Assuage v. 1. To make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate: “to assuage one’s pain.” 2. to appease, satisfy, or relieve: “To assuage one’s hunger.” 3. to soothe or calm: “To assuage his fears;” “To assuage her anger.”

Vicarious [vi·car·i·ous] adj. 1. Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person: “A vicarious thrill.” 2. Acting or done for another: “A vicarious atonement.”

Transitory adj. 1. Not lasting, enduring, permanent, or eternal. 2.Lasting only a short time; brief; short-lived; temporary. “It was a transitory stage in the actor’s career.”

Rhetorical adj. Of or relating to rhetoric. Characterized by language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous.

Bloviate [blo·vi·ate] i.v. To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

Temerity n. Excessive confidence or boldness; audacity: “No one had the temerity to question her decision.”

Ignominious adj. Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame; humiliating: “An ignominious defeat.”

Diatribe n. 1. A bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism: “Repeated diatribes against the candidates.”

Clandestine [clan·des·tine] adj. 1. Kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit or improper purpose. “The CIA maintains clandestine operations in many countries.”

Eponym n. A person whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of something, such as a city or country. “George Washington is the eponym of Washington DC.”