flamboyant adj./n.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you say that someone or something is flamboyant, you mean that they are very noticeable, stylish, and exciting.

staff n./vt.

  1. N-COUNT-COLL The staff of an organization are the people who work for it.
  2. See also: Chief of Staff
  3. N-PLURAL People who are part of a particular staff are often referred to as staff.
  4. VERB If an organization is Staffed by particular people, they are the people who work for it.
  5. N-COUNT A staff is a strong stick or pole.
  6. A staff is the five lines that music is written on.

hideous adj.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you say that someone ir something is hideous, you mean that they are very ugly or unattractive.
  2. ADJ-GRADED You can describe an event, experience, or action as hideous when you mean that it is very unpleasant, painful, or difficult to bear.

monarch n.

  1. N-COUNT The monarch of a country is the king, queen, emperor, or empress.

brutal adj.

  1. ADJ-GRADED A brutal act or person is cruel and violent.
  2. ADJ-GRADED If someone expresses something unpleasant with brutal honesty or frankness, they express it in a clear and accurate way, without attempting to disguise its unpleasantness.
  3. ADJ-GRADED Brutal is used to describe things that have an unpleasant effect on people, especially when there is no attempt by anyone to reduce their effect.

sedate adj./vt.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you describe someone or something as sedate, you mean that they are quiet and rather dignified, through perhaps a bit of dull.
  2. ADJ-GRADED If you move along at a sedate pace, you move slowly, in a controlled way.
  3. VERB If someone is sedated, they are given a drug to calm them or to make them sleep.

pretentious adj.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you say that someone or something is pretentious, you mean that they try to seem important or significant, but you do not think that they are.

insulator n.

  1. N-COUNT An insulator is a material that insulates something.

canyon n.

  1. N-COUNT;N-IN-NAMES A canyon is a long, narrow valley with very steep sides.

eccentric n./adj.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you say that someone is eccentric, you mean that they behave in a strange way, and have habits or opinions that are different from those of most people.

momentous adj.

  1. ADJ-GRADED If you refer to a decision, event, or change as momentous, you mean that it is very important, often because of the effects that it will have in the future.

consecrate v./adj.

  1. VERB When a building, place, or object is consecrated, it is offically declared to be holy. When a person is consecrated, they are officially declared to be a bishop.

morphology n.

  1. N-UNCOUNT The morphology of something is its form and structure. In linguistics, morphology refers to the way words are constructed with stems, prefixes, and suffixes.