to redress the balance	to make things equal again
lassitude	tiredness of mind and body
specious	seeming true but actually wrong
collusion	a secret agreement
a load of old cobblers	nonsense (idiom)
punitive	ready to fight, agressive
to swim against the tide	not to conform to accepted opinions etc (idiom)
lenient	merciful, not severe
respite	rest, relief
to precipitate	to cause sth to happen sooner
conversant with	familiar with, having knowledge of
spendthrift	sb who squanders money is called this
profoundly	throughout
to defuse	to lessen the anger of sb
to latch oneself on to sb	to become sb's constant companion
to hold the fort	to take over sb's responsibilities during his absence (idiom)
one's hope go west	a failure in one's plans (idiom)
blithe	happy, carefree
intrepid	dauntless, brave
perishable	likely to go bad easily
to get one's foot in the door	to have a first introduction to a profession (idiom)
to put sb in the picture	to cause sb to be fully informed (idiom)
to wait in the wings	to be ready to do sth or take over (idiom)
salubrious	(of a climate) health-giving
to warrant	to deserve or justify
severance pay	money given to the employee whose contract is terminated
to facilitate	to make easier to do, operate
backwater	a place of no progress
to be in a quandary	to be undecided, confused
by all accounts	according to what everybody says (idiom)
punctilious	(of behaviour) very attentive to details
to remonstrate	to complain, to protest
cornucopia	an abundant source of information
to juxtapose	to place two things next to each other to juxtapose them
to espouse	to support a theory
to promulgate	to proclaim, to disseminate
defunct	no longer effective
wherewithal	money/resources needed to do sth
succor	help/support given to sb in danger
not to be a patch on sth	not to be nearly as good as sth (idiom)
versimilitude	appearance of being true or real
to bite off more than one could chew	to try to do more than one is able to (idiom)
impecunious	having no or little money
mendacious	untruthful, lying