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segue: to proceed without interruption.

palimpsest: an object or place whose older layers or aspects are apparent.
bete noire: something or someone particularly detested or avoided.
farrago: an assortment; a medley.
expatiate: to speak or write at length.
nadir: the lowest point.
protean: readily assuming different shapes or forms.
fulsome: offensive from excess of praise.
constitutional: a walk taken for one's health.
quondam: former; sometime.
sinecure: an office or position that involves little work or responsibility.
vainglory: excessive pride or vain display.
canard: an unfounded or false report.
gainsay: to contradict; to deny.
portend: to foreshadow; to bode.
ratiocination: the process of reasoning.
equivocate: to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear.
frisson: a brief moment of intense excitement.
tchotchke: a trinket; a knickknack.
inveigh: to rail (against some person or thing).
propound: to put forward for consideration.
acrid: sharp and harsh; bitter.
lachrymose: given to causing tears.
fop: a man who is vain about his dress and appearance.
defenestrate: to throw out of a window.
brio: vigor; vivacity.
supercilious: disdainfully arrogant.
gesticulate: to make gestures or motions.
probity: complete and confirmed integrity.
inveterate: deep-rooted; of long standing.
Hobson's choice: a choice without an alternative.
rebarbative: repellent; irritating.
afflatus: a divine inspiration.
comport: to behave (oneself) in a particular manner.
sunder: to break apart.
espy: to see at a glance.
compunction: anxiety or unease from guilt; also, a scruple.
venial: capable of being forgiven; excusable.
gimcrack: a showy but useless or worthless object.
truculent: fierce; savage; ferocious.
unctuous: marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.
celerity: quickness; swiftness.
vehement: marked by intensity of emotions or convictions.
putative: commonly thought or deemed; supposed.
wheedle: to entice by flattery.
stolid: unexcitable; unemotional.
lugubrious: mournful; gloomy; dismal.
abjure: to renounce, reject, or shun.
vicissitude: a change in condition or fortune.
redress: to set right.
ubiquitous: being everywhere.
propinquity: nearness.
venal: capable of being bought; also, corruptible.
obviate: to anticipate and dispose of or make unnecessary.
mellifluous: flowing sweetly or smoothly.
prestidigitation: sleight of hand.
gastronome: a lover of good food and drink.
exculpate: to clear from alleged fault or guilt.
diaphanous: allowing light to pass through.
supernumerary: exceeding a necessary or usual number.
indomitable: incapable of being subdued or overcome.
argot: a specialized vocabulary peculiar to a particular group.
impugn: to call in question; to make insinuations against.
lascivious: lewd; lustful.
parsimony: excessive sparingness in the expenditure of money.
atrabilious: irritable; ill-natured.
peccadillo: a slight offense; a petty fault.
logorrhea: excessive talkativeness.
travail: painful, arduous work; also, agony, anguish.
acquiesce: to accept or consent passively or without objection.
elucidate: to make clear or manifest.
recalcitrant: stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.
abstemious: temperate; abstinent; refraining from indulgence.
gravitas: high seriousness.
Ides: the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day of the
other months.
mendacious: untruthful; also, untrue.
verdure: greenness.
emblazon: to display pompously; to decorate.
collude: to act in concert; to conspire.
risible: exciting or provoking laughter.
surcease: cessation; stop; end.
adumbrate: to outline; also, to foreshadow; also, to suggest; also, to shade.
Elysium: paradise.
demagogue: a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and
prejudices of the populace.
augury: an omen; prediction.
fulminate: to issue or utter verbal attacks or censures.
sycophant: one who seeks favor by flattery; a toady.
vitiate: to make faulty or imperfect.
factious: addicted to form parties and raise dissensions.
quiescent: at rest; still; inactive.
purblind: having greatly reduced vision.
coxcomb: a vain, showy fellow.
chicanery: the use of trickery to deceive.
habitue: one who habitually frequents a place.
pellucid: transparent, clear; also, easily understandable.
buss: a kiss; to kiss.
factitious: artificial; not authentic or genuine.
profligate: shamelessly immoral; also, recklessly wasteful.
bedaub: to besmear; also, to overdecorate.
bifurcate: to divide into two branches.
contumacious: obstinate; stubbornly disobedient.
firmament: the sky; the heavens.
arcane: understood or known by only a few.
perfunctory: done routinely.
temerity: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger.
superannuated: old; discharged or disqualified on account of old age.
egregious: outrageously bad.
tutelary: guardian; protecting.
condign: deserved; adequate.
lambent: playing on the surface; flickering.
confabulation: familiar talk.
expiate: to make amends for; to atone for.
somniferous: causing or inducing sleep.
aubade: a song greeting the dawn.
cogitate: to think; to ponder.
persiflage: frivolous or bantering talk.
obfuscate: to darken or obscure.
calumny: malicious misrepresentation; slander.
ablution: the washing of the body or some part of it.
undulate: to move in waves.
cosset: to treat with excessive indulgence; to pamper.
subterfuge: a deceptive device or stratagem.
kismet: destiny; fate.
turpitude: baseness; depravity.
ephemeral: short-lived.
inveigle: to persuade or obtain by ingenuity or flattery.
portentous: foreboding; ominous.
facetious: playfully jocular; humorous.
deign: to condescend.
restive: resisting control; stubborn.
schadenfreude: a malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.
pari passu: at an equal pace or rate.
mawkish: sickly or excessively sentimental.
panache: dash or flamboyance in manner or style.
adventitious: added extrinsically; not essentially inherent.
kvetch: to complain habitually.
pejorative: disparaging; belittling.
cognoscente: a person with special knowledge.
alacrity: a cheerful readiness, willingness, or promptness.
bravura: a showy display.
vivify: to endue with life; to enliven.
sonorous: yielding sound; impressive in sound.
anathema: a curse; a person or thing cursed, or intensely disliked.
laconic: using or marked by the use of a minimum of words.
deleterious: harmful.
platitude: a banal, trite, or stale thought or remark.
quash: to annul; also, to crush; to subdue.
meretricious: tawdry.
bumptious: crudely, presumptuously, or noisily self-assertive.
laudable: praiseworthy; commendable.
inamorata: a woman whom one is in love with.
penchant: a strong liking.
disconcert: to disturb the composure of.
physiognomy: the face or appearance.
masticate: to chew.
sempiternal: everlasting; eternal.
harangue: a speech addressed to a public assembly; also, a noisy or pompous speech.
supernal: being on high; celestial.
rubicund: inclining to redness; ruddy.
moribund: dying.
apothegm: a short, witty, and instructive saying.
wastrel: a person who wastes; a loafer.
malodorous: having a bad odor.
plangent: beating with a loud or deep sound; also, expressing sadness.
immure: to enclose within or as if within walls.
rara avis: a rare or unique person or thing.
scapegrace: one who is wild and reckless.
ruminate: to chew the cud; also, to ponder; to reflect.
hirsute: covered with hair or bristles.
admonition: gentle or friendly reproof; friendly warning.
abrogate: to annul; to do away with.
importunate: troublesomely urgent.
kitsch: art in pretentious bad taste.
monomania: obsession with a single subject.
ribald: characterized by, or given to, vulgar humor.
febrile: feverish.
rapacious: grasping; greedy.
extirpate: to eradicate; to destroy.
uxorious: excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.
anodyne: serving to relieve pain.
bootless: unavailing; useless.
flummox: to confuse; to perplex.
concomitant: accompanying; attending.
busker: a street musician or performer.
turgid: swollen, bloated; also, bombastic, pompous.
denizen: an inhabitant.
peregrination: a traveling from place to place.
tocsin: a warning.
palliate: to extenuate; also, to relieve.
improvident: lacking foresight; negligent; thoughtless.
inimical: unfriendly; unfavorable.
halcyon: peaceful; undisturbed; happy.
coeval: existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary.
obtrude: to thrust out; also, to impose on others.
cozen: to deceive or obtain by deceit.
perfervid: ardent; impassioned.
recrudescent: breaking out again.
deride: to laugh at with contempt.
billingsgate: foul language.
factotum: a person employed to do all kinds of work.
jejune: lacking in nutritional value; also, immature; also, dull.
evince: to show in a clear manner.
cacophony: harsh or discordant sound.
perfidy: faithlessness; treachery.
onus: burden; also, blame; stigma.
tergiversation: evasion; also, desertion of a cause, party, etc.
opprobrium: reproach mingled with contempt.
hoary: white or gray with age; hence, extremely old.
tractable: docile; manageable, governable.
recumbent: reclining; lying down.
prevaricate: to depart from or evade the truth.
libation: the act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice; also, a beverage.
quandary: a state of difficulty or perplexity.
obsequious: servilely attentive; fawning.
simulacrum: a representation; an insubstantial or vague semblance.
miasma: a thick vaporous atmosphere, often noxious.
ululate: to howl; to wail.
toothsome: delicious; attractive; luscious.
asperity: roughness of surface, sound, or manner.
impervious: impenetrable; also, not capable of being affected.
auspicious: favorable; also, prosperous; fortunate.
puissant: powerful.
otiose: ineffective; also, being at leisure; also, of no use.
lucubration: nocturnal study.
quaff: to drink with relish.
perdurable: very durable; long lasting.
crapulous: sick from, or marked by, excessive drinking.
equanimity: calmness; composure.
megalomania: a mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur.
verbose: wordy.
gauche: lacking social polish; tactless.
euphonious: pleasing or sweet in sound.
fustian: pompous or pretentious language.
contradistinction: distinction by contrast.
disparate: fundamentally different; also, composed of dissimilar elements.
palaver: idle talk; also, to talk idly.
malleable: capable of being shaped; also, adaptable.
termagant: a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman.
consanguineous: related by blood; descended from the same ancestor.
verisimilitude: the quality of seeming to be true.
tendentious: marked by a strong tendency in favor of a particular point of view.
avoirdupois: weight; heaviness.
dudgeon: a state or fit of intense indignation.
rusticate: to go or send to the country.
ascetic: one who practices extreme self-denial; also, austere, severe.
excoriate: to express strong disapproval of; also, to flay.
dilettante: an amateur; also, an admirer or lover of the fine arts.
truckle: to act in a subservient manner.
nugatory: insignificant; also, ineffectual.
moiety: a half; a small part.
variegated: having marks or patches of different colors; also, varied.
convivial: relating to feasting, drinking, and good company; festive.
posit: to postulate; also, to suggest.
expunge: to strike out or erase; to obliterate.
largess: generous giving; also, gifts of money or other valuables.
woebegone: woeful; also, run-down.
milieu: environment; setting.
accede: to agree or assent; also, to become a party.
salient: noticeable; also, projecting; also, leaping.
wunderkind: one who achieves success or acclaim during youth.
obeisance: an expression of deference.
felicitous: apt or appropriate; also, delightful.
grandee: a man of elevated rank or station; a nobleman.
disconsolate: hopelessly sad; also, saddening; cheerless.
malinger: to feign illness or inability.
credulous: inclined to believe too readily.
tryst: an appointment (as between lovers) to meet.
paragon: a model of excellence or perfection.
inscrutable: difficult to fathom or understand.
soporific: causing sleep; also, something that causes sleep.
congeries: a collection; an aggregation.
didactic: conveying instruction; teaching some moral lesson.
officious: meddlesome.
flippant: showing inappropriate levity; pert.
castigate: to punish or criticize severely.
aver: to assert as true.
callow: immature.
lucre: money; profit.
epigone: an inferior imitator.
imbue: to dye; to instill profoundly.
concupiscence: lust.
irrefragable: impossible to refute.
rictus: a gaping grin or grimace.
nostrum: a questionable remedy.
scintilla: a tiny amount; a spark.
ergo: therefore; consequently.
animus: a feeling of ill will; also, animating spirit; disposition.
ignoramus: an ignorant person; a dunce.
interregnum: the interval between two reigns; also, any breach of continuity in an order.
lexicography: the writing or compiling of dictionaries.
circumambient: surrounding; encompassing.
purdah: social seclusion.
proscribe: to forbid; to prohibit.
coquette: a flirt.
cadre: a core or nucleus of trained or otherwise qualified personnel around which an
organization is formed.
titivate: to smarten up; to spruce.
bromide: a commonplace or conventional saying.
orotund: full in sound; also, bombastic.
pertinacious: holding obstinately to a belief, purpose or design; also, stubbornly
persistent.
Promethean: of or pertaining to Prometheus; also, boldly original.
extraneous: coming from the outside; also, not essential; also, irrelevant.
amity: friendship; friendly relations.
pettifogger: a petty, unscrupulous lawyer; also, who quibbles over trivia.
mountebank: a quack; also, a charlatan.
apparition: a ghost; also, an unexpected appearance.
perquisite: a benefit in addition to a salary.
exigency: state of requiring immediate action; also, an urgent situation; also, that which is
required in a particular situation.
succinct: brief; concise.
ineffectual: without effect; weak; useless.
sapient: wise; sage; discerning.
pugilist: a boxer.
deus ex machina: an agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble
difficulty.
circumspect: cautious; prudent.
tutelage: guardianship; protection; also, instruction.
visage: the face; also, appearance; aspect.
introspection: the act or process of self-examination; reflection.
missive: a written message; a letter.
expropriate: to deprive of possession; also, to transfer (property) to oneself.
malcontent: one who is discontented or dissatisfied.
ukase: an edict.
derogate: to deviate from expectation; also, to detract; also, to disparage.
raillery: good-humored banter or teasing repartee.
neologism: a new word or expression; the use or creation of new words or expressions.
malaise: a condition of uneasiness or ill-being.
raffish: tawdry; also, rakish.
parlous: fraught with danger; hazardous.
querulous: habitually complaining; also, expressing complaint.
cornucopia: the horn of plenty; also, an abundance.
panacea: a cure-all.
sine qua non: an indispensable thing.
fractious: tending to cause trouble; also, irritable.
vim: energy; vigor.
perambulate: to stroll; to walk through or over.
wizened: shriveled; withered.
modicum: a small or token amount.
oneiric: pertaining to or suggestive of dreams.
execrable: detestable; extremely bad.
patina: a superficial layer.
provenance: origin; source.
caveat: a warning or caution.
nonage: a period of youth or immaturity.
atelier: a workshop; a studio.
fetid: stinking.
itinerant: traveling from place to place.
conurbation: an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities.
equipoise: equilibrium; also, counterbalance.
coruscate: to give off or reflect bright beams or flashes of light.
voluptuary: a person devoted to luxury and the gratification of sensual appetites.
harridan: a scolding, vicious woman.
ambit: circuit or compass; also, sphere of action or influence.
rapport: relation characterized by sympathetic understanding.
pandemic: affecting a whole people or a number of countries.
apocryphal: of doubtful authority or authenticity.
cormorant: a gluttonous or greedy person.
microcosm: a smaller, representative system having analogies to a larger system.
harbinger: a precursor; one that presages what is to come.
censure: to criticize severely; also, an expression of disapproval.
capricious: whimsical; changeable.
sporadic: occuring singly, or occasionally, or in scattered instances.
wassail: an expression of good wishes on a festive occasion, especially in drinking to
some one.
quidnunc: a gossip; a busybody.
impassible: incapable of suffering; also, unfeeling or not showing feeling.
gloaming: twilight; dusk.
manse: a large and imposing residence.
Grub Street: the world or category of impoverished literary hacks.
Hogmanay: the name, in Scotland, for the last day of the year.