| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| avow |
to assert or affirm. |
| bellicose |
easily incited to quarrel or fight; belligerent. |
| deracinate |
to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; isolate; exile. |
| élan |
enthusiasm or vigor. |
| forswear |
to give up or renounce, often with an oath or pledge. |
| germane |
having relevance to a given matter; pertinent; significant. |
| heinous |
extremely wicked or despicable; atrocious. |
| imbricate |
overlapping in an even sequence, as roof tiles or fish scales. |
| inculcate |
to cause to accept an idea or value; imbue. |
| obfuscate |
to make (something) seem or be difficult to understand; obscure or darken. |
| parlous |
full of dangers or risks; perilous. |
| peroration |
the concluding part of a speech in which there is a summing up of the principal points. |
| prolix |
wordy and boringly long. |
| Saturnalia |
an occasion of unrestrained revelry. |