1. prosopopeia — personification (Rhetoric)
The walls spoke silently of years of decaying neglect, the persistent prosopopeia of drywall and dust sounding its forlorn dirge for love’s opportunities lost.
2. apodictic — incontestable because demonstrable
In spite of her constant allusions to the spiritual basis of life, she seemed always to search for apodictic rules by which to live.
3. malversation — corrupt or improper conduct in office
The speaker bewailed the current political climate in his jeremiad, preaching that even blatant malversation was neither punished nor even illegal anymore.
4. tauromachia — a bullfight, bullfighting
Her taste for tauromachia showed a feral side that gave Pete pause.
5. catamite — a boy or youth in a sexual relationship with a man
Julius Caesar’s enemies often whispered that he had played the catamite on his path to political power.
6. epigraph — an inscription, on a building, statue, or the like
The epigraph at CIA headquarters — “The Truth Will Set You Free” — seems ironic unless one questions who is the subject of that sentence.
7. hypostatize — to treat as a distinct object or reality
The capitalization of all nouns in written German seems indicative of a tendency to hypostatize even the most abstract ideas.
8. maieutic — of or related to the Socratic method of education
Barzun compares the maieutic process to midwifery.
9. ambient — of the surrounding environment
It was impossible to hold an actual conversation, due to the ambient noise in the bar.
10. palliate — mitigate
The front-row seats proffered by the driver mitigated somewhat the damage done to my bike.