Facetious adj. Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

Tactile adj. (1) Of or connected with the sense of touch. (2) Perceptible by touch or apparently so; tangible: “A tactile keyboard.”

Propitious adj. (1) Indicating a good chance of success; favorable. “It was a propitious time to leave the party without offending the host.” (2) Favorably disposed toward someone.

Divergence n. (1) A difference or conflict in opinions, interests, wishes, etc. (2) The process or state of diverging.

Mitigate v. (1) Make less severe, serious, or painful: “he wanted to mitigate the damages in court.” (2) Lessen the gravity of (an offense or mistake).

Austerity n. (1) Sternness or severity of manner or attitude. (2) Extreme plainness and simplicity of style or appearance.

Fractious adj. (1) Easily irritated; bad-tempered: “they fight and squabble like fractious kids.” (2) (of an organization) Difficult to control; unruly.

Abysmal adj. Extremely bad; appalling. “The results were pretty abysmal;” “Abysmal failure.”

Paradox n. A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. An opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion, but may be factual.