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contretemps
(noun) An unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an awkward clash.
Synonyms: encounter, skirmish
Usage: After his contretemps with the police, he resolved to drive more slowly in the future.
lascivious - Given to or expressing lust.
Synonyms: libidinous, lecherous, lustful, lewd
Usage: Frustrated by his constant lascivious comments, she decided to report him to the supervisor.
cacophonous - Having a harsh, unpleasant sound; discordant.
Synonyms: cacophonic
Usage: as cacophonous as a hen yard- John McCarten
abysmal - Resembling an abyss in depth; unfathomable.
Synonyms: abyssal, unfathomable
Usage: Borckman felt the abysmal urgings of the beast, as a beast, to prove himself master of this four-legged beast.
quotidian - Everyday; commonplace.
Synonyms: mundane, ordinary, routine
Usage: There's nothing quite like a real train conductor to add color to a quotidian commute.
chastened - Punished, especially by reproof or reprimand.
Synonyms: admonished, rebuked, reprimanded, reproved
Usage: Their mothers chastened the children for playing in the mood.
caper
(noun) A playful leap or hop; a frivolous escapade or prank.
Synonyms: antic, frolic, romp
Usage: The child's playfulness was amusing at first, but they soon grew tired of his capers
imbroglio - A difficult or intricate situation; an entanglement.
Synonyms: embroilment
Usage: Hence, as the intelligent reader can foresee, this groom has a part to play in the imbroglio.
fealty - The fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.
Synonyms: allegiance
Usage: There was a common head, chieftain, or sovereign, whose authority extended over the whole nation.and numerous trains of inferior vassals or retainers, who occupied and cultivated that land upon the tenure of fealty or obedience, to the persons of whom they held it.
drachma - Formerly the basic unit of currency in Greece; an ancient Greek silver coin; a unit of apothecary weight equal to an eighth of an ounce.
Synonyms: drachm, dram
Usage: When our father died, he only left seven hundred silver drachmae to be divided amongst us, which made one hundred for each son.
ascetic - A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.
Synonyms: abstainer, stylite
Usage: His rough clothes and starved frame gave him the look of an ascetic, and he refused the food they tried to give him.
quandary - A state of uncertainty or perplexity.
Synonyms: dilemma, plight, predicament
Usage: The situation was awkward, but nothing like the quandary they had found themselves in when their car had broken down on a deserted road.
thither
Definition:
(adverb) To or toward that place.
Synonyms: there
Usage: The bell has a tone that is wondrous sweet; let us stroll thither, and examine the matter nearer.
captious - Marked by a disposition to find and point out trivial faults.
Synonyms: faultfinding, critical
Usage: She found the new professor to be captious, marking all the grammatical errors in her essays while ignoring the points she had tried to make.
laconic - Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
Synonyms: terse, curt, crisp
Usage: Even so, our acquaintance might have been no more than a hand-grip and a word-- he was a laconic old fellow--had it not been for the drinking.
smarmy - Hypocritically, complacently, or effusively earnest.
Synonyms: fulsome, oleaginous, unctuous
Usage: His smarmy speech left no doubt that he actually felt superior to those he was meant to be praising.
saturnine - Showing a brooding ill humor.
Synonyms: glowering, moody, morose, sullen, glum, dour, sour, dark
Usage: Since he had heard of Lilla's death, the gloom of his remorse had made more hopeless his cruel, selfish, saturnine nature.
spurious - Lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine.
Synonyms: specious, unauthentic
Usage: The professor explained to the student that her essay had received a "C" due to numerous examples of spurious reasoning.
mercantile
Definition:
(adjective) Of or relating to merchants or trade.
Synonyms: moneymaking, commercial
Usage: While the nation's farmers faced a depression, mercantile enterprises flourished.
hebetude - Dullness of mind; mental lethargy.
Synonyms: lassitude, sluggishness
Usage: After the long weeks of summer hebetude, returning to school was a shock for many students.
abeyance - The condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension.
Synonyms: suspension
Usage: After the melting was completed, it was kept in abeyance for a few minutes before the removal of foreign substances.
sycophant - A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.
Synonyms: crawler, toady, lackey
Usage: His co-workers disliked him, seeing him as a sycophant because he always complimented their employer.
gaffe - A social error; a faux pas.
Synonyms: faux pas, slip, solecism, gaucherie
Usage: He knew by the silence that greeted his speech that he had made some kind of gaffe.
effulgence - A brilliant radiance.
Synonyms: radiancy, refulgence, refulgency, shine, radiance
Usage: It is another sun--an entirely different sun--that casts its eternal noonday effulgence upon the face of the inner world.
detriment
Definition:
(noun) Damage, harm, or loss.
Synonyms: expense, hurt, impairment
Usage: Her employers were understanding, and she was able to take a long leave of absence without detriment to her career.
disperse - To drive off or scatter in different directions.
Synonyms: dissipate, spread, dispel
Usage: When it seemed that a riot was about to start, the police arrived to disperse the crowd.
cogitate - To take careful thought or think carefully about.
Synonyms: cerebrate, ponder, meditate, mull, reflect, contemplate
Usage: After cogitating for a while, she decided to buy the dress.
perambulate - To walk through.
Synonyms: walk about, walk around
Usage: With how superior a dignity the monarch perambulates on all fours
tout - To solicit or importune; to promote or praise energetically; publicize.
Synonyms: advertise, promote, vaunt
Usage: The product was touted as a revolutionary invention.
tergiversate - To use evasions or ambiguities; to change sides.
Synonyms: equivocate, prevaricate, apostatize
Usage: She refused to tergiversate on the subject, stating her opinion concisely and openly.
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