| assuage |
to make less severe or more bearable; alleviate. |
| bibulous |
addicted to alcohol; alcoholic. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| cavalier |
carefree and offhand; nonchalant. |
| cyst |
a small pouch within body tissue that is filled with fluid or air. Some cysts are connected with serious disease, but most are not harmful at all. |
| entreat |
to beg for something, or to do something. |
| facetious |
not serious; humorous or frivolous. |
| gadfly |
a persistent critic, especially of established institutions and policies. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| maunder |
to speak in an aimless or foolish way; babble. |
| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| occlude |
to close or obstruct (a passage or opening, one's vision, or the like). |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| putrefaction |
the act or process of rotting or decomposing. |
| relict |
a plant, animal, or geological feature that has survived in a considerably changed environment. |