| academicism |
in the arts, rigid adherence to accepted and traditional forms. |
| aleatory |
pertaining to or depending on luck, chance, or contingency. |
| conclave |
a secret, private, or confidential meeting or gathering. |
| constrict |
to pull or squeeze in; make smaller or more narrow; tighten. |
| daunt |
to lessen the determination of; intimidate; discourage. |
| laudatory |
expressing praise. |
| pleonasm |
a redundant word, phrase, or expression. |
| profligate |
totally given over to immoral and shameful pursuits; dissolute. |
| quiescence |
a state of inaction, rest, or stillness; dormancy. |
| rapacious |
capable of capturing and eating live prey; predacious. |
| recrudesce |
to become active again or break out anew, as a disease or harmful condition. |
| reprise |
repetition of a musical phrase or theme in an identical or slightly altered way. |
| solipsism |
the self-centered habit of interpreting and judging all things exclusively according to one's own concepts of meaning and value. |
| stickler |
one who must observe or conform to something (usually followed by "for"). |
| stipple |
a method of painting, drawing, or engraving by applying small points, dots, or dabs to a surface. |