| academicism |
in the arts, rigid adherence to accepted and traditional forms. |
| baleful |
threatening harm; full of malice; ominous. |
| chary |
not dispensing freely. |
| devolve |
of a duty or the like, to be passed on to someone else. |
| festoon |
a decorative chain or strip of ribbons, flowers, leaves, or the like, suspended at the ends and hung in a curve. |
| inculcate |
to cause to accept an idea or value; imbue. |
| laconic |
using very few words; succinct; terse. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| maverick |
a person who thinks and behaves independently, especially one who refuses to adhere to the orthodoxy of the group to which he or she belongs. |
| oblique |
not direct or straightforward in intent, means, or achievement; indirect or devious. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| omnibus |
concerning or including a large collection of things. |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| seminal |
of critical importance; essential. |
| sententious |
using or marked by pompous, high-flown moralizing. |