Allege

(v.) to assert without proof or confirmation

Syns: claim, contend Ants: prove, deny

Arrant

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

syns: egregious, unmitigated

Badinage

 (n.) light and playful conversation

Syns: banter, persiflage, repartee Ants: sermon

Conciliate

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

Syns: placate, mollify, propitiate

Ants: antagonize, alienate, estrange

 Countermand

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

Syns: recall, revoke

Ants: 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

Syns: level, rank

Exacerbate

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

Syns: aggravate, intensify, worsen

Ants: alleviate, mitigate, ameliorate

Fatuous

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

 Syns: silly, vapid, inane, doltish, vacuous

Ants: sensible, intelligent, perceptive, bright

Irrefutable

(adj.) impossible to disprove; beyond argument

Syns: indisputable, incontrovertible, undeniable

Ants: disputable, indefensible, untenable

Juggernaut

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

Lackadaisical

(adj.) lacking spirit or interest, halfhearted

Syns: listless, indolent, indifferent, lax

Ants: energetic, vigorous, wholehearted

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

Syns: rigmarole, catalog, megillah

Macabre

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

Syns: grotesque, grim, ghoulish

Paucity

(n.) an inadaquate quantity, scarcity, dearth

Syns: lack

Ants: abundance, glut, plenitude, deluge

Portend

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

 Syns: bode, foretell, foreshadow, suggest

Raze

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

Syns: pull down, demolish, shave off

Ants: build, construct, raise, erect

Recant

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

Syns: repudiate, disavow

Ants: reaffirm, reassert

 Saturate

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

Syns: permeate, drench, flood, imbue

Ants: drain

Saturnine

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

Syns: sullen, morose

Ants: lighthearted, 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

Syns: (v.) shed, slog

Ants: (v.) take on, acquire, assume