| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| appose |
to place next to or side by side; juxtapose. |
| attune |
to adjust so as to be harmonious. |
| crass |
lacking in sensitivity or refinement; crude. |
| curmudgeon |
an irritable or ill-tempered person. |
| determinism |
the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably brought about by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist. |
| doyen |
the senior or highest-ranking male member of a group. |
| effrontery |
shameless impudence; insolence. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| jeremiad |
a long complaint about life or one's situation; lamentation. |
| mélange |
a mixture, usually of very dissimilar elements. |
| modus operandi |
a method of accomplishing something; way of working. |
| pungency |
sharpness or bite in taste or smell. |
| quadrant |
any of the four parts that result when an area is divided by two lines, real or imaginary, that intersect each other at right angles. |
| transpose |
to exchange the position or order of (two things). |