| antebellum |
in or of the period prior to a war, especially the American Civil War. |
| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| baneful |
causing or leading to death, destruction, or ruin; harmful or deadly. |
| consternation |
surprise and alarm, leading to panic, deep disappointment, or total confusion. |
| derelict |
failing to fulfill one's responsibilities or obligations; remiss. |
| despoil |
to forcefully take belongings or goods from; plunder. |
| emulous |
filled with the desire to equal or surpass. |
| hypocrisy |
the practice or an instance of stating or pretending to hold beliefs or principles that one does not actually live by; insincerity. |
| immaculate |
not dirty; completely clean. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| obscurantism |
a deliberate lack of clarity or directness of expression, as in certain styles of art or literature. |
| remonstrate |
to say in opposition, protest, or objection. |
| rodomontade |
puffed-up boasting or bravado. |
| tamp |
to compress and pack tightly by repeated light taps. |
| vouchsafe |
to grant or give with condescension or as a special favor. |