Vocab Unit 8 Definitions

Question 1

allege

Answer 1

(v) to assert without proof or confirmation

Question 2

arrant

Answer 2

(adj) thoroughgoing, out-and-out; shameless, blatant

Question 3

badinage

Answer 3

(n) light and playful conversation

Question 4

conciliate

Answer 4

(v) to overcome the distrust of, win over; to appease, pacify; to reconcile, make consistent

Question 5

countermand

Answer 5

(v) to cancel or reverse one order or command with another that is contrary to the first

Question 6

echelon

Answer 6

(n) one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; an organized military unit; a steplike formation or arrangement

Question 7

exacerbate

Answer 7

(v) to make more violent; severe, bitter, or painful

Question 8

fatuous

Answer 8

(adj) stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way

Question 9

irrefutable

Answer 9

(adj) impossible to disprove; beyond argument

Question 10

juggernaut

Answer 10

(n) a massive and inescapable force or object that crushes whatever is in its path

Question 11

lackadaisical

Answer 11

(adj) lacking spirit or interest, halfhearted

Question 12

litany

Answer 12

(n) a prayer consisting of short appeals to God recited by the leader alternating with responses from the congregation; any repetitive chant, a long list

Question 13

macabre

Answer 13

(adj) grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing; having death as a subject

Question 14

paucity

Answer 14

(n) an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth

Question 15

portend

Answer 15

(v) to indicate beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of

Question 16

raze

Answer 16

(v) to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off or out

Question 17

recant

Answer 17

(v) to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract

Question 18

saturate

Answer 18

(v) to soak thorougly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully

Question 19

saturnine

Answer 19

(adj) of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood

Question 20

slough

Answer 20

(v) to cast off, discard; to get rid of something objectionable or unnecessary; to plod through as if through mud; (n) a mire; a state of depression