maintain

brutal

BES-chuhl

behaving like a beast; brutal

primary

KAHRD-nul

of basic importance; primary

gullibility

kruh-DOO-li-tee

willingness to trust too readily

perceptive

dih-SUR-ning

able to show good judgment about the quality of something

take off

dof

take off (esp. of a clothing)

speak slowly

drawl

to speak slowly with words running together