carnie week 3

aficionado

an ardent devotee, enthusiast, zealot

amity

friendship, peaceful relations

ascribe

to attribute

auspicious

favorable, propitious, fortunate

burgeon

to develop, flourish, sprout

cede

to give up, relinquish, grant

debase

to corrupt, degrade, adulterate

distend

to swell, expand, bloat

foment

to stir up, instigate, incite, rouse

forbearance

patience, restraint

germane

relevant, pertinent, related

gibe

taunt, mock, ridicule

glower

to scowl, frown

inimitable

matchless, unique

itinerant

journeying, traveling, nomadic

jocose

humorous, playful, merry

mellifluous

sweet-sounding, honeyed, smoothly flowing

obdurate

stubborn, inflexible, unyielding, intractable

parity

equality, equivalence, correspondence

paucity

scarcity, dearth, fewness

Pugnacious

quarrelsome, belligerent, aggressive, truculent, combative

shiftless

lazy, idle, lacking ambition

transgress

to go beyond a limit; to violate, break

vex

to irritate, annoy, bother; to puzzle, perplex, baffle

wan

sickly, pale, pallid

TO PAY THE PIPER

to bear the consequences (from the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin)

ON THE CARPET

being scolded

TO SHOW ONE'S HAND

to reveal one's intentions

TO TILT AT WINDMILLS

to fight imaginary enemies (from Don Quixote)

TO COOL ONE'S HEELS

to be kept waiting

A RED HERRING

something that diverts attention from the main issue (a red herring drawn across a fox's path destroys the scent)