| alluvium |
sand, soil, gravel, or the like deposited by moving water, as along a river bed. |
| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| astute |
keen in understanding and judgment; shrewd. |
| epicene |
sharing the traits of both sexes. |
| guru |
in a cult or religious movement, a spiritual guide or leader, sometimes believed to be divine. |
| inflection |
change that occurs in the form of words to show a grammatical characteristic such as the tense of a verb, the number of a noun, or the degree of an adjective or adverb. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| nonfeasance |
in law, failure to perform a required duty, as by a public official. |
| pelf |
money or wealth, usually regarded with disapproval or contempt. |
| pneumatic |
of, using, or concerning air or other gases. |
| rodomontade |
puffed-up boasting or bravado. |
| sepsis |
infection, especially by pus-forming bacteria in the blood or tissues. |
| tort |
in law, any civil rather than criminal harm or injury that violates the implicit duty of each citizen not to harm others, and for which one may bring a civil suit and collect compensation. |
| untoward |
unexpected and unfortunate. |
| uxorious |
excessively or foolishly devoted to one's wife, and often thereby submissive to her. |