Quietly allude to favour (6)
I believe the answer is:
prefer
'favour' is the definition.
(synonyms)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for prefer that I've seen before include "Value more highly" , "support" , "Advance" , "Like one better than another" , "Choose as more desirable, like better" .)