| consternation |
surprise and alarm, leading to panic, deep disappointment, or total confusion. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| fledge |
to grow flight feathers. |
| forbear |
to keep or abstain from (an action or utterance). |
| garble |
to mix up, distort, or confuse (a message, translation, or the like); cause to be disordered or unintelligible. |
| guttural |
articulated in the back of the mouth; velar. |
| lorgnette |
eyeglasses, such as opera glasses, that have a short handle by which one holds them in position. |
| otiose |
having no purpose or use; unnecessary or futile. |
| penumbra |
an indefinite, borderline area. |
| quondam |
having been in the past; former. |
| recondite |
involving profound concepts and complexities; not easily understood. |
| sagacious |
possessing or characterized by good judgment and common sense; wise. |
| schadenfreude |
(often capitalized) pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |