vocab #8 Flashcards
to assert without proof or confirmation
allege
thoroughgoing, out-and-out; shameless, blatant
arrant
light and playful conversation
badinage
to overcome the distrust of, win over; to appease, pacify; to reconcile, make consistent
conciliate
to cancel or reverse one order or command with another that is contrary to the first
countermand
one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; an organized military unit; a steplike formation or arrangement
echelon
to make more violent, severe, bitter, or painful
exacerbate
stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way
fatuous
impossible to disprove; beyond argument
irrefutable
a massive and inescapable force or object that crushes whatever is in its path
juggernaut
lacking in spirit or interest, halfhearted
lackadaisical
a prayer consisting of short appeals to God recited by the leader alternating with responses from the congregation; any repetitive chant; a long list
litany
grisly, gruesome, horrible, distressing; having death as a subject
macabre
an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth
paucity
to indicate beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of
portend
to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off of or out
raze
to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract
recant
to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully
saturate
of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood
saturnine
to cast off, discard; to get rid of something objectionable or unnecessary; to plod through as if through mud; a mire state of depression
slough
