| abut |
to adjoin or press against; be next to; border on. |
| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| coeval |
coinciding in time of origin or existence; contemporary. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| descry |
to see or make out, especially something obscured or at a distance. |
| effrontery |
shameless impudence; insolence. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| humanism |
a doctrine or mode of thought that gives highest importance to human dignity, values, potentials, and achievements. |
| impinge |
to encroach. |
| indistinct |
not clearly perceived or perceiving. |
| oblique |
not direct or straightforward in intent, means, or achievement; indirect or devious. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| rebarbative |
tending to irritate or repel; forbidding or unattractive. |
| reprise |
repetition of a musical phrase or theme in an identical or slightly altered way. |
| vouchsafe |
to grant or give with condescension or as a special favor. |