12/16

fanatical (adjective)

    having an extreme, irrational zeal or enthusiasm for a specific cause

irrational (adjective)

    Not rational; unfounded or nonsensical.
        e.g.: an irrational decision

shroud (noun)

    That which clothes, covers, conceals, or protects; a garment.
    Especially, the dress for the dead; a winding sheet.
    That which covers or shelters like a shroud.

garment (noun)

    A single item of clothing.

fetter (noun)

    A chain or similar object used to bind a person or animal – often by its legs (usually in plural).
    Anything that restricts or restrains.

12/17

ignominy (noun)

    Great dishonor, shame, or humiliation.

sandbox (noun)

    A children's play area consisting of a box filled with sand.
    A box filled with sand that is shaped to form a mould for metal casting.
    A container for sand or pounce, used historically before blotting paper.
    An isolated area where a program can be executed with a restricted portion of the resources available.
        e.g.: Running a program in a sandbox can prevent it from doing any damage to the system.

pounce (verb)

    To sprinkle or rub with pounce powder.
        e.g.: to pounce paper, or a pattern

perforate (verb)

    to pierce; to penetrate
    to make a line of holes in a thin material to allow separation at the line

meticulous (adjective)

    Timid, fearful, overly cautious.
    Characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details.

12/18

timid (adjective)

    Lacking in courage or confidence.
        e.g.: John's a very timid person. I'll doubt he'll be brave enough to face his brother.

wrath (noun)

    Great anger.
        e.g.: Homer relates an episode in the Trojan War that reveals the tragic consequences of the wrath of Achilles.

wraith (noun)

    A ghost or specter, especially seen just after a person's death.

eidolon (noun)

    An image or representation of an idea; a representation of an ideal form; an apparition of some actual or imaginary entity, or of some aspect of reality.  
    A phantom, a ghost or elusive entity.

ghoul (noun)

    A spirit said to feed on corpses.
    A graverobber; a person with an undue interest in death and corpses.

12/19

undue (adjective)

    Excessive; going beyond that what is natural or sufficient.
        e.g.: To individuals who despise killings in any form, death penalty is undue punishment.
    That which ought not to be done; illegal; unjustified.
   
lough (noun)

    A lake or long, narrow inlet, especially in Ireland

inlet (noun)

    A body of water let into a coast, such as a bay, cove, fjord or estuary.
    A passage that leads into a cavity.

leint (verb)

    To urinate in an alcoholic beverage to increase its strength (18th century term)

amenity (noun)

    Pleasantness.
        e.g.: We especially enjoyed the amenity of the climate on our last holiday.
    A thing or circumstance that is welcome and makes life a little easier or more pleasant.
        e.g.: All the little amenities the hotel provided made our stay very enjoyable.

12/20

oligarchy (noun)

    A government run by only a few, often the wealthy.
    Those who make up an oligarchic government.
    A state ruled by such a government.

upscale (verb)

    To increase in size, to scale up.

condense (verb)

    To decrease size or volume by concentration toward the essence.
        e.g.: Boiling off water condenses a thin sauce into a soupier mixture.
    To make more close, compact, or dense; to compress or concentrate.

exaggerate (verb)

    To overstate, to describe more than is fact.
        e.g.: I've told you a billion times not to exaggerate!

downplay (verb)

    To de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential.
        e.g.: He would sometimes downplay his Princeton education by saying simply that he went to school in New Jersey.