nob
informal term for an upper-class or wealthy person
toff
informal term for an upper-class or wealthy person
chivy
annoy continually or chronically
mawkish
effusively or insincerely emotional
rum
liquor distilled from fermented molasses
palimpsest
a manuscript (usually written on papyrus or parchment) on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible
basilisk
(classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance
parvenu
a person who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained social acceptance of others in that class
polyglot
a person who speaks more than one language
frond
compound leaf of a fern or palm or cycad
biddable
willing to carry out the orders or wishes of another without protest
roister
engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking
frisson
an almost pleasurable sensation of fright
fission
reproduction of some unicellular organisms by division of the cell into two more or less equal parts
solecism
a socially awkward or tactless act
