| acrimonious |
filled with bitterness or rancor. |
| adulterate |
to make worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| arbiter |
someone who has the authority to decide an issue or settle a dispute. |
| cite |
to use the words of someone else; quote. |
| crossfire |
a volley of projectiles, especially gunfire, directed at some central point from two separated positions. |
| diffuse |
in the physical sciences, to flow toward regions of lower concentration. |
| enigmatic |
puzzling, mysterious, or inexplicable. |
| grandiloquent |
speaking or expressed in a pretentious, pompous, or excessively ornate fashion. |
| opulence |
the condition of being luxuriant and costly. |
| overweening |
particularly forward, vain, and self-promoting. |
| pessimist |
one who usually expects a bad outcome. |
| prologue |
an introduction to a spoken or written work such as a speech or play; preface. |
| spat1 |
a short, slight quarrel. |
| stoical |
showing little or no emotion in reaction to painful or pleasant experiences. |
| verbose |
using or characterized by many or superfluous words; wordy. |