| bathos |
a sudden descent from an exalted style or esteemed state to the commonplace. |
| comity |
mutual courtesy and respectful treatment among people or nations. |
| crass |
lacking in sensitivity or refinement; crude. |
| epistemology |
the branch of philosophy dealing with the origin, nature, and limits of human knowledge. |
| epistolary |
established or continued through letters. |
| fixation |
an obsession, especially one that interferes with normal functioning. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| indolence |
the tendency to avoid exertion or effort; laziness. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| naturalism |
in literature, a method of depicting life that reflects a philosophy of determinism. |
| precursory |
coming before and serving to indicate what will follow; premonitory. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| recondite |
involving profound concepts and complexities; not easily understood. |
| saturnine |
gloomy, sullen, or cynical in temperament or appearance. |
| stochastic |
of, or arising from chance or probability. |