| affidavit |
a written statement that is sworn in the presence of an authorized official to be true, used as legal evidence. |
| apropos |
appropriate; relevant; opportune. |
| banal |
lacking originality or liveliness; disappointingly ordinary; commonplace; trite. |
| cognoscente |
someone who has exceptional knowledge in a given area, especially of fashion, literature, or the fine arts; connoisseur. |
| colloquialism |
a word or phrase typically used in conversational, informal, or regional speech or writing, hence sometimes considered inappropriate in formal writing. |
| cynosure |
a thing or person that is the center of attention and admiration. |
| determinism |
the belief or teaching that every effect, including human thoughts and actions, is completely and predictably brought about by preceding causes and that, therefore, free will does not exist. |
| harbinger |
someone or something that signals or foreshadows a later arrival or occurrence; herald; forerunner. |
| ingenuous |
having or showing simplicity and lack of sophistication; artless. |
| intelligentsia |
the elite class of highly learned people within a society, or those who consider themselves part of such a class. |
| malaise |
a state or condition of feeling generally unwell, mentally depressed, sluggish, or uneasy. |
| misfeasance |
a normally lawful act performed in an unlawful way. |
| profligate |
totally given over to immoral and shameful pursuits; dissolute. |
| solecism |
a gross violation of convention in grammar, etiquette, or the like; impropriety. |
| stentorian |
extremely loud and powerful. |