knack

knack    [nak]

noun.  a special skill or talent, often natural

"Donald Trump certainly has a knack for keeping his name in the news."

"The autistic kid had a strange knack for pronouncing long words."

"Dos Santos has a knack for goals on the big stage – he scored against Holland in last year’s World Cup."

snob

snob

snob    [snob]

noun.  a person who believes himself or herself 1) an expert in a given field, or 2) belongs to a superior social class and look down others

"wine snob, music snob, television snob, gaming snob..."

"Athens used to be a tough place for coffee snobs. But now you can revel in a perfect cup like Kageyo Cooperative Rwandan coffee. "

"Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a snob, but she's doing just fine."

"Many luxury brands are now ubiquitous, robing them of their snob value."

reticent

reticent    [Ret-uh-suh nt]

adjective. not revealing one's thoughts or feeling readily; reserved

"J.K. Rowling was reticent about sharing too many details about the first stage play of Harry Potter in her Twitter announcement."
"Hillary Clinton has been reticent in endorsing the $15-an-hour minimum wage, even as she has indicated some support for the effort."
"The boy, usually one of the most outspoken kids in the class, has been uncharacteristically reticent to talk about the incident."

dwarf

dwarf    [dwawrf]

verb.  to cause to seem small or insignificant in comparison

"On Tuesday NASA shared a new blue marble image of a fully illuminated earth. The image shows that the oceans dwarf the continents."
"The research investment in Alzheimer’s disease is currently dwarfed by spending on heart disease and cancer."
"LeBron James dwarfed all other players in athletic ability."

rebuke

rebuke    [ri-Byook]

verb. to express sharp disapproval or criticism

"Nobody likes to hear himself ridiculed, criticized, scolded or even mildly rebuked, even when he deserves it. It's part of being human. The First Lady is no different. Michele Obama recently told a story to a high school graduating class how tough the life of a President's wife can be."

"Donald Trump was questioning Senator John McCain's heroism as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.  Hillary Clinton rebuked Donald Trump for insulting 'a genuine war hero.'"

"Google said a hacking attack to its Gmail service in June may have come from China. This was drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing."

purport

purport     [per-Pawrt]

verb.  to claim, often falsely 

"Georgia left the Union and joined the Confederate States of America in 1861, and released a statement devoted to the purported right of white people to own black people."

"Real scientists and medical professionals have been unambiguous on this -- the purported danger of childhood vaccines are lies."

"This JFK book is a novel and does not purport to solve any mysteries surrounding the killing of JFK."

culminate

culminate    [Kuhl-muh-neyt]

verb.  to reach the highest point or development stage

"The Iran Nuclear Deal culminates 20 months of negotiations on an agreement that President Obama has long sought as the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency."
"3D films became more and more successful in the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of movie Avatar in 2009."
"The goal of the New York Giants every year is to have the season culminate in a Super Bowl victory."