to inculcate	to fix sth deeply, to ground
to play one's souls hearts out	to try really hard
severance pay	money given to the fired employee
intrepid	brave, dauntless
to put one's foot down	to disagree, to oppose
to be taken for a ride	to be deceived
superfluous	more than is needed
enamored	attracted, bewildered, bewitched
to have barring on sth	to have influence on sth
to reel against sth	to move unsteadily
skittish	fond of flirting/ difficult to control
somber	dark-coloured/ dull
to pick the tab for	to pay for
to taunt	to try to provoke sb by critical remarks
to foil	to thwart, to prevent sb from carrying sth out
vestige	a small, remaining part of sth that once existed
congenital	present from birth
asinine	extremely foolish
to beget	to be the cause/father of sth
solicitous	very concerned, anxious
to waive	to disregard
mind-blowing	causing mental excitement
landmark study	study that marks a very important stage in development of sth
morose	very unhappy & bad-tempered
herein	in this document/text
respectively	in the order mentioned
missive	a long, official letter
to intimidate	to frighten, to make sb shy
to flaunt	to sport, to show off
lofty	too proud of oneself, exalted
to laud	to praise, to glorify
to root for sb/sth	to cheer for sb, to be happy with sb
to elucidate	to explain, to add sth to make it clear
noxious	harmful, detrimental
arresting smile	attracting attention
dismay	confusion, disappointment
advent	arrival, approach of sth important
wheeze	a good idea/ a joke
flippant	not showing sufficient respect or seriousness
gait	way of walking/running
contentious	likely to disagree
to grace	to decorate, to do up