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Abate (v)
to lessen in intensity or degree
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Accolade (n)
an expression of praise
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Adulation (n)
excessive praise; intense adoration
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Aesthetic (adj)
dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
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Ameliorate (v)
to make better or more tolerable
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Ascetic (n)
one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion
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Avarice (n)
greed, esp. for wealth
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Axiom (n)
a universally recognized principle
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Burgeon (v)
to grow rapidly or flourish
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Bucolic (adj)
rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
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Cacophony (n)
harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance
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Canon (n)
an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
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Castigation (n)
severe criticism or punishment
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Catalyst (n)
a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
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Caustic (adj)
burning or stinging; causing corrosion
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Chary (adj)
wary; cautious; sparing
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Cogent (adj)
appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
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Complaisance (n)
the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
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Contentious (adj)
argumentative;quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
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Contrite (adj)
regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
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Culpable (adj)
deserving blame
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Dearth (n)
smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
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Demur (v)
to question or oppose
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Didactic (adj)
intended to teach or instruct
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Discretion (n)
cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions
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Disinterested (adj)
free of bias or self-interest; impartial
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Dogmatic (adj)
expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles
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Ebullience (n)
the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
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Eclectic (adj)
composed of elements drawn from various sources
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Elegy (n)
a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead
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Emollient (adj)
soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smooths the skin
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Empirical (adj)
based on observation or experiment
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Enigmatic (adj)
mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
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Ephemeral (adj)
brief; fleeting
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Esoteric (adj)
intended for or understood by a small, specific group
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Eulogy (n)
a speech honoring the dead
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Exonerate (v)
to remove blame
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Facetious (adj)
playful;humorous
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Fallacy (n)
an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief
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Furtive (adj)
marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
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Gregarious (adj)
sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people
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Harangue (v)/(n)
to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech
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Heretical (adj)
violating accepted dogma or convention
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Hyperbole (n)
an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech
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Impecunious (adj)
lacking funds; without money
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Incipient (ajd)
beginning to come into being or to become apparent
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Inert (adj)
unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
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Innocuous (adj)
harmless; causing no damage
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Intransigent (ajd)
refusing to compromise
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Inveigle (v)
to obtain by deception or flattery
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Morose (adj)
sad; sullen; melancholy
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Odious (adj)
evoking intense aversion or dislike
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Opaque (adj)
impenetrable by light; not reflecting light
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Oscillation (n)
the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm
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Penurious (adj)
penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
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Pernicious (adj)
extremely harmful; potentially causing death
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Peruse (v)
to examine with great care
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Pious (adj)
extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion
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Precursor (n)
one that precedes and indicates or announces another
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Preen (v)
to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care
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Prodigious (adj)
abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
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Prolific (adj)
producing large volumes or amounts; productive
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Putrefy (v)
to rot; to decay and give off a foul order
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Quaff (v)
to drink deeply
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Quiescence (n)
stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
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Redoubtable (adj)
awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
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Sanction (n)/(v)
authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to
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Satire (n)
a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision
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Squalid (adj)
sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
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Stoic (adj)
indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast
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Supplant (v)
to take the place of; to supersede
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Torpid (adj)
lethargic; sluggish; dormant
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Ubiquitous (adj)
existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
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Urbane (adj)
sophisticated; refined; elegant
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Vilifty (v)
to defame; to characterize harshly
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Viscous (adj)
thick; sticky
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