acquisitive | eager to gain possessions or ideas |
arrogate | to take or claim without right |
banal | lacking originality and freshness |
belabor | explain or discuss more than necessary |
carping | complaining |
coherent | meaningful, logical |
congeal | harden, thicken |
emulate | to imitate, with hopes to equal or to outdo |
encomium | expression of praise |
eschew | avoid |
germane | relevant |
insatiable | impossible to satisfy |
intransigent | stubborn |
invidious | hateful |
largesse | generous gift or donation |
reconnaissance | inspection of an area, mostly to gather military information |
substantiate | support with evidence |
taciturn | not talkative |
temporize | delay, stall |
tenable | able to be defended |
accost | to approach and speak to someone with a demand or a request |
animadversion | harsh criticism |
avid | enthusiastic |
brackish | slightly salty water; unpleasant to drink; mixture of sea water and fresh water |
celerity | speed |
devious | misleading, tricky; not honest |
gambit | an opening move or remark where one gives up something small with the hopes of gaining an upper hand |
halcyon | calm and peaceful |
histrionic | excessively dramatic or emotional |
incendiary | causing fires or conflict |
maelstrom | 1. large and violent whirlpool; 2. any violent or disorderly situation; chaos |
myopic | shortsighted |
overt | not secret |
pejorative | insulting |
propriety | correct or appropriate behavior |
sacrilege | disrespectful treatment of something regarded as sacred |
summarily | immediately |
supplicant | beggar |
talisman | any object thought to have magical or protective powers |
undulate | make something move in a wavelike motion |