acumen: quickness of perception or discernment.
machination: a crafty scheme intended to accomplish some usually evil end.
copious: large in quantity; also, affording an abundant supply.
maelstrom: a large, powerful whirlpool; also, a violent, disordered, or turbulent state of affairs.
efficacious: producing, or capable of producing, a desired effect.
magniloquent: lofty or grandiose in speech or expression. using high-flown or bombastic language.
maladroit: awkward; unskillful; inept.
malaise: a condition of uneasiness or ill-being.
heterodox: holding unorthodox opinions.
malapropism: the usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
malapropos: unseasonable or unseasonably; inappropriate or inappropriately.
malcontent: one who is discontented or dissatisfied.
malediction: a curse.
malfeasance: wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior.
malinger: to feign illness or inability.
malleable: capable of being shaped; also, adaptable.
malodorous: having a bad odor.
malversation: misconduct in public office.
recrimination: a counter accusation.
visage: the face; also, appearance; aspect.
proponent: an advocate.
sacrosanct: sacred; inviolable.
bailiwick: a person's specific area of knowledge, authority, interest, skill, or work.
zeitgeist: the spirit of the time.
serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of making fortunate accidental discoveries.
xenophobia: fear or hatred of what is strange or foreign.
disheveled: disordered; disorderly; untidy. in loose disorder; disarranged.
satiety: fullness to or beyond the point of satisfaction.
vituperate: to overwhelm with wordy abuse.
vituperation: abusive language.
sardonic: bitterly sarcastic. scornful, mocking.
corpulent: very fat; obese.
pugnacious: combative; quarrelsome. inclined to fighting.
disparate: fundamentally different; also, composed of dissimilar elements.
hyperbole: extravagant exaggeration.
sentient: capable of perceiving by the senses.
leitmotif: a dominant and recurring theme.
pusillanimous: cowardly. lacking in courage and resolution.
juxtaposition: a placing or being placed in nearness or side by side.
hypnagogic: leading to sleep; hypnotic.
impugn: to call in question; to make insinuations against.
hullabaloo: a confused noise; uproar.
ignoramus: an ignorant person; a dunce.
sporadic: occurring singly, or occasionally, or in scattered instances.
inexorable: unyielding; relentless.
transmogrify: to change into a different shape. to transform.
harbinger: a precursor; one that presages what is to come.
extricate: to free or release from a difficulty or entanglement.
lambaste: to scold sharply; also, to beat.
platitude: a thought or remark which is banal, trite, cliche or stale.
genuflect: to bend the knee, as in worship; also, to grovel.
tatterdemalion: a person dressed in tattered clothing.
nascent: beginning to exist or to grow.
vehement: marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions.
trepidation: a state of dread or alarm; apprehension.
obfuscate: to darken or obscure.
urbane: polished and smooth in manner. polite; refined; elegant.
predilection: an established preference.
temerity: presumptuous audacity. unreasonable contempt of danger.
sycophant: a parasite; a toady. lackey or suck-up supporter.
ameliorate: to make better.
bifurcate: to divide into two branches.
amicable: characterized by friendliness and good will.
equivocate: to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear.
amity: friendship; friendly relations.
eschew: to shun; to avoid.
anathema: a curse; a person or thing cursed, or intensely disliked.
erudite: characterized by extensive reading or knowledge.
ancillary: subordinate, subsidiary; auxiliary.
incontrovertible: indisputable; unquestionable.
animus: a feeling of ill will; also, animating spirit; disposition.
indefatigable: untiring.
aplomb: confidence; coolness.
intrepid: fearless; bold.
apocryphal: of doubtful authority or authenticity.
interpolate: to insert between; also, to alter or corrupt by insertion.
bombast: pompous or pretentious speech or writing.
loquacious: very talkative.
apogee: the highest point.
cogent: clear, logical, and convincing.
accost: to approach and speak to boldly or aggressively, as with a demand or request.
acquiescence: the reluctant acceptance of something without protest.
ambient: of or relating to the immediate surroundings of something.
ancillary: providing necessary support to the primary activities or operations of an organization, institution, industry or system; additional; subsidiary.
bellicose: demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight.
coercion: the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
colloidal: of the nature of, relating to, or characterized by a colloid or colloids; particles of one substance dispersed through a second substance, where the particles do not settle and cannot be separated out by ordinary filtering or centrifuging like those in a suspension.
commensurate: corresponding in size or degree; in proportion.
concomitant: of a quality, circumstance, etc.; occurring along with something else, accompanying.
contrivance: a thing that is created skillfully and inventively to serve a particular purpose.
decimate: kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of; drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something).
dichotomous: a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
egregious: outstandingly bad; shocking.
eviscerated: disembowel (a person or animal); deprive (something) of its essential content.
excitotoxin: a substance added to foods and beverages that literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees; can be found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate, aspartame, cysteine, hydrolyzed protein and aspartic acid.
expedient: (of an action) convenient and practical although possibly improper or immoral; (of an action) suitable or appropriate.
faux: made in imitation; artificial; not genuine; fake or false.
hubris: presumption; excessive pride or self-confidence.
immane: existing or operating within; inherent.
inviolably: to be kept sacred or free from attack; not to be infringed or dishonored; not yielding to force or violence; unable to be broken, forced, or injured.
abreaction: emotional outpouring during psychotherapy.
animus: from Latin animus ("the mind, in a great variety of meanings. the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc.; the breath, life, soul"), closely related to anima, which is a feminine form.
catharsis: emotional purgation.
impassive: devoid of emotion; also, showing no emotion.
megalomania: a mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur.
narcissism: extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one's own talents, and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.
paroxysm: any sudden and violent emotion; an outburst; a fit.
power of the situation: social psychology topic suggesting the powerful role that the situation can play in human behavior; relating to Milgram's obedience studies on personality and social psychology; relating to cognitive dissonance theory and the power of authority; also see Phil Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment.
status quo: the existing state of affairs, esp. regarding social or political issues.
Stockholm syndrome: feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.
stolid: unexcitable; unemotional. not easily aroused or excited; dull.
syncope: a cutting short of something; sudden cessation or interruption; fainting; temporary loss of consciousness caused by an insufficient flow of blood to the brain.
supremacism: a person who believes in the supremacy of a particular (specified) racial, social, etc., group; an advocate of the supremacy of a particular group, esp. one determined by race or sex.
xenophobia: a deep antipathy to foreigners or to foreign things; intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries.
monomania: obsession with single subject only.
obsequious: fawning, servile obedience.
sagacious: of keen penetration and judgment; wise.
recidivism: a tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern of behavior; esp., into prior criminal habits.
recalcitrant: stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.
Potemkin village: a false front or facade.
inexorable: impossible to stop or prevent; (of a person) impossible to persuade by request or entreaty.
leviathan: a very large aquatic creature, esp. a whale; a thing that is very large or powerful; an autocratic monarch or state.
madrasa: a building or group of buildings used for teaching Islamic theology and religious law, typically including a mosque.
admonition: gentle or friendly reproof; friendly warning.
maraud: to rove and raid in search of plunder; to raid or pillage for spoils.
meta-: denoting a nature of a higher order or more fundamental kind, as metalanguage, metatheory; denoting position behind, at the back, or after.
modus operandi: a particular way or method of doing something, esp. one that is characteristic or well-established; the way something operates or works.
monoculture: a single, homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension; the cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country.
motley: a heterogeneous, often incongruous mixture of elements; having elements of great variety or incongruity; heterogeneous; having many colors; variegated; parti-colored.
myopic: nearsighted; lacking imagination, foresight, or intellectual insight.
nouveau: new, fashionable; new person, new thing; modern; up to date.
odious: arousing or meriting strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure.
progenitor: a person or thing from which a person, animal or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent; a person who originates an artistic, political, or intellectual movement.
progeny: a descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring
proliferation: rapid increase in numbers; rapid reproduction of a cell, part, or organism; a large number of something.
promulgate: promote or make widely known (an idea or cause); put (a law or decree) into effect by official proclamation.
adumbrate: to outline; to foreshadow; to suggest; to shade.
quasi: seemingly; apparently but not really; being partly or almost.
pseudo: not genuine; sham; false, counterfeit, pretended, spurious; intellectually or socially pretentious; insincere, affected; meaningless.
stratification: the condition of being stratified; a layered configuration; formation or deposition of layers, as of rock or sediments.
solipsism: the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.
relativism: the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.
asceticism: the principles and practices of an ascetic; extreme self-denial and austerity. the doctrine that the ascetic life releases the soul from bondage to the body and permits union with the divine.
austerity: the quality of being austere; the trait of great self-denial (especially refraining from worldly pleasures); severe and rigid economy; reduced availability of luxuries and consumer goods.
complex systems: complex systems is a new approach to science that studies how relationships between parts give rise to the collective behaviors of a system and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment.
ecumenical: promoting or relating to unity among the world's Christian churches.
emergence: in philosophy, systems theory, science and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems.
epistemology: the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity; the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity.
meme: an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation; an image, video, phrase, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.
paradox: a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true; a phenomenon that exhibits some contradiction or conflict with preconceived notions of what is reasonable or possible; a person of perplexingly inconsistent life or behavior; a statement or tenet contrary to received opinion or belief, esp. one that is incredible, absurd, or fantastic.
syncretic: uniting and blending together different belief systems.
onus: burden; also, blame; stigma.
nescience: lack of knowledge or awareness.
introspection: the act or process of self-examination; reflection.
metacognition: cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing.
existentialism: a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
utilitarianism: the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.
nihilism: the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.
determinism: the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will.
ontology: the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.
authoritarian: characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom; favoring, denoting, or relating to government by a small elite with wide powers.
commoditization: the action of turning something into or treating something as a (mere) commodity.
corporatization: to be influenced by or take on the features of a large commercial business, esp. in being bureaucratic and uncaring; the spread of corporate structure.
corporatocracies: describing a situation in which corporate bodies interact with sovereign power in an unhealthy alignment between business and political power. It describes an elite, sometimes termed the "1 percent," which maintains ties between business and government, sometimes by lobbying efforts or funding political advertising campaigns, or providing bailouts when corporations are seen as too big to fail, for the purpose of controlling government and dictating policy to serve its financial interests.
coup d'etat: a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
despot: a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.
duopoly: a situation in which two suppliers dominate the market for a commodity or service.
dystopian: an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally-degraded one.
economies of scale: the decrease in unit cost of a product or service resulting from large-scale operations, as in mass production.
fiat currency: inconvertible paper money of no real value, made legal tender by Government decree; money declared by a government to be legal tender though it is not convertible into standard specie.
hegemony: leadership or dominance, esp. by one country or social group over others.
imperialism: a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force; chiefly historical rule by an emperor.
industrialization: is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one. It is a part of a wider modernization process, where social change and economic development are closely related with technological innovation, particularly with the development of large-scale energy and metallurgy production. It is the extensive organization of an economy for the purpose of manufacturing.
industrial revolution: the complex of radical socioeconomic changes that are brought about when extensive mechanization of production systems results in a shift from home-based hand manufacturing to large-scale factory production.
Keitel and Jodl: Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl were defendants of the Nuremberg Trials who unsuccessfully used the defense of "following orders" during their trials. They were both tried, sentenced to death and hanged as a war criminals.
oligarchists: a member of an oligarchy; any of a small group holding power in a state. also, an advocate or supporter of oligarchy.
oligarchy: a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
ollieism: a subordinate acting illegally or unethically to get a job done because he wants to please his boss.
plutocracies: government by wealth or by the wealthy; a ruling or influential class of wealthy people.
Posse Comitatus: a federal statute prohibiting use of the military in civilian law enforcement.
surreptitious: done, made, or gotten by stealth; also, marked by stealth.
superannuated: belonging to a superannuation plan; obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments.
parsimony: excessive sparingness in the expenditure of money.
sycophant: a servile or abject flatterer; an obsequious person, a toady; a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage.
transgenic: an organism whose genome has been altered by the transfer of a gene or genes from another species or breed; in industry they are used to produce a desired substance or quality.
ubiquitous: present, appearing, or found everywhere; omnipresent.
unadulterated: complete, sheer, utter; not mixed or diluted with any different or extra elements; complete and absolute.
plenipotentiary: invested with full power.
unhomogenized: not having undergone homogenization; not purposefully made to being similar or comparable in kind or nature.
vehemently: esp. of an utterance, very forcibly or passionately expressed; caused by or indicative of strong feeling or excitement; of an action. characterized by or performed with exceptional force or violence.
vicissitude: change or mutability regarded as a natural process or tendency in human affairs; the fact or liability of change occurring in a specified thing or area; an instance of this; changes in circumstances; uncertainties or variations of fortune or outcome.
perfunctory: done routinely. performed mechanically.
visceral: of or relating to the viscera, the visceral nervous system; relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.
iconography: the visual images, symbols or modes of representation collectively associated with a person, cult, or movement; as in the iconography of pop culture.
supererogatory: going beyond what is required or expected; also, superfluous, unnecessary.
apoptosis: programmed cell death
plebeian: common; vulgar.
multifarious: having great diversity or variety.
milieu: environment; setting.
miasma: a thick vaporous atmosphere, often noxious.
