| alfresco |
in the open air; outdoors. |
| bathos |
a sudden descent from an exalted style or esteemed state to the commonplace. |
| boudoir |
a woman's private sitting room or bedroom. |
| burgeon |
to start to grow; send forth shoots, leaves, buds, or the like (often followed by "out" or "forth"). |
| cloture |
in U.S. parliamentary procedure, a method of ending debate and causing an immediate vote on the matter being discussed. |
| deign |
to consider some act to be appropriate or in keeping with one's dignity; condescend. |
| desideratum |
something that is needed or wanted. |
| doggerel |
trivial, crudely constructed verse. |
| erudite |
having or showing a high level of scholarly knowledge; learned. |
| espouse |
to take up, hold, or commit oneself to (a cause, idea, or belief); embrace. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| innocuous |
not capable of causing damage; harmless. |
| lacuna |
a gap or omitted part. |
| sequester |
to remove into protection and isolation; seclude. |
| vitiate |
to harm the quality of; mar; spoil. |