| asperity |
harshness or roughness, especially of tone or manner. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| constrict |
to pull or squeeze in; make smaller or more narrow; tighten. |
| epistolary |
established or continued through letters. |
| exegesis |
a critical explanation or interpretive analysis, especially of religious texts. |
| goad |
something that spurs a person to action; stimulus. |
| insipid |
having a bland or uninteresting flavor; tasteless. |
| jubilate |
to feel joyful; rejoice; exult. |
| lachrymose |
weeping, tending to weep readily, or being on the point of tears; tearful. |
| lattice |
a flat framework made with strips of wood or other material. The strips cross each other and have open spaces in between. A lattice is often used as a screen on a porch or in a garden. |
| louche |
of questionable decency, morality, or taste; shady; disreputable. |
| neophyte |
a beginner or novice at any activity. |
| perilous |
causing or involving great danger; risky; hazardous. |
| pliant |
easily flexed; supple. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |