Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary: Level G: Unit 8 (copy)

allege

allege

(v.) to assert without proof or confirmation

(SYN: contend)

(ANT: prove)

arrant

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

(SYN: egregious, unmitigated)

badinage

(n.) light and playful conversation

(SYN: banter, persiflage, repartee)

(ANT: sermon)

conciliate

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

(SYN: mollify, propitiate)

(ANT: antagonize, alienate, estrange)

countermand

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

(SYN: recall, revoke)

(ANT: reaffirm, reassert)

echelon

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

(SYN: rank)

exacerbate

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

(SYN: intensify, worsen)

(ANT: alleviate, mitigate, ameliorate)

fatuous

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

(SYN: silly, vapid, inane, doltish, vacuous)

(ANT: intelligent, perceptive, bright)

irrefutable

(adj.) impossible to disprove; beyond argument

(SYN: indisputable, incontrovertible, undeniable)

(ANT: disputable, indefensible, untenable)

juggernaut

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

lackadaisical

(adj.) lacking spirit or interest, halfhearted

(SYN: indolent, indifferent, lax)

(ANT: energetic, vigorous, wholehearted)

litany

(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

(SYN: catalog, megillah)

macabre

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

(SYN: grim, ghoulish)

paucity

(n.) an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth

(SYN: lack)

(ANT: glut, plentitude, deluge)

portend

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

(SYN: bode, foretell, suggest)

raze

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

(SYN: pull down, demolish, shave off)

(ANT: build, construct, raise, erect)

recant

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

(SYN: repudiate, disavow)

(ANT: reassert)

saturate

(v.) to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully

(SYN: drench, flood, imbue)

(ANT: drain)

saturnine

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

(SYN: morose)

(ANT: cheerful, vivacious)

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

(SYN: shed, slog)

(ANT: take on, acquire, assume)