• abstruse = obscure, difficult to understand

• bistro = a small restaurant or bar

• bonhomie = easy good-humored friendliness

• copacetic = excellent or very good

• esoteric = restricted to, intended for, or understood by only an initiated few; secret or highly confidential

• garner = to earn or acquire something by effort; to collect or accumulate something such as information or facts; to gather something into storage or into a granary

• harpy = an offensive term for a woman regarded as bad-tempered or nagging; a predatory person, somebody who preys on others; in Greek mythology, a monster that was half woman and half bird of prey – the Harpies were thought to live on the Strophades Islands and carry out acts of vengeance on behalf of the gods.

• impervious = nor responsive, remaining unmoved and unaffected by other people’s opinions, arguments, or suggestions; not allowing passage into or through something

• implacable = unable to appease, impossible to pacify or to reduce in strength or force

• inapposite = unsuitable or out of place

• kabuki = traditional Japanese drama in which male actors play both male and female parts

• mauve = pale purple, a pale color between purple and blue or pink

• nadir = the lowest possible point

• opprobrium = scorn, contempt, or severe criticism; shame or disgrace that stems from disreputable behavior

• parlance = the style of speech or writing used by people in a particular context or profession

• pogrom = a planned campaign of persecution or extermination sanctioned by a government and directed against an ethnic group, especially against the Jews in tsarist Russia

• toady = NOUN: a self-serving person who behaves in a servile sycophantic manner, fawning on and flattering people with power or influence; VERB: to behave in a servile sycophantic manner, fawning on and flattering people with power or influence in order to achieve an advantage