| ascendant |
moving upward; rising. |
| buttress |
a structure built to give support to the outside of a building or a wall. |
| decadence |
a decline into immorality; loss of moral values. |
| dregs |
the part of anything that is left over or that has the least value or use. |
| experimentation |
the act, process, or practice of running tests or trials. |
| irony |
a manner of using language so that it conveys a different or opposite meaning to that which is literally expressed in the words themselves. Irony is used in ordinary conversation and also as a literary technique, especially to express criticism or to produce humor or pathos. |
| luxuriant |
growing thickly and in great numbers; lush. |
| orientation |
the act or process of preparing oneself or others for a new situation. |
| pastoral |
of or relating to the country or country life; rural. |
| pirouette |
a ballet movement involving a rapid rotation of the body upon the toes or foot. |
| prescience |
knowledge of future occurrences; foreknowledge. |
| scintillate |
to send out sparks. |
| slake |
to satisfy or relieve (thirst, appetite, lust, or the like) by decreasing the strength or intensity of. |
| speculative |
of, pertaining to, or based on conjecture or theorizing. |
| treatise |
a detailed and formal written work, usually dealing systematically with a single theme or subject. |