Saturday Glossary

Saturday Glossary

augment

increase

avidity

extreme eagerness or enthusiasm

blackmail

the action, treated as a criminal offense, of demanding money from a person in return for not revealing compromising or injurious information about that person

casualty

a person killed or injured in a war or accident

coup

a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government

depletion

exhaustion

derange

cause someone to become insane

elite

a group of people considered to be the best in a particular society or category, esp. because of their power, talent, or wealth

emphatic

expressing something forcibly and clearly

extol

praise enthusiastically

microcosm

a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger

mundane

lacking interest or excitement

onset

the beginning of something, esp. something unpleasant

rarity

thing having particular value

rudimentary

involving or limited to basic principles

salutation

a gesture or utterance made as a greeting or acknowledgment of another's arrival or departure

scheme

a large-scale systematic plan or arrangement for attaining some particular object or putting a particular idea into effect

severe

scrict and harsh

shaman

a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, esp. among some peoples of northern Asia and North America

submersion

dipping into the water

sulky

bad-tempered and resentful

sustain

strengthen or support physically or mentally

tentative

not certain or fixed

timid

easily frightened

tremor

an involuntary quivering movement

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