Termagant > a harsh-tempered or over-bearing woman

VERBOSE → using more words than needed to express something

PEJORATIVE → negative connotations (expressing contempt or disapproval)

MUTINY → military rebellion (refusal to obey military orders)

advent: 4-week period of preparation for Christmas, marked by reflection, fasting and penitence

BROADSIDE → in 18th + 19th century, naval warfare: the discharge of all the guns on one side of the ship at the same time

numinous - having a strong religious/spiritual quality

redux - brought back or revived

yomp: march with heavy equipment over difficult terrain

toady - a person who behaves obsequiously to someone important

limpid - completely clear and transparent

funambulist: a tightrope-walker

VULGARIAN → an unrefined person

mordant → having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting.

work-shy → lazy and disinclined to work

casuistry → the use of clever but unsound reasoning, especially in relation to moral questions

braggadacio → boastful or arrogant behaviour

cornucopia → ‘horn of plenty’/an ornamental container shaped like a goat's horn; a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn

truculent → eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

yarmulke → a worn in public by Orthodox Jewish men or during prayer by other Jewish men.

galore → in abundance.

kismet → fate/destiny

girt → surrounded by/encircle

neocon (servative) → relating to or denoting a return to a modified form of a traditional viewpoint, in particular a political ideology characterised by an emphasis on free market capitalism and an interventionist foreign policy

egregious → outstandingly bad; shocking

portent → a sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen

yaw → of a ship/aircraft: to oscillate from side to side

Tenebrae → (in the Roman Catholic Church) matins and lauds for the last three days of Holy Week, at which candles are successively extinguished. Several composers have set parts of the office to music.

foible → a minor flaw/eccentricity or shortcoming in character or behaviour

doge → the chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa (historically)

solicit → 1. ask for or try to obtain (something) from someone 2. accost someone and offer one’s services as a prostitute

gringo → spanish term: white person from an english-speaking country

nemesis → (noun) the inescapable agent of someone/something’s downfall

juggernaut → (noun) a large, heavy vehicle

distaff → 1. a stick or spindle on to which wool or flax is wound for spinning. | 2. of or concerning women.

haberdasher → a dealer in small items used in sewing, such as buttons, zips, and thread.

hirsute → hairy