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valedictorian

a student who has the highest grades in his or her graduating class in high school and who makes a speech at the graduation ceremony

innocuous

completely harmless (= causing no harm):

Some mushrooms look innocuous but are in fact poisonous.

quarrel

an angry disagreement between two or more people or groups:

They had a bitter quarrel about/over some money three years ago and they haven't spoken to each other since.

buttress

to give support to or strengthen something:

He looked for things that would buttress the prosecution case and win a conviction.

intuitive

based on feelings rather than facts or proof:

an intuitive approach/judgment

rhetorical

Rhetorical speech or writing is intended to seem important or influence people:

repetition, that tedious rhetorical device

synthesis

the production of a substance from simpler materials after a chemical reaction

trajectory

the curved path that an object follows after it has been thrown or shot into the air:

the trajectory of a bullet/missile

reciprocate

to share the same feelings as someone else, or to behave in the same way as someone else:

Sadly, my feelings for him were not reciprocated.

throne

the special chair used by a ruler, especially a king or queen

interrogate

to ask questions about something as a way of analyzing it or finding out more about it:

The book interrogates the way numbers are handled and mishandled by politicians and the media.

legitimacy

the quality of being legal :

The lawyers expressed serious doubts about the legitimacy of military action.

dismissive

showing that you do not think something is worth considering:

dismissive of He's so dismissive of anybody else's suggestions.