity/pursuit; ravenous
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sedulous
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diligent, persistent, hard-working
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prodigious
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abundant in size, force, or extent; extroidinary
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platitude
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trite remark, common place statement
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exigency
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urgent situation
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austere
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forbidingly stern; serenly siimple and unornamented
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dissolution
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disintegration; looseness of morals
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approbation
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approval
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untoward
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perverse, unruly, unseemly
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extenuate
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reduce the strength of, lessen seriousness, partially excuse
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dogmatic
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opinionated, arbitrary, doctrinal
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appropriate
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acquire
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