to size up	to assess the quantity of sth/ to assess whether it's of interest to you or not
sighting	an instance of seeing/being seen
mesmeric	hypnotic
to stultify	to cause to be ineffective/ to negate
to wallow	to roll over/ to indulge oneself with sth
lassitude	tiredness of mind or body
ponderous	slow and awkward due to great weight/ without vigor, inspiration, dull
to ebb	to go out, to recede
the ebb and flow	constant fluctuation
on the ebb	diminishing, declining
sinister	implying wicked forces
undercurrent	underlying tendence or trend
to tarnish	to say things that harm sb/sb's reputation
to taint	to provide a small dose of sth
to subordinate	to follow certain rules/ to let oneself be controlled by sb
flagrant	bad, obvious, scandalous
vainglorious	full of vanity
ignoble	wicked, dishonorable
dubious	doubtful
pugnacious	inclined to fight, agressive
intermittently	not constantly
perfunctory	done as a routine
to exacerbate	to make even worse
a coterie	people who share beliefs or interests
to concur with	to agree with
to deviate from	to stray
to anticipate	to expect
indolent	lazy
lenient	merciful, not severe
ambivalent	not showing any emotions
opaque with	not transparent/ difficult to understand
to perch	to sit on the edge of sth
a respite from sth	interval of rest or relief
vat	huge container
to pluck	to pull out hair
bedraggled	wet and dirty/ extremely exhausted
to recuperate	to get well after an illness
whisker	hair near the cat's mouth
immutable	that cannot be changed
somersault	a movement in which sb turns over completely
to yank sb out of sth	to pull sth with a sudden movement
to precipitate	to cause sth to happen earlier
tired to the bone	extremely tired
to go under	to sink/ to be about to fail completely