Trouble Words

• acumen


  keen insight; shrewdness
• capriole


  a caper or leap
• hugger-mugger


  secret or clandestine
• Neufchâtel


  a soft, white cheese similar to cream cheese, made from whole or partly skimmed milk in Neufchâtel, a town in N France
• en famille


  in or with the family; at home
• appellative


  designative; descriptive
• delve


  to carry on intensive and thorough research for data, information, or the like; investigate
• irenic


  tending to promote peace or reconciliation; peaceful or conciliatory
• stratum


  one of a number of portions or divisions likened to layers or levels
• self-effacing


  tending to make oneself or one's actions inconspicuous, especially because of humility or timidity; modest
• gambol


  to skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic
• piscine


  of, relating to, or resembling a fish or fishes
• meliorism


  a belief that the world tends to improve
• deride


  to say that (someone or something) is ridiculous or has no value
• incidence


  the rate at which something occurs
• svelte


  slender and graceful in form
• foist


  to force someone to accept something they do not want
• obstreperous


  noisy, stubborn, and difficult to control
• gadfly


  someone who annoys people by being very critical
• glean


  to gather or collect bit by bit
• symposium


  a formal meeting on a particular topic
• buttinsky


  a person who interferes in the affairs of others; meddler
• ebullient


  overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited
• cogent


  to the point; relevant; pertinent
• bagatelle


  something of little value or importance; a trifle
• ennoble


  to elevate in degree, excellence, or respect; dignify
• ablution


  a washing of the hands, body, etc
• bafflegab


  confusing or generally unintelligible jargon; gobbledegook
• repine


  to be fretfully discontented; fret; complain
• engram


  a presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace