| acclivity |
a rising slope. |
| benign |
causing little or no harm. |
| corollary |
a readily drawn conclusion; deduction or inference. |
| credulous |
disposed to believe, especially on scanty evidence; gullible. |
| desideratum |
something that is needed or wanted. |
| discountenance |
to embarrass or disconcert. |
| entreat |
to beg for something, or to do something. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| laureate |
one honored for achievement in a particular field or by a particular award, especially in the arts or sciences. |
| pastiche |
a work of visual art, music, or literature that consists mostly of materials and techniques borrowed from other works, sometimes done as an exercise to learn the technique of others. |
| pungency |
sharpness or bite in taste or smell. |
| quiescence |
a state of inaction, rest, or stillness; dormancy. |
| salvo |
the firing of guns or other firearms simultaneously or in succession, especially as a salute. |
| 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. |
| truculent |
extremely hostile or belligerent; inclined to fight. |