Open to 2 or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous
Superfluous
Beyond what is required/sufficient
Erudite
Having or showing knowledge
Fervid
Marked by extreme passion/zeal (hot/burning)
Contentious
Controversial, tending to argue or quarrel
Myopic
Lack of discernment or long range perspective in planning/thinking
Prescience
Knowledge of actions/events before they occur; foresight
Ingenuous
Lacking cunning, guile; artless, openly straight forward, frank
Hurly-Burly
Noisy confusion
Lexicon
A dictionary or a stock of terms
Penury
Poverty
Avarice
Greed
Scruples
Adherence to ethical principles
Lucre
Wealth
Cloying
Overly sweet
Reproach
Blame
Abjure
To renounce or repudiate
Politic
Shrewd or tactful
Adumbration
Foreshadowing or image of things to come
Aggrandizement
An increase in wealth, power, or rank
Abnegation
Denial
Recalcitrant
Stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance
Repudiate
Reject the validity or authority of
Evince
To show or demonstrate clearly
Dubious
Doubtful
Demur
Verb: To object or voice opposition
Adj: Modest, shy
Rakish
Jaunty, dashing
Jaunty
Having a buoyant or self confident air
Tepid
Lacking emotional warmth or enthusiasm, half hearted
Conviviality
Merry, feastive
Temerity
Foolhardy, disregard of danger, reckless
Ineluctable
Incapable of being avoided
Atrophy
Waste away
Misanthrope
One who hates people
Bibliophile
Book lover
Philanderer
Cheater
Anthropocentric
Treating humans as the most important figures in the universe
Interim
Noun: An interval of time between one event, process, or period and another.
Adj: Belonging to, serving during, or taking place during an intermediate interval of time; temporary (Interim measures to deal with the emergency)
Subterfuge
A stratagem employed to conceal something, evade an argument, etc (The paltry subterfuge of an anonymous signature)
Paltry
Ridiculously or insultingly small; mean, contemptible; utterly worthless
Benediction
An utterance of good wishes
Malapropism
An act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound
Malevolent
Wishing ill
Prodigious
Extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.
Plentiful in quantity
Augment
To increase
Catharsis
An emotional purification or release
Craven
Cowardly
Ameliorate
To make better
Canard
A false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.
Cavil
To raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (He finds something to cavil at in everything I say)
Mendacity
The quality of being mendacious. Untruthfullness; tendency to lie
Prevaricate
To speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie.
Apogee
The point in the orbit of a heavenly body in which it is furthest away from earth
Impasse
A position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock
Capitulate
To surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms; to give up resistance (He finally capitulated and agreed to do the job MY way)
Stipulate
To make an express demand or arrangement as a condition of agreement
Impugn
To challenge as false
Acrimony
Sharpness, harshness, or bitterness of nature, speech, disposition etc.
Cacophony
Harsh discordance of sounds
Sinecure
An office or position requiring little or no work, especially one yielding profitable returns.
Gainsaid
To deny, dispute, or contradict; to speak or act against; to dispute
Ebullience
High spirits; exhilaration; exuberance; a boiling over; an overflow
Miscreant
Depraved, villainous, or base
Nonplus
To render utterly perplexed; puzzle completely
Doleful
Sad, mournful
Belie
To show to be false; contradict (His trembling hands belied his calm voice)
Reticent
Disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved; reluctant or restrained
Disparage
To speak of or treat slightingly; depreciate; belittle (Do not disparage good manners)
Quixotic
Foolishly idealistic, extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable; impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.
Myriad
A very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things
Lecherous
Characterized by lechery or erotically suggestive; inciting to lust
Lechery: Unrestrained or excessive indulgence in sexual desires.
Prosaic
Commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative (A prosaic mind)
Incendiary
Of or pertaining to the criminal setting on fire of property
Tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc (An incendiary speech)
Inflaming to the senses (Incendiary extravaganza of music and dance)
Protean
Readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable; changable in shape or form; versatile (A protean actor can play many roles)
Sectarian
Narrowly confined or devoted to a particular sect.; limited or confined in scope, interest, or purpose
Prurient
Having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.
Incipient
Beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage (an incipient cold)
Importuned
To beg or demand with urgency or persistence
Abrogated
To abolish by formal or official means; annul by an authoritative act; repeal; put an end to
Plangent
Resounding loudly, especially with a plaintive sound, as a bell.
Plaintive
Expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful (a plaintive melody)
Malfeasance
The performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law; wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust)
Disparate
Distinct in kind; essentially different
Plenary
Complete in all aspects; attended by all qualified members
Redacted
To put into suitable literary form; revise; edit; to draw up or frame (a statement, proclamation etc.)
Specious
Apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible
Repudiate
To reject as having no authority or binding force; to reject with disapproval or condemnation
Burgeoning
To grow or develop quickly; flourish (the town quickly burgeoned into a city or he burgeoned into a fine actor)
Recumbent
Lying down; reclining; leaning; idle; inactive
Occidental
Refers to people from the Occident (The West; the countries of Europe and America). Not really a word.
Characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious
Surreptitious
Obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized
Subvert
To overthrow (something established or existing)
Palpable
Readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious; evident (a palpable lie)
If relating to emotions: capable of being touched or felt; tangible; emotions so strong it feels like it has a physical presence
Seminal
Having possibilities of future development; seed
Ontology
The branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence
Militate
To have a substantial effect; weigh heavily (his prison record militated against him)
Peremptory
Leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal; imperative; does not admit debate, question (a peremptory command)
Perennially
Lasting for an indefinitely long time; enduring (her perennial beauty); lasting or continuing through out the entire year
Derision
Ridicule; mockery
Calumny
A false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something; slander
Vicissitude
A change or variation occurring in the course of something; interchange or alternation, as of states or things (their friendship lasted through the vicissitudes of 40 years)
Salient
Prominent or conspicuous
Salubrious
Favorable to or promoting health; healthful
Opprobrious
Outrageously disgraceful or shameful (opprobrious conduct)
Endemic
Naturally a part of; natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native; indigenous (Countries where high unemplyment is endemic)
Antebellum
Before or existing before the war (especially American Civil)
Exculpate
To free from blame; remove from guilt
Abscond
To depart in a sudden and secret manner, especially to avoid capture and legal prosecution; go away in secret
Forestall
To prevent
Wrought
Archaic form of 'worked'; shaped or worked
Collate
To gather or arrange in their proper sequence; to sort, join, or bring together
Exorbitant
Increased of high payment/costs
Raconteur
A person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly
Contrition
Sincere penitence or remorse
Lachrymose
Suggestive of or tending to cause tears.
Disconcolate
Without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable (the loss of her pet made her disconsolate)
Debonair
Courteous, gracious, and having a sophisticated charm
Insolent
Boldly rude or disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent; insulting (an insolent reply)
Sebaceous
Pertaining to, of the nature of, or resembling tallow or fat; fatty; greasy; secreting a fatty substance.
Sardonic
Characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering (a sardonic grin)
Spurious
False; fake; not genuine, true or from the claimed; pretended
Strident
Making a loud, harsh, irritating sound (a strident cricket)
Surmise
To think or infer without certain or strong evidence; conjecture; guess.
Conjecture
The formation or expression of an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof.
Tenet
Any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., especially one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement.
Turpitude
Vile, shameful, or base character; depravity; evil [in character or an act]
Magnanimous
Generous in forgiving an insult or injury; free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness; noble in mind
Mercenary
Working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal.
Paucity
Smallness of quantity; scarcity; scantiness (a country with a paucity of resources)
Precept
A commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct.
Prosaic
Dull; unimaginative
Rescind
To abrogate; annul; revoke; repeal.
Languish
To be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade; to lose vigor and vitality; to be subject to delay
Promulgate
To make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation
Precipitate
To hasten the occurrence of; bring about prematurely, hastily, or suddenly
To hurl/cast downward (especially violently or abruptly)
Sycophant
A self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite
Feckless
ineffective; incompetent; futile (feckless attempts to repair the plumbing) having no sense of responsibility; indifferent; lazy
Blandishments
Something, as an action or speech, that tends to flatter, coax, entice, etc.: (our blandishments left him unmoved; We succumbed to the blandishments of tropical living).
Palaver
A conference or discussion
Profuse and idle talk
Chatter persuasive talk; flattery; cajolery.
Obliques
Neither perpendicular nor parallel to a given line or surface; slanting; sloping.
Diverging from a given straight line or course; not straight or direct, as a course
Indirectly stated or expressed; not straightforward (oblique remarks about the candidate's honesty)
Prolixity
Extended to great, unnecessary, or tedious length; long and wordy
Urbane
Having the polish and suavity regarded as characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities (an urbane manner)
Reflecting elegance, sophistication, etc., especially in expression (he maintained an urbane tone in his letters)
Vapid
Lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat:
Without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious (a vapid party; vapid conversation)
Verbose
Wordy
Pundit
A learned person, expert, or authority; a person who makes comments or judgments, especially in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.
Partisan
An adherent or supporter of a person, group, party, or cause, especially a person who shows a biased, emotional allegiance
Ebullient
Overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited: The award winner was in an ebullient mood at the dinner in her honor.
Jejune
Without interest or significance; dull; insipid (a jejune novel)
Juvenile; immature; childish: jejune behavior
Lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed (jejune attempts to design a house)
Deficient or lacking in nutritive value: a jejune diet.
Austere
Severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding (an austere teacher)
Rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent (the austere quality of life in the convent)
Grave; sober; solemn; serious (an austere manner)
Without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe (an austere life)
Severely simple; without ornament: austere writing.
Melee
A confused hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people
Confusion; turmoil; jumble (the melee of Christmas shopping)
Portiere
A curtain hung in a doorway, either to replace the door or for decoration
Tableau
A picture, as of a scene
A picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene
Commensurate
Having the same measure; of equal extent or duration
Corresponding in amount, magnitude, or degree (your paycheck should be commensurate with the amount of time worked)
Proportionate; adequate.
Approbation
Approval; commendation
Official approval or sanction
Credence
Belief as to the truth of something (to give credence to a claim)
Something giving a claim to belief or confidence ( letter of credence)
Candor
Quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech (the candor of the speech impressed the audience)
August
Inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic (an august performance of a religious drama)
Voluble
Characterized by a ready and continuous flow of words; fluent; glib; talkative (a voluble spokesman for the cause)
Cursory
Going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial (a cursory glance at a newspaper article)
Nascent
Beginning to exist or develop
Implacable
Not to be appeased, mollified, or pacified; inexorable (an implacable enemy)
Peccadillo
A very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault.
Pell-mell
In disorderly, headlong haste; in a recklessly hurried manner
Nugatory
Of no real value; trifling; worthless; of no force or effect; ineffective; futile; vain; not valid.
Ersatz
An artificial substance or article used to replace something natural or genuine; a substitute (An ersatz coffee made from grain)
Indemnified
To compensate for damage or loss sustained, expense incurred, etc.
Denigrate
to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame (to denigrate someone's character)
Diluvial
Pertaining to or caused by a flood or deluge.
Behest
A command or directive; an earnest or strongly worded request.
Nettlesome
Causing irritation, vexation, or annoyance (to cope with a nettlesome situation)
Profligate
Utterly and shamelessly immoral or dissipated; thoroughly dissolute; recklessly prodigal or extravagant
Licentious
Sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd; unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral.
Irascible
Easily provoked to anger; very irritable (an irascible old man)
Captious
Apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please
Apt or designed to ensnare or perplex, especially in argument (captious questions)
Dissolute
Indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct; licentious; dissipated
Interdict
Civil Law: any prohibitory act or decree of a court or an administrative officer (alas, in a fast-globalising world, it is already impossible for governments to interdict the flow of nuclear goods and expertise)
Fetid
Having an offensive odor; stinking.
Dissembling
To give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of: to dissemble one's incompetence in business.
Sobriquet
A nickname (old-timers call them plant lice, an appropriate sobriquet)
Syncopation
Music: a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats
Machinate
To contrive or plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose (to machinate the overthrow of the government)
Explicating
To make plain or clear; explain; interpret
To develop (a principle, theory, etc.).
Stymied
Golf: (on a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt
Situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it (suspicions in both countries have stymied any peace talks)
Vilipend
To regard or treat as of little value or account
To vilify; depreciate.
Helter-skelter
In headlong and disorderly haste; chaotic
Insouciant
Free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
Vitriol
Something highly caustic or severe in effect, as criticism
Quixotic
Extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable; impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.
Flout
To treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock (to flout the rules of propriety)
Promulgate
To make known by open declaration; publish; proclaim formally or put into operation (a law, decree of a court, etc.)
To set forth or teach publicly
Gubernatorial
Of or pertaining to a state governor or the office of state governor
Incumbent
Holding an indicated position, role, office, etc., currently: the incumbent officers of the club
Obligatory (often followed by on or upon ): a duty incumbent upon me
Archaic . resting, lying, leaning, or pressing on something: incumbent upon the cool grass.
Pusillanimous
Cowardly
Slipshod
Careless, untidy, or slovenly (slipshod work)
Arcane
Known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric (she knew a lot about Sanskrit grammar and other arcane matters)
Surly
Rude, unfriendly, bad-tempered
Ribald
Vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc; coarsely mocking, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous
Scurrilous
Grossly or obscenely abusive (a scurrilous attack on the mayor)
Irreverent
Deficient in veneration or respect
Quintessential
Of or pertaining to the most perfect embodiment of something: (the quintessential performance of the Brandenburg Concertos)
Piddling
Amounting to very little; trifling; negligible (a piddling sum of money)
Impecunious
Having little or no money; penniless; poor.
Penchant
A strong inclination, taste, or liking for something (a penchant for outdoor sports)
Effulgent
Shining forth brilliantly; radiant.
Fulsome
Offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross (fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor)
Disgusting; sickening; repulsive: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods
Encompassing all aspects; comprehensive (a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America)
Abundant or copious.
Unctuous
Characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, especially in an affected manner; excessively smooth, suave, or smug
Oily; greasy
Effusive
Unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve (effusive greetings; an effusive person)
Pouring out; overflowing.
Demonstrative
Characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one's emotions, attitudes, etc, especially of love or affection (she wished her fiancé were more demonstrative)
Equanimity
Mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.
Sophism
Aspecious argument for displaying ingenuity in reasoning or for deceiving someone
Any false argument; fallacy
Artifice
A clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile; a plot
Galvanize
To stimulate
Espouse
To make one's own; adopt or embrace, as a cause; to marry
Disavow
To disclaim knowledge of, connection with, or responsibility for; disown; repudiate (he disavowed the remark that had been attributed to him)
Pedagogy
The function or work of a teacher; teaching; art of teaching
Staid
Of settled or sedate character; not flighty or capricious; fixed, settled, or permanent.
Lassitude
Weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness; languor
A condition of indolent indifference (the pleasant lassitude of the warm summer afternoon)
Proliferate
To grow or produce often rapidly/excessively
Vociferous
Crying out noisily; clamorous
Inveigh
To protest strongly or attack vehemently with words; rail (usually followed by against ie: 'to inveigh against isolationism')
Demur
To make objection, especially on the grounds of scruples; take exception; object (they wanted to make him the treasurer, but he demurred)
Demure
Characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved.
Septuagenarian
At the age of 70; between 70 and 80 years old
Hoary
Gray or white with age (an old dog with a hoary muzzle)
Ancient or venerable (hoary myths)
Tedious from familiarity; stale (please don't tell that hoary joke at dinner again tonight)
Punctilious
Extremely attentive to punctilios; strict or exact in the observance of the formalities or amenities of conduct or actions.
Punctilio
A fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure
Strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities or amenities
Disconcerting
Disturbing to one's composure or self-possession; upsetting
Confusing; perplexing, esp. when unexpected
Patent
Readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious (a patent breach of good manners)
Negligible
So small, trifling, or unimportant that it may safely be neglected or disregarded (the extra expenses were negligible)
Spurn
To reject with disdain; scorn
To treat with contempt; despise
To kick or trample with the foot
Amble
To go at a slow, easy pace; stroll; saunter (he ambled around the town)
Indigent
Lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished
Remonstration
To say or plead in protest, objection, or disapproval.
Derision
Ridicule; mockery
Ineluctable
Incapable of being evaded; inescapable (an ineluctable destiny)
Incommensurate
Disproportionate; inadequate (our income is incommensurate to our wants)
Diminution
Act of something diminishing
Obtuse
Not quick, alert, or sharp in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull.
Sanction
Authoritive permission; To authorize, approve, allow
Decimate
To destroy a great number or proportion of: (the population was decimated by a plague)
Thwart
To oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose
Predilection
A tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference (a predilection for Bach)
Enmity
A feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism.
Pellucid
Allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass; translucent
Clear or limpid (pellucid waters)
Affable
Pleasantly easy to approach and to talk to; friendly; cordial; warmly polite
Militant
Vigorously active and aggressive, especially in support of a cause: militant reformers
Engaged in warfare; fighting.
Perspicuous
Clearly expressed or presented; lucid
Magisterial
Of, pertaining to, or befitting a master; authoritative; weighty; of importance or consequence (a magisterial pronouncement by the director of the board)
Imperious; domineering: a magisterial tone of command
Asinine
Foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid (It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements)
Of or like an ass (asinine features)
Hubris
excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance
Incertitude
Uncertainty or doubtfulness
Instability or insecurity (the incertitude of his position in life caused him to postpone marriage)
Baleful
Full of menacing or malign influences; pernicious
Pernicious
Causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful (pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie)
Deadly; fatal (a pernicious disease)
Parity
Equality, as in amount, status, or character
Equivalence; correspondence; similarity; analogy
The condition or fact of having given birth
The number of children to which a woman has given birth
Nepotism
Patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship, as in business and politics (she was accused of nepotism when she made her nephew an officer of the firm)
Fecund
Producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific (fruitful: fecund parents; fecund farmland)
Bucolic
Of or pertaining to shepherds; pastoral
Of, pertaining to, or suggesting an idyllic rural life.
Appelation
A name or title
Aphorism
A terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
Reclamation
Act of reclaiming; the reclaiming of desert, marshy, or submerged areas or other wasteland for cultivation or other use
Rudimentary
Pertaining to rudiments or first principles; elementary (a rudimentary knowledge of geometry)
Exigent
Requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing
Calorific
Pertaining to conversion into heat
Enervate
To deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken
Lull
To soothe
To give or lead to feel a false sense of safety; cause to be less alert, aware, or watchful
Admonish
To caution, advise, or counsel against something
To reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner (the teacher admonished him about excessive noise)
To urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations
Mordacious
Biting or given to biting
Sharp or caustic in style, tone, etc.
Harangued
A scolding or a long or intense verbal attack; diatribe
A long, passionate, and vehement speech, especially one delivered before a public gathering
Any long, pompous speech or writing of a tediously hortatory or didactic nature; sermonizing lecture or discourse.
Curtail
To cut short; cut off a part of; abridge; reduce; diminish
Recondite
Dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise
Beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles
Little known; obscure: a recondite fact.
Lugubrious
Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner (lugubrious songs of lost love)
Acrimonious
Caustic, stinging, or bitter in nature, speech, behavior, etc (an acrimonious answer; an acrimonious dispute)
Clement
Mild or merciful in disposition or character; lenient; compassionate (a clement judge reduced his sentence)
Rapacious
Given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed
Inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition
Sonorous
Giving out or capable of giving out a sound, especially a deep, resonant sound, as a thing or place (a sonorous cavern)
Jocular
Given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting; waggish; facetious (jocular remarks about opera stars)
Hackneyed
Made commonplace or trite; stale; banal (the hackneyed images of his poetry)
Trenchant
Incisive or keen, as language or a person; caustic; cutting: trenchant wit
Vigorous; effective; energetic: a trenchant policy of political reform
Clearly or sharply defined; clear-cut; distinct
Perspicacious
Having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: (to exhibit perspicacious judgment)
Garrulous
Excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters
Wordy or diffuse (a garrulous and boring speech)
Droll
Amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish
Deleterious
Injurious to health; harmful
Discursive
Passing aimlessly from one subject to another; digressive; rambling
Proceeding by reasoning or argument rather than intuition
Sinuous
Having many curves, bends, or turns; winding: (a sinuous path)
Indirect; devious (sinuous questions)
Scion
A descendant
Ancillary
Subordinate; assisting
Succinct
Expressed in few words; concise; terse
Characterized by conciseness or verbal brevity
Compressed into a small area, scope, or compass
Churlish
Boorish, rude, mean, peasantlike, surly
Timorous
Full of fear; timid
Bereave
To deprive and make desolate, especially by death (usually followed by of - 'Illness bereaved them of their mother')
To deprive ruthlessly or by force (the war bereaved them of their home)
To take away by violence
Facsimile
An exact copy of
Circuitous
Roundabout; not direct
Sententious
Abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims (a sententious book)
Given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous
Pithy
Brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor, substance, or meaning; terse; forcible (a pithy observation)
Maxims
An expression of a general truth or principle, especially an aphoristic or sententious one
Presage
A presentiment or foreboding
Something that portends or foreshadows a future event; an omen, prognostic, or warning indication.
Dour
Sullen; gloomy
Dither
A trembling; vibration
A state of flustered excitement or fear
Libidinous
Full of sexual lust
Acidulous
Slightly sour
Sharp; caustic (his acidulous criticism of the book)
Moderately acid or tart; subacid.
Querulous
Full of complaints
Descry
To see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy (the lookout descried land)
To discover; perceive; detect
Adage
A traditional saying expressing a common experience or observation; proverb
Accolade
Any award, honor, or laudatory notice (the play received accolades from the press)