Allege
(v.) to assert without proof or confirmation
S: claim, contend
Arrant
(adj.) thoroughgoing, out-and-out; shameless, blatant
S: egregious, unmitigated
Badinage
(n.) light and playful conversation
S: banter, persiflage, repartee
Conciliate
(v.) to overcome the distrust of, win over; to appease, pacify; to reconcile, make consistent
S: placate, mollify, propitiate
Countermand
(v.) to cancel or reverse one order or command with another that is contrary to the first
S: recall, revoke
Echelon
(n.) one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; an organized military unit; a steplike formation or arrangement
S: level, rank
Exacerbate
(v.) to make more violent, severe, bitter, or painful
S: aggravate, intensify, worsen
Fatuous
(adj.) stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way
S: silly, vapid, inane, doltish, vacuous
Irrefutable
(adj.) impossible to disprove; beyond argument
S: indisputable, incontrovertible, undeniable
Juggernaut
(n.) a massive and inescapable force or object that whatever is in its path
Lackadaisical
(adj.) lacking spirit or interest, halfhearted
S: listless, indolent, indifferent, lax
Litany
(n.) prayer consisting of short appeals to God recited by the leader alternating with responses from the congregation; any repetitive chant; a long list
S: rigmarole, catalog, megillah
Macabre
(adj.) grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing; having death as a subject
S: grotesque, grim, ghoulish
Paucity
(n.) an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth
S: lack
Portend
(v.) to beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of
S: bode, foretell, foreshadow, suggest
Raze
(v.) to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off or out
S: pull down, demolish, shave off
Recant
(v.) to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract
S: repudiate, disavow
Saturate
(v.) to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully
S: permeate, drench, flood, imbue
Saturnine
(adj.) of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood
S: sullen, morose
Slough
(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
S: (v.) shed, slog