ENGLISH 8VOCAB

Allege

To assert without proof or confirmation; claim, contend

Arrant

Thoroughgoing, out-and-out, shameless, blatant; egregious, unmitigated

Badinage

Light and playful conversation, banter, persiflage, repartee

conciliate

to overcome the distrust of; win over; to appease; pacify; to reconcile; make consistent; placate, mollify, propitiate

countermand

to cancel or reverse one order or command with another that is contrary to the first: recall, revoke

echelon

one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; an organized military unit; a steplike formation or arrangement; level, rank

exacerbate

to make more violent, severe, bitter, or painful; aggravate, intensify, worsen

fatuous

stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way; silly; vapid, inane, doltish, vacuous

irrefutable

impossible to disprove; beyond argument; indisputable, incontrovertible, undeniable

juggernaunt

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

lackadaisical

lacking spirit of interest, halfhearted; listless, indolent, indifferent, lax.

litany

a prayer consisting of short appeals to God recited by the leader alternating with responses from the congregation; any repetitive chant; a long list; rigamarole; catalog, megillah.

macabre

grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing, having death as a asubject; grotesque, grim, ghoulish

paucity

an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth; lack

portend

to indicate beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of; bode, foretell, foreshadow, suggest

raze

to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off or out; pull down, demolish, shave off

recant

to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract; repudiate, disavow

saturate

to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity, to satisfy fully; permeate, drench, flood, imbue

saturnine

of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood; sullen, morose.

slough

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