jeremiad (en)

(noun) a long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes

leitmotif (en)

a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation

libretto (en)

(noun) the text of a work (as an opera) for the musical theater / (noun) the book containing a libretto (from Italian)

lubricious (en)

(adjective) marked by wantonness; lecherous / (adjective) salacious / (adjective) having a smooth or slippery quality

Mammon (en)

(noun) material wealth or possessions especially as having a debasing influence (from the New Testament)

mandarin (en)

(noun) historically, a high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire OR a pedantic or elitist bureaucrat OR senior person of influence in academia or literary circles / (adj) deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist

noumenal (en)

(noun) a posited object or event as it appears in itself independent of perception by the senses

palimpsest (en)

a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain

pallid (en)

(adjective) deficient in color; wan / (adjective) lacking sparkle or liveliness; dull

petite bourgeoisie (en)

(noun) the lower middle class including especially small shopkeepers and artisans

picaresque (en)

(adjective) of or relating to rogues or rascals / (adjective) of, relating to, suggesting, or being a type of fiction dealing with the episodic adventures of a usually roguish protagonist / (noun) one that is picaresque

plebiscite (en)

(noun) a vote by which the people of an entire country or district express an opinion for or against a proposal especially on a choice of government or ruler

prelapsarian (en)

(adjective) characteristic of or belonging to the time or state before the fall of humankind

propitiousness (en)

(adjective) favorably disposed; benevolent / (adjective) being a good omen; auspicious / (adjective) tending to favor; advantageous

rarefied (en)

(adjective) being less dense / (adjective) of, relating to, or interesting to a select group; esoteric / (adjective) very high / (verb) to make rare, thin, porous, or less dense; to expand without the addition of matter / (verb) to make more spiritual, refined, or abstruse / (verb) to become less dense

reifying (en)

make (something abstract) more concrete or real

reifying (en)

make (something abstract) more concrete or real

roman à clef (fr)

a novel in which real people or events appear with invented names

scabrous (en)

(adjective) difficult knotty / (adjective) ; rough to the touch; as / (adjective) having small raised dots, scales, or points / (adjective) covered with raised, roughened, or unwholesome patches / (adjective) dealing with suggestive, indecent, or scandalous themes; salacious / (adjective) squalid

sublation (en)

(verb) philosophy: to negate or eliminate (as an element in a dialectic process) but preserve as a partial element in a synthesis; assimilate (a smaller entity) into a larger one; used by Hegel

succor (en)

assistance and support in times of hardship and distress

synoptic (en)

(adjective) affording a general view of a whole / (adjective) manifesting or characterized by comprehensiveness or breadth of view / (adjective) presenting or taking the same or common view

telos (en)

(noun) an ultimate end (from Greek)

vicissitudes (en)

(noun) a change or variation occurring in the course of something; successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs

vituperation (en)

(noun) sustained and bitter railing and condemnation; vituperative utterance / (noun) an act or instance of vituperating