Tergiversate

–verb (used without object), -sat·ed, -sat·ing.

1.

to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate.

2.

to turn renegade.

Pedant

1. One who pays undue attention to book learning and formal rules.
2. One who exhibits one's learning or scholarship ostentatiously.
3. A person who relies too much on academic learning or who is concerned chiefly with insignificant detail.

De Novo

Latin expression meaning "beginning anew", "afresh".

bildungsroman

A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character.

Sisyphean

1. of or pertaining to Sisyphus.
2. endless and unavailing, as labor or a task.

Prevaricate

To depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation.

Theodicy

A vindication of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil.

A specific branch of theology and philosophy that attempts to reconcile the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the assumption of a benevolent God —ie. the problem of evil. An attempt to reconcile the co-existence of evil and God may thus be called "a theodicy".

Weltschmerz

Sadness over the evils of the world, especially as an expression of romantic pessimism.

Circumlocution

1. The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language.
2. Evasion in speech or writing.
3. A roundabout expression.

Sprachgefuhl

An intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate

Indigence

A state of extreme poverty or destitution.

Cachinnate

To laugh loudly or immoderately.

Fimbriate

Having fimbriae; fringed, as the edge of a petal or the opening of a duct.

Conduce

To lead or contribute to a result (usually fol. by to or toward): qualities that conduce to success.

Frigate

(1) A warship, usually of 4,000 to 9,000 displacement tons, that is larger than a destroyer and smaller than a cruiser, used primarily for escort duty.
(2) A high-speed, medium-sized sailing war vessel of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
(3) Archaic. A fast, light vessel, such as a sailboat.