to understand thoroughly and intuitively

a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather

extremely irritable or easily angered; irascible

lacking in wholesome vigor; decadent

the leader or conductor of an orchestra or choir

extravagant boasting

a lover of words

marked by or attended with ignominy; discreditable, humiliating

to dispense in dollops

a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly"

to cut something; to remove by or as if by cutting or clipping with a sharp instrument

having very little inflection; limited to a narrow pitch range

a rogue or a scoundrel

causing annoyance, irritation, or aversion; repellent.

free from reservation, disguise, or subterfuge; straightforward

the state of being no longer used or practiced