| A | B |
|---|
| allege | to assert without proof or confirmation |
| arrant | throughgoing, out-and-out; shameless, blatant |
| badinage | light and playful conversation |
| conciliate | to overcome the distrust of, win over; to appease, pacify; to reconcile, make consistent |
| countermand | to cancel or reverse one order or command with another that is contrary to the first |
| echelon | one of a series of grades in an organization or field of activity; an organized military unit; a steplike formation or arrangement |
| exacerbate | to make more violent, sever, bitter, or painful |
| fatuous | stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way |
| irrefutable | impossible to disprove; beyond argument |
| jaggernaut | a massive and inescapable force or object that crushes whatever is in its path |
| lackadaisical | lacking spirit or interest, halfhearted |
| 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 |
| macabre | grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing; having death as a subject |
| paucity | an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth |
| portend | to indicate beforehand that something is about to happen; to give advance warning of |
| raze | to tear down, destroy completely; to cut or scrape off or out |
| recant | to withdraw a statement or belief to which one has previously been committed, renounce, retract |
| saturate | to soak thoroughly, fill to capacity; to satisfy fully |
| saturnine | of a gloomy or surly disposition; cold or sluggish in mood |
| 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 |
