--All sinners were considered apostates in that religion.
Effusive: unduly demonstrative, lacking reserve/pouring out, overflowing
--The girl showered the new student with effusive greetings in an attempt to make her boyfriend jealous.
Impasse: a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock
--My project partner and I reached an impasse while arguing about what topic to choose, so we got little work done.
Euphoria: a state of happiness and self-confidence/a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania
--Kristina experienced a euphoric feeling after receiving her first gold medal; it was like she was floating on clouds.
Lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner
--That band tends to sing lugubrious songs about lost love.
Bravado: a pretentious, swaggering display of courage
--The winner was not humble at all: everyone at the ceremony took note his bravado as he walked offstage.
Consensus: majority of opinion/general agreement or concord; harmony
--We finally came to the consensus that we would indeed eat Chinese food at the Golden Gong that night.
Constrict: to draw or press in; to cause to contract or shrink; compress/to slow or stop the natural course of development of
--The little boy across the street kept making loud noises while I was trying to practice guitar, so Alyssa told me that I should throw a major artist's fit, throwing my instrument into the street and loudly accusing him of constricting my creative process.
Dichotomy: division in two parts, kinds, etc./division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups
--The dichotomy within the party itself is what caused the loss of the election to the rival party.
Gothic: noting or pertaining to a style of architecture, originating in France in the middle of the 12th century and existing in the western half of Europe through the middle of the 16th century, characterized by the use of the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, by the use of fine woodwork and stonework, by a progressive lightening of structure, and by the use of such features as flying buttresses, ornamental gables, crockets, and foils/pertaining to the Middle Ages; medieval
--The architecture student visited France to study Gothic cathedrals, so he may bring that style back in his works.
Punctilio: a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure/strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities or amenities
--The club insisted that every little punctilio had to be followed during initiation, or else the ceremony had to start over.
Metamorphosis: a complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft/any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc.
--The boy seemed to undergo a complete metamorphosis into a respectful young adult after going through the Scared Straight program.
--The children's grandfather was a true raconteur, he had an interesting story for just about any situation.
Sine qua non: an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential
--Kasie is sine qua non for parties; you just can't have one without her.
Quixotic: extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical or impracticable/impulsive or rashly unpredictable
--The man figured that any day might be his last, so he lived his life quixotically and didn't worry about consequences.
Vendetta: a private feud in which the members of the family of a murdered person seek to avenge the murder by killing the slayer or one of the slayer's relatives, especially such vengeance as once practiced in Corsica and parts of Italy/a prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry, contention, or the like
--Jessica swore a vendetta on the person that cut in front of her in line at Six Flags.
Non Sequitur: an inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises
--Her argument was solid until she reached the end, where we found an obvious non sequitur.
Mystique: a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning/an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit
--I am eternally occupied with the mystique behind surfing and the surrounding culture.
Quagmire: an area of miry or boggy ground whose surface yields under the tread; a bog/a situation of which extrication is very difficult
--The man seemed to be stuck forever in the quagmire that is credit card debt.
Parlous: perilous, dangerous
--Although Kim knew that the journey would be tough and parlous, she felt that she had to climb Mount Everest anyway.
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