| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| atavism |
the recurrence or reappearance of a particular trait, style, attitude, or behavior that seemed to have disappeared, or that which has recurred or reappeared after such an absence. |
| berate |
to reproach or scold severely. |
| caste |
the status conferred by the class to which one belongs. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| heterodox |
deviating from an officially approved belief or doctrine, especially in religion. |
| imbroglio |
a difficult, confused, or complicated situation, often involving a misunderstanding, disagreement, or quarrel. |
| incessant |
never stopping; constant. |
| lugubrious |
sad or mournful, especially in an exaggerated way; gloomy. |
| reconnaissance |
the act or process of examining an area, especially to gain militarily useful information. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |
| 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. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |
| virago |
a shrewish, domineering woman; nag or scold. |