1.
adapt: to adjust or change to suit conditions
2.
attest: to bear witness, affirm to be true or genuine
3.
dovetail: to fit together exactly; to connect so as to form a whole; a carpentry figure resembling a dove's tail
4.
enormity: the quality of exceeding all moral bounds; an exceedingly evil act; huge size, immensity
5.
falter: to hesitate, stumble, lose courage; to speak hesitatingly; to lose drive, weaken, decline
6.
foreboding: a warning or feeling that something bad will happen; marked by fear, ominous
7.
forlorn: totally abandoned and helpless; sad and lonely; wretched or pitiful; almost helpless
8.
haughty: chillingly proud and scornful
9.
impediment: a physical defect; a hindrance, obstacle
10.
imperative: necessary, urgent; a form of verb expressing a command; that which is necessary or required
11.
loiter: to linger in an aimless way, hang around, dawdle, tarry
12.
malinger: to pretend illness to avoid duty or work, lie down on the job
13.
pithy: short but full of meaning and point
14.
plunder: to rob by force, especially during wartime; to seize wrongfully; property stolen by force
15.
simper: to smile or speak in a silly, forced way; a silly, forced smile
16.
steadfast: firmly fixed; constant, not moving or changing
17.
vaunted: much boasted about in a vain or swaggering way
18.
vilify: to abuse or belittle unjustly or maliciously
19.
waif: a person (usually a child) without a home or friend; a stray person or animal; something that comes along by chance, a stray bit
20.
wry: twisted, turned to one side; cleverly and often grimly humorous