| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| blandishment |
(often plural) flattering or coaxing remarks or stratagems intended to persuade. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| emulous |
filled with the desire to equal or surpass. |
| exponent |
one that expounds or interprets. |
| extort |
to extract or obtain (money or the like) by force, threats, or abuse of authority. |
| fungible |
interchangeable. |
| incumbent |
currently holding an office or position. |
| intransigence |
refusal to alter one's ideas or position in response to the wishes of others. |
| parlance |
manner of speaking or writing, especially word choice; vernacular. |
| parturient |
giving birth or about to give birth; in labor. |
| prerogative |
an exclusive right or privilege derived from one's office, position, age, citizenship, birth, or the like. |
| reconnoiter |
to go through or over (an area) so as to gain information about it, as for military or engineering purposes. |
| salacious |
excited by lust; lecherous. |
| Saturnalia |
an occasion of unrestrained revelry. |