| adulteration |
the act or process of making worse or impure by adding unnecessary or inferior ingredients. |
| canard |
a deliberately false story or rumor, usually defamatory to someone. |
| collateral |
property or other security put forward to guarantee repayment of a loan. |
| cravat |
a scarf or band of cloth tied loosely about the neck. |
| deign |
to consider some act to be appropriate or in keeping with one's dignity; condescend. |
| divergence |
the act of separating and moving or leading in different directions. |
| Draconian |
(often lower case) harshly cruel or rigorous. |
| laureate |
one honored for achievement in a particular field or by a particular award, especially in the arts or sciences. |
| linguistics |
(used with a singular verb) the scientific and historical study of the form and structure of human language. |
| malapropism |
the humorous or ridiculous misuse of a word, especially by using a word that sounds similar to the correct word, but whose meaning is inappropriate. |
| oppugn |
to oppose, contradict, criticize, or call into question. |
| parvenu |
a person who has suddenly acquired wealth or status, without acquiring the tastes, manners, customs, or the like of his or her new station. |
| salacious |
excited by lust; lecherous. |
| triage |
a system of determining priority of medical treatment, on the basis of need, chances of survival, and the like, to victims on a battlefield or in a hospital emergency ward. |
| voluble |
characterized by a steady flow of words; fluent; talkative. |