glscz

1 ascetic adj.

living without any physical pleasures or comforts, especially for religious reasons:
an ascetic life

2 assiduous adj.

very careful to make sure that something is done properly or completely
[= meticulous]

assiduous in

He was assiduous in his attendance at church.
Even young children worked assiduously for a reward.

assiduity n.

3 assuage literary

to make an unpleasant feeling less painful or severe [= relieve]:
Nothing could assuage his guilt.

4 attenuate formal

to make something weaker or less:
an attenuated form of the polio virus

5 audacious

showing great courage or confidence in a way that is impressive or slightly shocking:
the risks involved in such an audacious operation

6 austere adj.

1 plain and simple and without any decoration:
the church's austere simplicity

2 someone who is austere is very strict and serious - used to show disapproval:
Her father is a very austere man.

3 an austere way of life is very simple and has few things to make it comfortable or enjoyable:
Cuthbert led an austere life of prayer and solitude.

7 autonomous

1 an autonomous place or organization is free to govern or control itself
[= independent]

an autonomous region/state/republic etc
Galicia is an autonomous region of Spain.

2 formal having the ability to work and make decisions by yourself without any help from anyone else [= independent]

8 aver past tense and past participle averred, present participle averring

formal
to say something firmly and strongly because you are sure that it is true [= declare]

9 banal

ordinary and not interesting, because of a lack of new or different ideas
[= trivial]:
conversations about the most banal subjects

banality n.

10 belie past tense and past participle belied, present participle belying

1 to give someone a false idea about something:
Her pleasant manner belied her true character.

2 to show that something cannot be true or real:
His cheerful smile belied his words.