| apropos |
appropriate; relevant; opportune. |
| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| canny |
difficult to fool or take advantage of; shrewd; wary; clever. |
| emulous |
filled with the desire to equal or surpass. |
| engender |
to create or give rise to. |
| ersatz |
serving as a substitute, especially when of inferior quality. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| fledge |
to grow flight feathers. |
| gird |
to surround, bind, or encircle, as with a belt. |
| gnomic |
short and pithy, as an aphorism. |
| lattice |
a flat framework made with strips of wood or other material. The strips cross each other and have open spaces in between. A lattice is often used as a screen on a porch or in a garden. |
| louche |
of questionable decency, morality, or taste; shady; disreputable. |
| 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. |
| spurn |
to reject, refuse, or treat with scorn; disdain; despise. |
| woebegone |
displaying or full of distress. |