1. turpitude — vileness, inherent wickedness
If you insist on demonstrating your turpitude before me, I shall have to absent myself, to take a turn or two abovedeck and try to erase these sights from my memory.
2. superlunary — celestial or heavenly as opposed to worldly
Maimonides here points out that, though human beings are far and away the best creation formed from this base matter, we humans are still perhaps infinitely far from the superlunary beings and realms upon which this chapter focuses.
3. brawn — [British] head cheese
Raffala never got used to the diet of his fellow students, which appeared to consist of little more than brawn and ale, with emphasis upon the latter.
4. canted — leaning, inclined, sloping; angled
Cherry held her cup so weakly that the coffee canted sharply towards the rim, almost spilling, but these places are always wise to the needs of their patients, and never fill the cups or bowls more than half full.
5. preterist — one who believes Apocalyptic prophecies in the Bible refer to events which have already occurred; devotee of the past
Gerry had done much research on the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as a firmly convinced preterist who saw all of Isaiah as referencing the horrific siege of Jerusalem and its aftermath.
6. nyctalopia — night blindness, inability to see clearly in dim light or at night
Yes, nyctalopia may be merely a consequence of aging, but it may also be a symptom of vitamin A deficiency.
7. patronymic — family name, surname, patronym
Usually, the Russian standard of using the two initials with the patronymic is sufficient to avoid confusion, although in this case it obviously failed.
8. hippomania — enthusiasm for horses
He inherited his father’s hippomania, but without that man’s fine ability to know when to cut his losses at the track.
9. dight — [archaic] to dress
As he stood in particolored livery dight he seemed almost as much a fool as he truly was.
10. exiguously — meagerly, scantily
She appeared before him so exiguously clad that he quite forgot why he had summoned her.
Bonus Vocabulary
(India, from Hindi)
keep chup — to keep quiet, to stay silent
But Paulie was wise to these sort of schemes, and knew he’d better keep chup or he’d find himself out on the street, no longer allowed into the hallowed halls where the Masterful Eleven made their home.