allege claim declaim exclaim state declare assert - are all synonyms and basically mean the same thing - to say something is true, without having proof. However, they are used in different situation. Alleged is often used to refer to someone who has been arrested for a crime, but has not yet been proven guilty in a court. "The alleged robber was jailed." Claim is used to mean a statement that someone owes you money for some reason. If I insure my car and it is damaged in an accident, I can file a claim with the insurance company to pay me. Declare is used many times to refer to some official statement. The government can declare a holiday. As I said before, all of these can be used where the basic meaning is true.