Power Play
martial
adjective
to do with war or the armed forces
"Martial weapons in D&D are so named because only those with military experience are meant to be able to wield them."
adulation
noun
excessive praise
"She showered the professor with adulation in the hopes of getting a grade promotion."
adjective
involving a burdensome amount of effort or difficulty
"Three hundred practice problems is far too onerous to be worth the learning experience."
preen
verb
to groom oneself with elaborate care
"A lot of my friends spend more time preening before the party than they do at the party itself."
bilk
verb
obtain or withhold money from someone by deceit or without justification
"I was bilked of $37 by a radio scam."
exculpate
verb
to clear of blame
"The witness testimony was enough to exculpate most of the suspects."
didactic
adjective
intended to teach or instruct
"This proof was merely a didactic example; other proofs are likely to be less intuitive."
malleable
adjective
pliable; capable of being shaped or formed
"Gold is one of the most malleable metals, which is why biting a real gold coin will cause it to dent."
evanescent
adjective
quickly fading or disappearing
"Mysteries are such evanescent things; gone as soon as they're explained."
profligate
adjective
wastefully extravagant
"The wealthy are so often prone to profligate displays of hedonism."
filibuster
noun
an action (especially speechmaking) that delays a legislative process without technically contravening the required processes
"The opposition party attempted a long filibuster in the hopes of stalling the passing of the bill until the next election."
germane
adjective
relevant/appropriate to the subject at hand
"To finish this essay, I need another example germane to the subject of racial prejudice."
hackneyed
adjective
rendered unoriginal or trite by frequent usage
"I've seen this hackneyed plot a million times in better movies."
credulous
adjective
gullible
"I was once credulous enough to believe 4/20 was a celebration of Hitler's birthday."
mendacity
noun
untruthfulness; dishonesty
"Mendacity is a trait common among thieves."
stymie
verb
to block; to thwart
"We cannot allow the ignorance of the masses to stymie scientific progress."
acumen
noun
the ability to make good and quick decisions
"Bill Gates would never have gotten to where he is today without significant business acumen."
prosaic
adjective
dull; lacking in spirit or imagination
"Math education is often too prosaic to communicate the beauty of the subject."
urbane
adjective
sophisticated; refined; elegant
"As the crown prince, he was under pressure to appear urbane and charming at all times."
prevariate
verb
to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead
"He tried his best to prevariate as the committee grilled him on his ethics malpractices."
diatribe
noun
a forceful and bitter verbal attack
"The king's harsh policies sparked many a diatribe from the more courageous of his subjects."
neologism
noun
a newly coined word or expression
"You can't just claim every typo you make is a neologism, that's not how anything works!"
querulous
adjective
complaining in a whiny or petulant manner
"My nephew is so querulous that he'll cry if he's forced to eat broccoli."
facetious
adjective
flippant; humorous
"I was being facetious when I said Donald Trump's biggest problem was his inability to colour-match makeup with his skin tone."
demur
verb
to object or raise concerns
"The public was quick to demur the bill implementing a tax hike."