Antonyms:

agreement, amity, friendship, kindliness, regard, alliance, concord, harmony, kindness, sympathy.

* * * * *

ENTERTAIN.

Synonyms:

amuse, cheer, disport, enliven, interest, please, beguile, delight, divert, gratify, occupy, recreate.

To entertain, in the sense here considered, is to engage and pleasantly occupy the attention; to amuse is to occupy the attention in an especially bright and cheerful way, often with that which excites merriment or laughter; as, he entertained us with an amusing story. To divert is to turn from serious thoughts or laborious pursuits to something that lightly and agreeably occupies the mind; one may be entertained or amused who has nothing serious or laborious from which to be diverted. To recreate, literally to re-create, is to engage mind or body in some pleasing activity that restores strength and energy for serious work. To beguile is, as it were, to cheat into cheer and comfort by something that insensibly draws thought or feeling away from pain or disquiet. We beguile a weary hour, cheer the despondent, divert the preoccupied, enliven a dull evening or company, gratify our friends' wishes, entertain, interest, please a listening audience, occupy idle time, disport ourselves when merry, recreate when worn with toil; we amuse ourselves or others with whatever pleasantly passes the time without special exertion, each according to his taste.

Antonyms:

annoy, bore, busy, disquiet, distract, disturb, tire, weary.

* * * * *

ENTERTAINMENT.

Synonyms:

amusement, diversion, fun, pleasure, cheer, enjoyment, merriment, recreation, delight, frolic, pastime, sport.

Entertainment and recreation imply thought and mental occupation, tho in an agreeable, refreshing way; they are therefore words of a high order. Entertainment, apart from its special senses of a public performance or a social party, and predominantly even there, is used of somewhat mirthful mental delight; recreation may, and usually does, combine the mental with the physical. Amusement and pastime are nearly equivalent, the latter probably the lighter word; many slight things may be pastimes which we should hardly dignify by the name of amusements. Sports are almost wholly on the physical plane, tho involving a certain grade of mental action; fox-hunting, horse-racing, and baseball are sports. Certain sports may afford entertainment or recreation to certain persons, according to their individual tastes; but entertainment and recreation are capable of a meaning so high as never to be approached by any meaning of sport. Cheer may be very quiet, as the cheer of a bright fire to an aged traveler; merriment is with liveliness and laughter; fun and frolic are apt to be boisterous. Amusement is a form of enjoyment, but enjoyment may be too keen to be called amusement. Compare synonyms for ENTERTAIN.

Antonyms:

ennui, fatigue, labor, lassitude, toil, weariness, work.

* * * * *

ENTHUSIASM.

Synonyms:

ardor, excitement, frenzy, transport, devotion, extravagance, inspiration, vehemence, eagerness, fanaticism, intensity, warmth, earnestness, fervency, passion, zeal. ecstasy, fervor, rapture,

The old meaning of enthusiasm implies a pseudo-inspiration, an almost frantic extravagance in behalf of something supposed to be an expression of the divine will. This sense remains as the controlling one in the kindred noun enthusiast. Enthusiasm has now chiefly the meaning of an earnest and commendable devotion, an intense and eager interest. Against the hindrances of the world, nothing great and good can be carried without a certain fervor, intensity, and vehemence; these joined with faith, courage, and hopefulness make enthusiasm. Zeal is burning earnestness, always tending to vigorous action with all the devotion of enthusiasm, tho often without its hopefulness. Compare EAGER.

Antonyms:

calculation, caution, deadness, indifference, policy, timidity, calmness, coldness, dulness, lukewarmness, prudence, wariness.

* * * * *

ENTRANCE.

Synonyms:

access, approach, gate, introduction, accession, door, gateway, opening, adit, doorway, ingress, penetration, admission, entree, inlet, portal. admittance, entry,

Entrance, the act of entering, refers merely to the fact of passing from without to within some enclosure; admission and admittance refer to entering by or with some one's consent, or at least to opportunity afforded by some one's act or neglect. We may effect or force an entrance, but not admittance or admission; those we gain, procure, obtain, secure, win. Admittance refers to place, admission refers also to position, privilege, favor, friendship, etc. An intruder may gain admittance to the hall of a society who would not be allowed admission to its membership. Approach is a movement toward another; access is coming all the way to his presence, recognition, and consideration. An unworthy favorite may prevent even those who gain admittance to a king's audience from obtaining any real access to the king. Entrance is also used figuratively for setting out upon some career, or becoming a member of some organization; as, we speak of one's entrance upon college life, or of entrance into the ministry.

Antonyms:

departure, ejection, exit, refusal, withdrawal. egress, exclusion, expulsion, rejection,

Prepositions:

Entrance into a place; on or upon a work or course of action; into or upon office; into battle; by or through the door; within the gates; into or among the company.

* * * * *

ENVIOUS.

Synonyms:

jealous, suspicious.

One is envious who cherishes selfish ill will toward another because of his superior success, endowments, possessions, or the like. A person is envious of that which is another's, and to which he himself has no right or claim; he is jealous of intrusion upon that which is his own, or to which he maintains a right or claim. An envious spirit is always bad; a jealous spirit may be good or bad, according to its object and tendency. A free people must be jealous of their liberties if they would retain them. One is suspicious of another from unfavorable indications or from a knowledge of wrong in his previous conduct, or even without reason. Compare DOUBT.

Antonyms:

contented, friendly, kindly, satisfied, trustful, well-disposed.

Prepositions:

Envious of (formerly at or against) a person; envious of his wealth or power; envious of him for, because of, on account of his wealth or power.

* * * * *

EQUIVOCAL.

Synonyms:

ambiguous, enigmatical, indistinct, questionable, doubtful, indefinite, obscure, suspicious, dubious, indeterminate, perplexing, uncertain. enigmatic,

Equivocal (L. equus, equal, and vox, voice, word) denotes that which may equally well be understood in either of two or more ways. Ambiguous (L. ambi, around, and ago, drive, lead) signifies lacking in distinctness or certainty, obscure or doubtful through indefiniteness of expression. Ambiguous is applied only to spoken or written statements; equivocal has other applications. A statement is ambiguous when it leaves the mind of the reader or hearer to fluctuate between two meanings, which would fit the language equally well; it is equivocal when it would naturally be understood in one way, but is capable of a different interpretation; an equivocal expression is, as a rule, intentionally deceptive, while an ambiguous utterance may be simply the result of a want either of clear thought or of adequate expression. That which is enigmatical must be guessed like a riddle; a statement may be purposely made enigmatical in order to provoke thought and study. That is doubtful which is fairly open to doubt; that is dubious which has become the subject of doubts so grave as scarcely to fall short of condemnation; as, a dubious reputation. Questionable may be used nearly in the sense either of dubious or of doubtful; a questionable statement is one that must be proved before it can be accepted. To say that one's honesty is questionable is a mild way of saying that in the opinion of the speaker he is likely to prove dishonest. Equivocal is sometimes, tho more rarely, used in this sense. A suspicious character gives manifest reason to be suspected; a suspicious temper is inclined to suspect the motives and intentions of others, with or without reason. Compare CLEAR.

Antonyms:

certain, evident, lucid, perspicuous, unequivocal, clear, indisputable, manifest, plain, unquestionable, distinct, indubitable, obvious, unambiguous, unquestioned.

* * * * *

ESTEEM, v.

Synonyms:

appreciate, consider, estimate, prize, think, calculate, deem, hold, regard, value.

Esteem and estimate alike imply to set a certain mental value upon, but esteem is less precise and mercantile than calculate or estimate. We esteem a jewel precious; we estimate it to be worth so much money. This sense of esteem is now chiefly found in literary or oratorical style, and in certain conventional phrases; as, I esteem it an honor, a favor. In popular usage esteem, as said of persons, denotes a union of respect and kindly feeling and, in the highest sense, of moral approbation; as, one whom I highly esteem; the word may be used in a similar sense of material things or abstractions; as, one whose friendship I esteem; a shell greatly esteemed for inlaid work. To appreciate anything is to be deeply or keenly sensible of or sensitive to its qualities or influence, to see its full import, be alive to its value, importance, or worth; as, to appreciate beauty or harmony; to appreciate one's services in a cause; the word is similarly, tho rarely, used of persons. To prize is to set a high value on for something more than merely commercial reasons. One may value some object, as a picture, beyond all price, as a family heirloom, or may prize it as the gift of an esteemed friend, without at all appreciating its artistic merit or commercial value. To regard (F. regarder, look at, observe) is to have a certain mental view favorable or unfavorable; as, I regard him as a friend; or, I regard him as a villain; regard has a distinctively favorable sense as applied to institutions, proprieties, duties, etc., but does not share the use of the noun regard as applied to persons; we regard the Sabbath; we regard a person's feelings; we have a regard for the person. Compare ESTEEM, n.

* * * * *

ESTEEM, n.

Synonyms:

estimate, estimation, favor, regard, respect.

Esteem for a person is a favorable opinion on the basis of worth, especially of moral worth, joined with a feeling of interest in and attraction toward the person. Regard for a person is the mental view or feeling that springs from a sense of his value, excellence, or superiority, with a cordial and hearty friendliness. Regard is more personal and less distant than esteem, and adds a special kindliness; respect is a more distant word than esteem. Respect may be wholly on one side, while regard is more often mutual; respect in the fullest sense is given to what is lofty, worthy, and honorable, or to a person of such qualities; we may pay an external respect to one of lofty station, regardless of personal qualities, showing respect for the office. Estimate has more of calculation; as, my estimate of the man, or of his abilities, is very high. Estimation involves the idea of calculation or appraisal with that of esteem or regard, and is especially used of the feeling entertained by numbers of people; as, he stood high in public estimation. Compare ESTEEM, v.; FRIENDSHIP; LOVE.

Antonyms:

abhorrence, aversion, dislike, loathing, antipathy, contempt, hatred, repugnance.

* * * * *

ETERNAL.

Synonyms:

deathless, fadeless, never-failing, undying, endless, immortal, perennial, unending, eonian, imperishable, perpetual, unfading, everlasting, interminable, timeless, unfailing, ever-living, never-ending, unceasing, without end.

Eternal strictly signifies without beginning or end, in which sense it applies to God alone; everlasting applies to that which may or may not have beginning, but will never cease; eternal is also used in this more limited sense; endless, without end, in its utmost reach, is not distinguishable from everlasting; but endless is constantly used in inferior senses, especially in mechanics, as in the phrases an endless screw, an endless chain. Everlasting and endless are both used in a limited sense of protracted, indefinite, but not infinite duration; as, the everlasting hills; endless debates; so we speak of interminable quarrels. Eternal holds quite strictly to the vast and sacred meaning in which it is applied to the Divine Being and the future state. Everlasting, endless, and eternal may be applied to that which has no life; as, everlasting chains, endless night, eternal death; immortal applies to that which now has life, and is forever exempt from death. Timeless carries, perhaps, the fullest idea of eternal, as above and beyond time, and not to be measured by it.

* * * * *

EVENT.

Synonyms:

case, contingency, fortune, outcome, chance, end, incident, possibility, circumstance, episode, issue, result, consequence, fact, occurrence, sequel.

Etymologically, the incident is that which falls in, the event that which comes out; event is thus greater and more signal than incident; we speak of trifling incidents, great events; incidents of daily life, events of history. Circumstance agrees with incident in denoting a matter of relatively slight importance, but implies a more direct connection with the principal matter; "circumstantial evidence" is evidence from seemingly minor matters directly connected with a case; "incidental evidence" would be some evidence that happened unexpectedly to touch it. An occurrence is, etymologically, that which we run against, without thought of its origin, connection or tendency. An episode is connected with the main course of events, like an incident or circumstance, but is of more independent interest and importance. Outcome is the Saxon, and event the Latin for expressing the same original idea. Consequence or result would express more of logical connection, and be more comprehensive. The end may be simple cessation; the event is what has been accomplished; the event of a war is victory or defeat; the end of the war is reached when a treaty of peace is signed. Since the future is contingent, event comes to have the meaning of a contingency; as, in the event of his death, the policy will at once fall due. Compare CIRCUMSTANCE; CONSEQUENCE; END.

* * * * *

EVERY.

Synonyms:

all, any, both, each, either.

All and both are collective; any, each, and every are distributive. Any makes no selection and may not reach to the full limits of all; each and every make no exception or omission, and must extend to all; all sweeps in the units as part of a total, each and every proceed through the units to the total. A promise made to all omits none; a promise made to any may not reach all; a promise made to every one is so made that no individual shall fail to be aware of it; a promise made to each is made to the individuals personally, one by one. Each is thus more individual and specific than every; every classifies, each individualizes. Each divides, both unites; if a certain sum is given to each of two persons, both (together) must receive twice the amount; both must be aware of what has been separately communicated to each; a man may fire both barrels of a gun by a single movement; if he fires each barrel, he discharges them separately. Either properly denotes one of two, indefinitely, to the exclusion of the other. The use of either in the sense of each or both, tho sustained by good authority, is objectionable because ambiguous. His friends sat on either side of the room would naturally mean on one side or the other; if the meaning is on both sides, it would be better to say so.

* * * * *

EVIDENT.

Synonyms:

apparent, glaring, overt, tangible, clear, indubitable, palpable, transparent, conspicuous, manifest, patent, unmistakable, discernible, obvious, perceptible, visible. distinct, open, plain,

That is apparent which clearly appears to the senses or to the mind as soon as the attention is directed toward it; that is evident of which the mind is made sure by some inference that supplements the facts of perception; the marks of a struggle were apparent in broken shrubbery and trampled ground, and the finding of a mutilated body and a rifled purse made it evident that robbery and murder had been committed. That is manifest which we can lay the hand upon; manifest is thus stronger than evident, as touch is more absolute than sight; that the picture was a modern copy of an ancient work was evident, and on comparison with the original its inferiority was manifest. That is obvious which is directly in the way so that it can not be missed; as, the application of the remark was obvious. Visible applies to all that can be perceived by the sense of sight, whether the noonday sun, a ship on the horizon, or a microscopic object. Discernible applies to that which is dimly or faintly visible, requiring strain and effort in order to be seen; as, the ship was discernible through the mist. That is conspicuous which stands out so as necessarily or strikingly to attract the attention. Palpable and tangible express more emphatically the thought of manifest.

Antonyms:

concealed, impalpable, latent, secret, unknown, covert, impenetrable, obscure, undiscovered, unseen, dark, imperceptible, occult, unimagined, unthought-of. hidden, invisible,

* * * * *

EXAMPLE.

Synonyms:

archetype, ideal, prototype, type, ensample, model, sample, warning. exemplar, pattern, specimen, exemplification, precedent, standard,

From its original sense of sample or specimen (L. exemplum) example derives the seemingly contradictory meanings, on the one hand of a pattern or model, and on the other hand of a warning—a sample or specimen of what is to be followed, or of what is to be shunned. An example, however, may be more than a sample or specimen of any class; it may be the very archetype or prototype to which the whole class must conform, as when Christ is spoken of as being an example or leaving an example for his disciples. Example comes nearer to the possible freedom of the model than to the necessary exactness of the pattern; often we can not, in a given case, exactly imitate the best example, but only adapt its teachings to altered circumstances. In its application to a person or thing, exemplar can scarcely be distinguished from example; but example is most frequently used for an act, or course of action, for which exemplar is not used; as, one sets a good (or a bad) example. An exemplification is an illustrative working out in action of a principle or law, without any reference to its being copied or repeated; an example guides, an exemplification illustrates or explains. Ensample is the same as example, but is practically obsolete outside of Scriptural or theological language. Compare MODEL; SAMPLE.

* * * * *

EXCESS.

Synonyms:

dissipation, lavishness, redundance, surplus, exorbitance, overplus, redundancy, waste, extravagance, prodigality, superabundance, wastefulness. intemperance, profusion, superfluity,

Excess is more than enough of anything, and, since this in very many cases indicates a lack either of judgment or of self-control, the word is used frequently in an unfavorable sense. Careless expenditure in excess of income is extravagance; we may have also extravagance of language, professions, etc. As extravagance is excess in outlay, exorbitance is excess in demands, and especially in pecuniary demands upon others. Overplus and superabundance denote in the main a satisfactory, and superfluity an undesirable, excess; lavishness and profusion, a generous, bountiful, or amiable excess; as, a profusion of fair hair; lavishness of hospitality. Surplus is neutral, having none of the unfavorable meaning that often attaches to excess; a surplus is that which remains over after all demands are met. Redundance or redundancy refers chiefly to literary style, denoting an excess of words or matter. Excess in the moral sense is expressed by dissipation, prodigality, intemperance, etc.

Antonyms:

dearth, destitution, frugality, lack, scantiness, defect, economy, inadequacy, need, shortcoming, deficiency, failure, insufficiency, poverty, want.

* * * * *

EXECUTE.

Synonyms:

administer, carry out, do, enforce, perform.

To execute is to follow through to the end, put into absolute and final effect in action; to administer is to conduct as one holding a trust, as a minister and not an originator; the sheriff executes a writ; the trustee administers an estate, a charity, etc.; to enforce is to put into effect by force, actual or potential. To administer the laws is the province of a court of justice; to execute the laws is the province of a sheriff, marshal, constable, or other executive officer; to administer the law is to declare or apply it; to execute the law is to put it in force; for this enforce is the more general word, execute the more specific. From signifying to superintend officially some application or infliction, administer passes by a natural transition to signify inflict, mete out, dispense, and blows, medicine, etc., are said to be administered: a usage thoroughly established and reputable in spite of pedantic objections. Enforce signifies also to present and urge home by intellectual and moral force; as, to enforce a precept or a duty. Compare DO; KILL; MAKE.

* * * * *

EXERCISE.

Synonyms:

act, application, exertion, performance, action, drill, occupation, practise, activity, employment, operation, use.

Exercise, in the ordinary sense, is the easy natural action of any power; exertion is the putting of any power to strain and tax. An exercise-drive for a horse is so much as will develop strength and health and not appreciably weary. But by qualifying adjectives we may bring exercise up to the full sense of exertion; as, violent exercise. Exercise is action taken at any time with a view to employing, maintaining, or increasing power, or merely for enjoyment; practise is systematic exercise with a view to the acquirement of facility and skill in some pursuit; a person takes a walk for exercise, or takes time for practise on the piano. Practise is also used of putting into action and effect what one has learned or holds as a theory; as, the practise of law or medicine; a profession of religion is good, but the practise of it is better. Drill is systematic, rigorous, and commonly enforced practise under a teacher or commander. Compare HABIT.

Antonyms:

idleness, inaction, inactivity, relaxation, rest.

* * * * *

EXPENSE.

Synonyms:

cost, expenditure, outgo, outlay.

The cost of a thing is whatever one surrenders or gives up for it, intentionally or unintentionally, or even unconsciously; expense is what is laid out by calculation or intention. We say, "he won his fame at the cost of his life;" "I know it to my cost;" we speak of a joke at another's expense; at another's cost would seem to make it a more serious matter. There is a tendency to use cost of what we pay for a possession, expense of what we pay for a service; we speak of the cost of goods, the expense of making up. Outlay is used of some definite expenditure, as for the purchase of supplies; outgo of a steady drain or of incidental expenses. See PRICE.

Antonyms:

gain, proceeds, profit, receipt, return, income, product, profits, receipts, returns.

* * * * *

EXPLICIT.

Synonym:

express.

Both explicit and express are opposed to what is merely implicit or implied. That which is explicit is unfolded, so that it may not be obscure, doubtful, or ambiguous; that which is express is uttered or stated so decidedly that it may not be forgotten nor overlooked. An explicit statement is too clear to be misunderstood; an express command is too emphatic to be disregarded. Compare CLEAR.

Antonyms:

ambiguous, implicit, indefinite, uncertain, doubtful, implied, indeterminate, vague.

* * * * *

EXTEMPORANEOUS.

Synonyms:

extemporary, impromptu, offhand, extempore, improvised, unpremeditated.

Extemporaneous, originally signifying of or from the time or occasion, has come to mean done or made with but little (if any) preparation, and is now chiefly applied to addresses of which the thought has been prepared, and only the language and incidental treatment left to the suggestion of the moment, so that an extemporaneous speech is understood to be any one that is not read or recited; impromptu keeps its original sense, denoting something that springs from the instant; the impromptu utterance is generally brief, direct, and vigorous; the extemporaneous speech may chance to be prosy. Offhand is still more emphatic as to the readiness and freedom of the utterance. Unpremeditated is graver and more formal, denoting absolute want of preparation, but is rather too heavy a word to be applied to such apt, ready utterance as is generally designated by impromptu.

Antonyms:

elaborated, premeditated, prepared, read, recited, studied, written.

* * * * *

EXTERMINATE.

Synonyms:

annihilate, eradicate, overthrow, uproot, banish, expel, remove, wipe out. destroy, extirpate, root out,

Exterminate (L. ex, out, and terminus, a boundary) signified primarily to drive beyond the bounds or limits of a country; the word is applied to races of men or animals, and is now almost exclusively used for removal by death; individuals are now said to be banished or expelled. Eradicate (L. e, out, and radix, root) is primarily applied to numbers or groups of plants which it is desired to remove effectually from the soil; a single tree may be uprooted, but is not said to be eradicated; we labor to eradicate or root out noxious weeds. To extirpate (L. ex, out, and stirps, stem, stock) is not only to destroy the individuals of any race of plants or animals, but the very stock, so that the race can never be restored; we speak of eradicating a disease, of extirpating a cancer, exterminating wild beasts or hostile tribes; we seek to eradicate or extirpate all vices and evils. Compare ABOLISH.

Antonyms:

augment, build up, develop, increase, populate, replenish, beget, cherish, foster, plant, propagate, settle. breed, colonize,

* * * * *

FAINT.

Synonyms:

dim, fatigued, irresolute, weak, exhausted, feeble, languid, wearied, faded, half-hearted, listless, worn, faint-hearted, ill-defined, purposeless, worn down, faltering, indistinct, timid, worn out.

Faint, with the general sense of lacking strength or effectiveness, covers a wide range of meaning, signifying overcome with physical weakness or exhaustion, or lacking in purpose, courage, or energy, as said of persons; or lacking definiteness or distinctness of color or sound, as said of written characters, voices, or musical notes. A person may be faint when physically wearied, or when overcome with fear; he may be a faint adherent because naturally feeble or purposeless, or because half-hearted in the cause; he may be a faltering supporter because naturally irresolute or because faint-hearted and timid in view of perils that threaten, a listless worker, through want of mental energy and purpose. Written characters may be faint or dim, either because originally written with poor ink, or because they have become faded by time and exposure.

Antonyms:

bright, clear, daring, fresh, resolute, sturdy, brilliant, conspicuous, energetic, hearty, strong, vigorous.

Prepositions:

Faint with hunger; faint in color.

* * * * *

FAITH.

Synonyms:

assent, confidence, credit, opinion, assurance, conviction, creed, reliance, belief, credence, doctrine, trust.

Belief, as an intellectual process, is the acceptance of some thing as true on other grounds than personal observation and experience. We give credence to a report, assent to a proposition or to a proposal. Belief is stronger than credence; credence might be described as a prima facie belief; credence is a more formal word than belief, and seems to imply somewhat more of volition; we speak of giving credence to a report, but not of giving belief. Goods are sold on credit; we give one credit for good intentions. Conviction is a belief established by argument or evidence; assurance is belief beyond the reach of argument; as, the Christian's assurance of salvation. An opinion is a general conclusion held as probable, tho without full certainty; a persuasion is a more confident opinion, involving the heart as well as the intellect. In religion, a doctrine is a statement of belief regarding a single point; a creed is a summary statement of doctrines. Confidence is a firm dependence upon a statement as true, or upon a person as worthy. Reliance is confidence on which we act or are ready to act unquestioningly; we have a calm reliance upon the uniformity of nature. Trust is a practical and tranquil resting of the mind upon the integrity, kindness, friendship, or promises of a person; we have trust in God. Faith is a union of belief and trust. Faith is chiefly personal; belief may be quite impersonal; we speak of belief of a proposition, faith in a promise, because the promise emanates from a person. But belief in a person is often used with no appreciable difference from faith. In religion it is common to distinguish between intellectual belief of religious truth, as any other truth might be believed, and belief of the heart, or saving faith.

Antonyms:

denial, dissent, doubt, infidelity, rejection, suspicion, disbelief, distrust, incredulity, misgiving, skepticism, unbelief.

Prepositions:

Have faith in God; the faith of the gospel.

* * * * *

FAITHFUL.

Synonyms:

devoted, incorruptible, stanch, true, trusty, firm, loyal, sure, trustworthy, unwavering.

A person is faithful who will keep faith, whether with or without power to aid or serve; a person or thing is trusty that possesses such qualities as to justify the fullest confidence and dependence. We may speak of a faithful but feeble friend; we say a trusty agent, a trusty steed, a trusty sword.

Antonyms:

capricious, false, unfaithful, untrustworthy, faithless, fickle, untrue, wavering.

Prepositions:

Faithful in service; to duty; to comrade or commander; faithful among the faithless.

* * * * *

FAME.

Synonyms:

celebrity, eminence, honor, notoriety, reputation, credit, glory, laurels, renown, repute. distinction,

Fame is the widely disseminated report of a person's character, deeds, or abilities, and is oftenest used in the favorable sense. Reputation and repute are more limited than fame, and may be either good or bad. Notoriety is evil repute or a dishonorable counterfeit of fame. Eminence and distinction may result from rank, station, or character. Celebrity is limited in range; we speak of local celebrity, or world-wide fame. Fame in its best sense may be defined as the applause of numbers; renown, as such applause worthily won; we speak of the conqueror's fame, the patriot's renown. Glory and honor are of good import; honor may be given for qualities or acts that should not win it, but it is always given as something good and worthy; we can speak of an evil fame, but not of evil honor; glory has a more exalted and often a sacred sense.

Antonyms:

contempt, discredit, dishonor, humiliation, infamy, obscurity, contumely, disgrace, disrepute, ignominy, oblivion, shame.

* * * * *

FANATICISM.

Synonyms:

bigotry, credulity, intolerance, superstition.

Fanaticism is extravagant or even frenzied zeal; bigotry is obstinate and unreasoning attachment to a cause or creed; fanaticism and bigotry usually include intolerance, which is unwillingness to tolerate beliefs or opinions contrary to one's own; superstition is ignorant and irrational religious belief. Credulity is not distinctively religious, but is a general readiness to believe without sufficient evidence, with a proneness to accept the marvellous. Bigotry is narrow, fanaticism is fierce, superstition is ignorant, credulity is weak, intolerance is severe. Bigotry has not the capacity to reason fairly, fanaticism has not the patience, superstition has not the knowledge and mental discipline, intolerance has not the disposition. Bigotry, fanaticism, and superstition are perversions of the religious sentiment; credulity and intolerance often accompany skepticism or atheism.

Antonyms:

cynicism, free-thinking, indifference, latitudinarianism.

* * * * *

FANCIFUL.

Synonyms:

chimerical, fantastic, grotesque, imaginative, visionary.

That is fanciful which is dictated or suggested by fancy independently of more serious considerations; the fantastic is the fanciful with the added elements of whimsicalness and extravagance. The fanciful swings away from the real or the ordinary lightly and pleasantly, the fantastic extravagantly, the grotesque ridiculously. A fanciful arrangement of objects is commonly pleasing, a fantastic arrangement is striking, a grotesque arrangement is laughable. A fanciful theory or suggestion may be clearly recognized as such; a visionary scheme is erroneously supposed to have a basis in fact. Compare synonyms for DREAM; IDEA; IMAGINATION.

Antonyms:

accurate, commonplace, prosaic, regular, sound, calculable, literal, real, sensible, sure, calculated, ordinary, reasonable, solid, true.

* * * * *

FANCY.

Synonyms:

belief, desire, imagination, predilection, caprice, humor, inclination, supposition, conceit, idea, liking, vagary, conception, image, mood, whim.

An intellectual fancy is a mental image or picture founded upon slight or whimsical association or resemblance; a conceit has less of the picturesque and more of the theoretic than a fancy; a conceit is somewhat aside from the common laws of reasoning, as a fancy is lighter and more airy than the common mode of thought. A conceit or fancy may be wholly unfounded, while a conception always has, or is believed to have, some answering reality. (Compare REASON.) An intellectual fancy or conceit may be pleasing or amusing, but is never worth serious discussion; we speak of a mere fancy, a droll or odd conceit. An emotional or personal fancy is a capricious liking formed with slight reason and no exercise of judgment, and liable to fade as lightly as it was formed. In a broader sense, the fancy signifies the faculty by which fancies or mental images are formed, associated, or combined. Compare synonyms for DREAM; IDEA; IMAGINATION.

Antonyms:

actuality, certainty, fact, reality, truth, verity.

Prepositions:

To have a fancy for or take a fancy to a person or thing.

* * * * *

FAREWELL.

Synonyms:

adieu, good-by, parting salutation, valedictory. conge, leave-taking, valediction,

Good-by is the homely and hearty, farewell the formal English word at parting. Adieu, from the French, is still more ceremonious than farewell; conge, also from the French, is commonly contemptuous or supercilious, and equivalent to dismissal. Valediction is a learned word never in popular use. A valedictory is a public farewell to a company or assembly.

Prepositions:

I bade farewell to my comrades, or (without preposition) I bade my comrades farewell; I took a sad farewell of my friends.

* * * * *

FEAR.

Synonyms:

affright, dismay, horror, timidity, apprehension, disquietude, misgiving, trembling, awe, dread, panic, tremor, consternation, fright, terror, trepidation.

Fear is the generic term denoting an emotion excited by threatening evil with a desire to avoid or escape it; fear may be sudden or lingering, in view of present, of imminent, or of distant and only possible danger; in the latter sense dread is oftener used. Horror (etymologically a shivering or shuddering) denotes a shuddering fear accompanied with abhorrence or such a shock to the feelings and sensibilities as may exist without fear, as when one suddenly encounters some ghastly spectacle; we say of a desperate but fettered criminal, "I looked upon him with horror." Where horror includes fear, it is fear mingled with abhorrence. (See ABHOR.) Affright, fright, and terror are always sudden, and in actual presence of that which is terrible. Fear may overwhelm, or may nerve one to desperate defense; fright and terror render one incapable of defense; fear may be controlled by force of will; fright and terror overwhelm the will; terror paralyzes, fright may cause one to fly, to scream, or to swoon. Fright is largely a matter of the nerves; fear of the intellect and the imagination; terror of all the faculties, bodily and mental. Panic is a sudden fear or fright, affecting numbers at once; vast armies or crowded audiences are liable to panic upon slight occasion. In a like sense we speak of a financial panic. Dismay is a helpless sinking of heart in view of some overwhelming peril or sorrow. Dismay is more reflective, enduring, and despairing than fright; a horse is subject to fright or terror, but not to dismay. Awe is a reverential fear. Compare ALARM.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for FORTITUDE.

* * * * *

FEMININE.

Synonyms:

effeminate, female, womanish, womanly.

We apply female to the sex, feminine to the qualities, especially the finer physical or mental qualities that distinguish the female sex in the human family, or to the objects appropriate for or especially employed by them. A female voice is the voice of a woman; a feminine voice may belong to a man. Womanish denotes the undesirable, womanly the admirable or lovely qualities of woman. Womanly tears would suggest respect and sympathy, womanish tears a touch of contempt. The word effeminate is always used reproachfully, and only of men as possessing womanly traits such as are inconsistent with true manliness.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for MASCULINE.

* * * * *

FETTER.

Synonyms:

bondage, custody, gyves, irons, bonds, durance, handcuffs, manacles, chains, duress, imprisonment, shackles.

Bonds may be of cord, leather, or any other substance that can bind; chains are of linked metal. Manacles and handcuffs are for the hands, fetters are primarily chains or jointed iron fastenings for the feet; gyves may be for either. A shackle is a metallic ring, clasp, or bracelet-like fastening for encircling and restraining a limb: commonly one of a pair, used either for hands or feet. Bonds, fetters, and chains are used in a general way for almost any form of restraint. Gyves is now wholly poetic, and the other words are mostly restricted to the literary style; handcuffs is the specific and irons the general term in popular usage; as, the prisoner was put in irons. Bonds, chains, and shackles are frequently used in the metaphorical sense.

* * * * *

FEUD.

Synonyms:

affray, brawl, contest, dissension, hostility, animosity, broil, controversy, enmity, quarrel, bitterness, contention, dispute, fray, strife.

A feud is enmity between families, clans, or parties, with acts of hostility mutually retaliated and avenged; feud is rarely used of individuals, never of nations. While all the other words of the group may refer to that which is transient, a feud is long-enduring, and often hereditary. Dissension is used of a number of persons, of a party or other organization. Bitterness is in feeling only; enmity and hostility involve will and purpose to oppose or injure. A quarrel is in word or act, or both, and is commonly slight and transient, as we speak of childish quarrels; contention and strife may be in word or deed; contest ordinarily involves some form of action. Contest is often used in a good sense, contention and strife very rarely so. Controversy is commonly in words; strife extends from verbal controversy to the contests of armies. Affray, brawl, and broil, like quarrel, are words of inferior dignity. An affray or broil may arise at a street corner; the affray always involves physical force; the brawl or broil may be confined to violent language.

* * * * *

FICTION.

Synonyms:

allegory, fabrication, invention, myth, romance, apologue, falsehood, legend, novel, story. fable, figment,

Fiction is now chiefly used of a prose work in narrative form in which the characters are partly or wholly imaginary, and which is designed to portray human life, with or without a practical lesson; a romance portrays what is picturesque or striking, as a mere fiction may not do; novel is a general name for any continuous fictitious narrative, especially a love-story; fiction and novel are used with little difference of meaning, except that novel characterizes a work in which the emotional element is especially prominent. The moral of the fable is expressed formally; the lesson of the fiction, if any, is inwrought. A fiction is studied; a myth grows up without intent. A legend may be true, but can not be historically verified; a myth has been received as true at some time, but is now known to be false. A fabrication is designed to deceive; it is a less odious word than falsehood, but is really stronger, as a falsehood may be a sudden unpremeditated statement, while a fabrication is a series of statements carefully studied and fitted together in order to deceive; the falsehood is all false; the fabrication may mingle the true with the false. A figment is something imaginary which the one who utters it may or may not believe to be true; we say, "That statement is a figment of his imagination." The story may be either true or false, and covers the various senses of all the words in the group. Apologue, a word simply transferred from Greek into English, is the same as fable. Compare ALLEGORY.

Antonyms:

certainty, fact, history, literalness, reality, truth, verity.

* * * * *

FIERCE.

Synonyms:

ferocious, furious, raging, uncultivated, violent, fiery, impetuous, savage, untrained, wild.

Fierce signifies having a furious and cruel nature, or being in a furious and cruel mood, more commonly the latter. It applies to that which is now intensely excited, or liable to intense and sudden excitement. Ferocious refers to a state or disposition; that which is fierce flashes or blazes; that which is ferocious steadily burns; we speak of a ferocious animal, a fierce passion. A fiery spirit with a good disposition is quickly excitable in a good cause, but may not be fierce or ferocious. Savage signifies untrained, uncultivated. Ferocious always denotes a tendency to violence; it is more distinctly bloodthirsty than the other words; a person may be deeply, intensely cruel, and not at all ferocious; a ferocious countenance expresses habitual ferocity; a fierce countenance may express habitual fierceness, or only the sudden anger of the moment. That which is wild is simply unrestrained; the word may imply no anger or harshness; as, wild delight, wild alarm.

Antonyms:

affectionate, gentle, kind, patient, submissive, tame, docile, harmless, mild, peaceful, sweet, tender.

* * * * *

FINANCIAL.

Synonyms:

fiscal, monetary, pecuniary.

These words all relate to money, receipts, or expenditures. Monetary relates to actual money, coin, currency; as, the monetary system; a monetary transaction is one in which money is transferred. Pecuniary refers to that in which money is involved, but less directly; we speak of one's pecuniary affairs or interests, with no special reference to the handling of cash. Financial applies especially to governmental revenues or expenditures, or to private transactions of considerable moment; we speak of a pecuniary reward, a financial enterprise; we give a needy person pecuniary (not financial) assistance. It is common to speak of the fiscal rather than the financial year.

* * * * *

FINE.

Synonyms:

beautiful, excellent, polished, small, clarified, exquisite, pure, smooth, clear, gauzy, refined, splendid, comminuted, handsome, sensitive, subtile, dainty, keen, sharp, subtle, delicate, minute, slender, tenuous, elegant, nice, slight, thin.

Fine (L. finis, end) denotes that which has been brought to a full end, finished. From this root-sense many derived meanings branch out, causing words quite remote from each other to be alike synonyms of fine. That which is truly finished, brought to an ideal end, is excellent of its kind, and beautiful, if a thing that admits of beauty; as, a fine house, fine trees, a fine woman, a fine morning; if a thing that admits of the removal of impurities, it is not finished till these are removed, and hence fine signifies clarified, clear, pure, refined; as, fine gold. That which is finished is apt to be polished, smooth to the touch, minutely exact in outline; hence fine comes to be a synonym for all words like dainty, delicate, exquisite; as, fine manners, a fine touch, fine perceptions. As that which is delicate is apt to be small, by an easy extension of meaning fine becomes a synonym for slender, slight, minute, comminuted; as, a fine thread, fine sand; or for filmy, tenuous, thin; as, a fine lace, fine wire; and as a thin edge is keen, sharp, fine becomes also a synonym for these words; as, a fine point, a fine edge. Compare BEAUTIFUL; MINUTE.

Antonyms:

big, clumsy, great, huge, large, stout, blunt, coarse, heavy, immense, rude, thick.

* * * * *

FIRE.

Synonyms:

blaze, burning, combustion, conflagration, flame.

Combustion is the essential fact which is at the basis of that assemblage of visible phenomenon which we call fire; combustion being the continuous chemical combination of a substance with some element, as oxygen, evolving heat, and extending from slow processes, such as those by which the heat of the human body is maintained, to the processes producing the most intense light also, as in a blast-furnace, or on the surface of the sun. Fire is always attended with light, as well as heat; blaze, flame, etc., designate the mingled light and heat of a fire. Combustion is the scientific, fire the popular term. A conflagration is an extensive fire. Compare LIGHT.

* * * * *

FLOCK.

Synonyms:

bevy, covey, group, herd, lot, set, brood, drove, hatch, litter, pack, swarm.

Group is the general word for any gathering of a small number of objects, whether of persons, animals, or inanimate things. The individuals in a brood or litter are related to each other; those in the other groups may not be. Brood is used chiefly of fowls and birds, litter of certain quadrupeds which bring forth many young at a birth; we speak of a brood of chickens, a litter of puppies; brood is sometimes applied to a family of young children. Bevy is used of birds, and figuratively of any bright and lively group of women or children, but rarely of men. Flock is applied to birds and to some of the smaller animals; herd is confined to the larger animals; we speak of a bevy of quail, a covey of partridges, a flock of blackbirds, or a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, horses, buffaloes, or elephants, a pack of wolves, a pack of hounds, a swarm of bees. A collection of animals driven or gathered for driving is called a drove.

* * * * *

FLUCTUATE.

Synonyms:

hesitate, swerve, vacillate, veer, oscillate, undulate, vary, waver.

To fluctuate (L. fluctus, a wave) is to move like a wave with alternate rise and fall. A pendulum oscillates; waves fluctuate or undulate; a light or a flame wavers; a frightened steed swerves from his course; a tool or weapon swerves from the mark or line; the temperature varies; the wind veers when it suddenly changes its direction. That which veers may steadily hold the new direction; that which oscillates, fluctuates, undulates, or wavers returns upon its way. As regards mental states, he who hesitates sticks (L. haerere) on the verge of decision; he who wavers does not stick to a decision; he who vacillates decides now one way, and now another; one vacillates between contrasted decisions or actions; he may waver between decision and indecision, or between action and inaction. Persons hesitate, vacillate, waver; feelings fluctuate or vary. Compare SHAKE.

Antonyms:

abide, adhere, hold fast, persist, stand fast, stay, stick.

* * * * *

FLUID.

Synonyms:

gas, liquid.

A fluid is a substance that, like air or water, yields to any force that tends to change its form; a liquid is a body in that state in which the particles move freely among themselves, but remain in one mass, keeping the same volume, but taking always the form of the containing vessel; a liquid is an inelastic fluid; a gas is an elastic fluid that tends to expand to the utmost limits of the containing space. All liquids are fluids, but not all fluids are liquids; air and all the gases are fluids, but they are not liquids under ordinary circumstances, tho capable of being reduced to a liquid form by special means, as by cold and pressure. Water at the ordinary temperature is at once a fluid and a liquid.

* * * * *

FOLLOW.

Synonyms:

accompany, come after, go after, obey, pursue, attend, copy, heed, observe, result, chase, ensue, imitate, practise, succeed.

Anything that comes after or goes after another, either in space or in time, is said to follow it. A servant follows or attends his master; a victorious general may follow the retiring enemy merely to watch and hold him in check; he chases or pursues with intent to overtake and attack; the chase is closer and hotter than the pursuit. (Compare synonyms for HUNT.) One event may follow another either with or without special connection; if it ensues, there is some orderly connection; as, the ensuing year; if it results from another, there is some relation of effect, consequence, or inference. A clerk observes his employer's directions. A child obeys his parent's commands, follows or copies his example, imitates his speech and manners. The compositor follows copy; the incoming succeeds the outgoing official.

* * * * *

FOOD.

Synonyms:

aliment, feed, nourishment, pabulum, sustenance, diet, fodder, nutriment, provender, viands, fare, forage, nutrition, regimen, victuals.

Food is, in the popular sense, whatever one eats in contradistinction to what one drinks. Thus, we speak of food and drink, of wholesome, unwholesome, or indigestible food; but in a more scientific sense whatever, when taken into the digestive organs, serves to build up structure or supply waste may be termed food; the word is extended to plants to signify whatever taken in any way into the organism serves similar purposes; thus, we speak of liquid food, plant food, etc.; in this wider sense food is closely synonymous with nutriment, nourishment, and sustenance. Diet refers to the quantity and quality of food habitually taken, with reference to preservation of health. Victuals is a plain, homely word for whatever may be eaten; we speak of choice viands, cold victuals. Nourishment and sustenance apply to whatever can be introduced into the system as a means of sustaining life; we say of a convalescent, he is taking nourishment. Nutriment and nutrition have more of scientific reference to the vitalizing principles of various foods; thus, wheat is said to contain a great amount of nutriment. Regimen considers food as taken by strict rule, but applies more widely to the whole ordering of life. Fare is a general word for all table supplies, good or bad; as, sumptuous fare; wretched fare. Feed, fodder, and provender are used only of the food of the lower animals, feed denoting anything consumed, but more commonly grain, fodder denoting hay, cornstalks, or the like, sometimes called "long feed;" provender is dry feed, whether grain or hay, straw, etc. Forage denotes any kind of food suitable for horses and cattle, primarily as obtained by a military force in scouring the country, especially an enemy's country.

* * * * *

FORMIDABLE.

Synonyms:

dangerous, redoubted, terrible, tremendous.

That which is formidable is worthy of fear if encountered or opposed; as, a formidable array of troops, or of evidence. Formidable is a word of more dignity than dangerous, and suggests more calm and collected power than terrible; formidable is less overwhelming than tremendous. A loaded gun is dangerous; a park of artillery is formidable; a charge of cavalry is terrible; the full shock of great armies is tremendous. A dangerous man is likely to do mischief, and needs watching; a formidable man may not be dangerous if not attacked; an enraged maniac is terrible; the force of ocean waves in a storm, and the silent pressure in the ocean depths, are tremendous.

Antonyms:

contemptible, feeble, harmless, helpless, powerless, weak. despicable,

Prepositions:

Formidable by or in numbers; in strength; formidable to the enemy.

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FORTIFICATION.

Synonyms:

castle, citadel, fastness, fort, fortress, stronghold.

Fortification is the general word for any artificial defensive work; a fortress is a fortification of especial size and strength; a fortress is regarded as permanent, and is ordinarily an independent work; a fort or fortification may be temporary; a fortification may be but part of a defensive system; we speak of the fortifications of a city. A citadel is a fortification within a city, or the fortified inner part of a city or fortress, within which a garrison may be placed to overawe the citizens, or to which the defenders may retire if the outer works are captured; the medieval castle was the fortified residence of a king or baron. Fort is the common military term for a detached fortified building or enclosure of moderate size occupied or designed to be occupied by troops. The fortifications of a modern city usually consist of a chain of forts. Any defensible place, whether made so by nature or by art, is a fastness or stronghold.

* * * * *

FORTITUDE.

Synonyms:

courage, endurance, heroism, resolution.

Fortitude (L. fortis, strong) is the strength or firmness of mind or soul to endure pain or adversity patiently and determinedly. Fortitude has been defined as "passive courage," which is a good definition, but not complete. Fortitude might be termed "still courage," or "enduring courage;" it is that quality which is able not merely to endure pain or trial, but steadily to confront dangers that can not be actively opposed, or against which one has no adequate defense; it takes courage to charge a battery, fortitude to stand still under an enemy's fire. Resolution is of the mind; endurance is partly physical; it requires resolution to resist temptation, endurance to resist hunger and cold. Compare BRAVE; PATIENCE.

* * * * *

FORTUNATE.

Synonyms:

favored, lucky, prospered, prosperous, successful. happy,

A man is successful in any case if he achieves or gains what he seeks; he is known as a successful man if he has achieved or gained worthy objects of endeavor; he is fortunate or lucky if advantages have come to him without or beyond his direct planning or achieving. Lucky is the more common and colloquial, fortunate the more elegant word; fortunate is more naturally applied to the graver matters, as we speak of the fortunate, rather than the lucky, issue of a great battle; lucky more strongly emphasizes the element of chance, as when we speak of a lucky hit, a lucky guess, or of one as "born under a lucky star." Favored is used in a religious sense, implying that one is the object of divine favor. Happy, in this connection, signifies possessed of the means of happiness. One is said to be happy or prosperous whether his prosperity be the result of fortune or of achievement; prospered rather denotes the action of a superintending Providence.

Antonyms:

broken, fallen, miserable, unhappy, woful, crushed, ill-starred, unfortunate, unlucky, wretched.

* * * * *

FRAUD.

Synonyms:

artifice, deceit, duplicity, swindle, treason, cheat, deception, imposition, swindling, trick. cheating, dishonesty, imposture, treachery,

A fraud is an act of deliberate deception with the design of securing something by taking unfair advantage of another. A deceit or deception may be designed merely to gain some end of one's own, with no intent of harming another; an imposition, to take some small advantage of another, or simply to make another ridiculous. An imposture is designed to obtain money, credit, or position to which one is not entitled, and may be practised by a street beggar or by the pretender to a throne. All action that is not honest is dishonesty, but the term dishonesty is generally applied in business, politics, etc., to deceitful practises which are not directly criminal. Fraud includes deceit, but deceit may not reach the gravity of fraud; a cheat is of the nature of fraud, but of a petty sort; a swindle is more serious than a cheat, involving larger values and more flagrant dishonesty. Fraud is commonly actionable at law; cheating and swindling are for the most part out of the reach of legal proceedings. Treachery is chiefly used of dishonesty in matters of friendship, social relations, government, or war; treachery may be more harmful than fraud, but is not so gross, and is not ordinarily open to legal redress. Treason is a specific form of treachery of a subject to the government to which he owes allegiance, and is definable and punishable at law. Compare ARTIFICE; DECEPTION.

Antonyms:

fairness, good faith, honesty, integrity, truth, uprightness.

* * * * *

FRIENDLY.

Synonyms:

accessible, companionable, genial, neighborly, affable, complaisant, hearty, sociable, affectionate, cordial, kind, social, amicable, favorable, kindly, tender, brotherly, fond, loving, well-disposed.

Friendly, as said of persons, signifies having the disposition of a friend; as said of acts, it signifies befitting or worthy of a friend. The adjective friendly does not reach the full significance of the nouns "friend" and "friendship;" one may be friendly to those who are not his friends, and to be in friendly relations often signifies little more than not to be hostile. In its application to persons, accessible is used of public and eminent persons, who might, if disposed, hold themselves at a distance from others. Companionable and sociable refer to manner and behavior, cordial and genial express genuine kindliness of heart. We speak of a cordial greeting, a favorable reception, a neighborly call, a sociable visitor, an amicable settlement, a kind interest, a friendly regard, a hearty welcome. The Saxon friendly is stronger than the Latin amicable; the amicable may be merely formal; the friendly is from the heart. Fond is commonly applied to an affection that becomes, or at least appears, excessive. Affectionate, devoted, and tender are almost always used in a high and good sense; as, an affectionate son; a devoted friend; "the tender mercy of our God," Luke i, 78. Compare FRIENDSHIP.

Antonyms:

adverse, belligerent, distant, ill-disposed, unfriendly, alienated, cold, estranged, indifferent, unkind, antagonistic, contentious, frigid, inimical, warlike. bellicose, disaffected, hostile,

* * * * *

FRIENDSHIP.

Synonyms:

affection, comity, esteem, good will, amity, consideration, favor, love, attachment, devotion, friendliness, regard.

Friendship is a deep, quiet, enduring affection, founded upon mutual respect and esteem. Friendship is always mutual; there may be unreciprocated affection or attachment, unrequited love, or even unrecognized and unappreciated devotion, but never unreciprocated or unrequited friendship; one may have friendly feelings toward an enemy, but while there is hostility or coldness on one side there can not be friendship between the two. Friendliness is a quality of friendly feeling, without the deep and settled attachment implied in the state of friendship. Comity is mutual kindly courtesy, with care of each other's right, and amity a friendly feeling and relation, not necessarily implying special friendliness; as, the comity of nations, or amity between neighboring countries. Affection may be purely natural; friendship is a growth. Friendship is more intellectual and less emotional than love; it is easier to give reasons for friendship than for love; friendship is more calm and quiet, love more fervent; love often rises to intensest passion; we can not speak of the passion of friendship. Friendship implies some degree of equality, while love does not; we can speak of man's love toward God, not of his friendship for God. (There is more latitude in the use of the concrete noun friend; Abraham was called "the friend of God;" Christ was called "the friend of sinners.") Compare ACQUAINTANCE; LOVE.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for BATTLE; ENMITY; FEUD; HATRED.

Prepositions:

The friendship of one person for or toward another, or the friendship between them.

* * * * *

FRIGHTEN.

Synonyms:

affright, appal, cow, dismay, scare, alarm, browbeat, daunt, intimidate, terrify.

One is frightened by a cause of fear addressed directly and suddenly to the senses; he is intimidated by an apprehension of contingent consequences dependent on some act of his own to be done or forborne; the means of intimidation may act through the senses, or may appeal only to the intellect or the sensibilities. The sudden rush of an armed madman may frighten; the quiet leveling of a highwayman's pistol intimidates. A savage beast is intimidated by the keeper's whip. Employers may intimidate their employees from voting contrary to their will by threat of discharge; a mother may be intimidated through fear for her child. To browbeat or cow is to bring into a state of submissive fear; to daunt is to give pause or check to a violent, threatening, or even a brave spirit. To scare is to cause sudden, unnerving fear; to terrify is to awaken fear that is overwhelming. Compare ALARM.

* * * * *

FRUGALITY.

Synonyms:

economy, parsimony, saving, sparing, miserliness, providence, scrimping, thrift. parsimoniousness, prudence,

Economy is a wise and careful administration of the means at one's disposal; frugality is a withholding of expenditure, or sparing of supplies or provision, to a noticeable and often to a painful degree; parsimony is excessive and unreasonable saving for the sake of saving. Frugality exalted into a virtue to be practised for its own sake, instead of as a means to an end, becomes the vice of parsimony. Miserliness is the denying oneself and others the ordinary comforts or even necessaries of life, for the mere sake of hoarding money. Prudence and providence look far ahead, and sacrifice the present to the future, saving as much as may be necessary for that end. (See PRUDENCE.) Thrift seeks not merely to save, but to earn. Economy manages, frugality saves, providence plans, thrift at once earns and saves, with a view to wholesome and profitable expenditure at a fitting time. See ABSTINENCE.

Antonyms:

abundance, bounty, liberality, opulence, waste, affluence, extravagance, luxury, riches, wealth.

* * * * *

GARRULOUS.

Synonyms:

chattering, loquacious, talkative, verbose.

Garrulous signifies given to constant trivial talking. Chattering signifies uttering rapid, noisy, and unintelligible, or scarcely intelligible, sounds, whether articulate words or such as resemble them; chattering is often used of vocal sounds that may be intelligible by themselves but are ill understood owing to confusion of many voices or other cause. The talkative person has a strong disposition to talk, with or without an abundance of words, or many ideas; the loquacious person has an abundant flow of language and much to say on any subject suggested; either may be lively and for a time entertaining; the garrulous person is tedious, repetitious, petty, and self-absorbed. Verbose is applied to utterances more formal than conversation, as to writings or public addresses. We speak of a chattering monkey or a chattering idiot, a talkative child, a talkative or loquacious woman, a garrulous old man, a verbose writer. Compare CIRCUMLOCUTION.

Antonyms:

laconic, reserved, reticent, silent, speechless, taciturn.

* * * * *

GENDER.

Synonym:

sex.

Sex is a distinction among living beings; it is also the characteristic by which most living beings are distinguished from inanimate things, which are of no sex; gender is a distinction in language partially corresponding to this distinction in nature; while there are but two sexes, there are in some languages, as in English and German, three genders. The French language has but two genders and makes the names of all inanimate objects either masculine or feminine; some languages are without the distinction of gender, and those that maintain it are often quite arbitrary in its application. We speak of the masculine or feminine gender, the male or female sex.

* * * * *

GENERAL.

Synonyms:

common, familiar, ordinary, universal, commonplace, frequent, popular, usual. customary, habitual, prevalent, everyday, normal, public,

Common signifies frequently occurring, not out of the regular course, not exceptional; hence, not above the average, not excellent or distinguished, inferior, or even low; common also signifies pertaining to or participated in by two or more persons or things; as, sorrow is common to the race. General may signify pertaining equally to all of a class, race, etc., but very commonly signifies pertaining to the greater number, but not necessarily to all. Universal applies to all without exception; general applies to all with possible or comparatively slight exceptions; common applies to very many without deciding whether they are even a majority. A common remark is one we often hear; a general experience is one that comes to the majority of people; a universal experience is one from which no human being is exempt. It is dangerous for a debater to affirm a universal proposition, since that can be negatived by a single exception, while a general statement is not invalidated even by adducing many exceptions. We say a common opinion, common experience, a general rule, general truth, a universal law. Compare synonyms for NORMAL; USUAL.

Antonyms:

exceptional, infrequent, rare, singular, uncommon, unknown, unusual.

* * * * *

GENEROUS.

Synonyms:

bountiful, free, liberal, noble, chivalrous, free-handed, magnanimous, open-handed, disinterested, free-hearted, munificent, open-hearted.

Generous (L. genus, a race) primarily signifies having the qualities worthy of noble or honorable birth; hence, free and abundant in giving, giving freely, heartily, and self-sacrificingly. As regards giving, generous refers rather to the self-sacrificing heartiness of the giver, liberal to the amount of the gift; a child may show himself generous in the gift of an apple, a millionaire makes a liberal donation; a generous gift, however, is commonly thought of as both ample and hearty. A munificent gift is vast in amount, whatever the motive of its bestowal. One may be free with another's money; he can be generous only with his own. Disinterested suggests rather the thought of one's own self-denial; generous, of one's hearty interest in another's welfare or happiness. One is magnanimous by a greatness of soul (L. magnus, great, and animus, soul) that rises above all that is poor, mean, or weak, especially above every petty or ignoble motive or feeling pertaining to one's self, and thus above resentment of injury or insult; one is generous by a kindness of heart that would rejoice in the welfare rather than in the punishment of the offender.

Antonyms:

avaricious, greedy, mean, niggardly, penurious, rapacious, close, ignoble, miserly, parsimonious, petty, stingy. covetous, illiberal,

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GENIUS.

Synonyms:

talent, talents.

Genius is exalted intellectual power capable of operating independently of tuition and training, and marked by an extraordinary faculty for original creation, invention, discovery, expression, etc. Talent is marked mental ability, and in a special sense, a particular and uncommon aptitude for some special mental work or attainment. Genius is higher than talent, more spontaneous, less dependent upon instruction, less amenable to training; talent is largely the capacity to learn, acquire, appropriate, adapt oneself to demand. Yet the genius that has won the largest and most enduring success has been joined with tireless industry and painstaking. Compare synonyms for MIND; POWER.

Antonyms:

dulness, folly, imbecility, obtuseness, senselessness, stupidity.

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GET.

Synonyms:

achieve, attain, gain, procure, secure, acquire, earn, obtain, receive, win.

Get is a most comprehensive word. A person gets whatever he comes to possess or experience, whether with or without endeavor, expectation, or desire; he gets a bargain, a blow, a fall, a fever; he gains what he comes to by effort or striving; the swimmer gains the shore; a man acquires by continuous and ordinarily by slow process; as, one acquires a foreign language. A person is sometimes said to gain and often to acquire what has not been an object of direct endeavor; in the pursuits of trade, he incidentally gains some knowledge of foreign countries; he acquires by association with others a correct or incorrect accent; he acquires a bronzed complexion by exposure to a tropical sun; in such use, what he gains is viewed as desirable, what he acquires as slowly and gradually resulting. A person earns what he gives an equivalent of labor for, tho he may not get it. On the other hand, he may get what he has not earned; the temptation to all dishonesty is the desire to get a living or a fortune without earning it. When one gets the object of his desire, he is said to obtain it, whether he has gained or earned it or not. Win denotes contest, with a suggestion of chance or hazard; in popular language, a person is often said to win a lawsuit, or to win in a suit at law, but in legal phrase he is said to gain his suit, case, or cause. In receiving, one is strictly passive; he may get an estate by his own exertions or by inheritance; in the latter case he is said to receive it. One obtains a thing commonly by some direct effort of his own; he procures it commonly by the intervention of some one else; he procures a dinner or an interview; he secures what has seemed uncertain or elusive, when he gets it firmly into his possession or under his control. Compare synonyms for ATTAIN; MAKE; REACH.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ABANDON.

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GIFT.

Synonyms:

benefaction, boon, bribe, grant, largess, bequest, bounty, donation, gratuity, present.

A gift is in the popular, and also in the legal sense that which is voluntarily bestowed without expectation of return or compensation. Gift is now almost always used in the good sense, bribe always in the evil sense to signify payment for a dishonorable service under the semblance of a gift. In Scriptural language gift is often used for bribe. "The king by judgment establisheth the land; but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." Prov. xxix, 4. A benefaction is a charitable gift, generally of large amount, and viewed as of enduring value, as an endowment for a college. A donation is something, perhaps of great, never of trivial value, given usually on some public ground, as to a cause or to a person representing a cause, but not necessarily of value beyond the immediate present; as, a donation to a pastor. A gratuity is usually something of moderate value and is always given as to an inferior, and as of favor, not of right; as, a gratuity to a waiter. Largess is archaic for a bountiful gratuity, usually to be distributed among many, as among the heralds at ancient tournaments. A present is a gift of friendship, or conciliation, and given as to an equal or a superior; no one's pride is hurt by accepting what is viewed as strictly a present. A boon is a gift that has been desired or craved or perhaps asked, or something freely given that meets some great desire. A grant is commonly considerable in amount and given by public authority; as, a grant of public lands for a college.

Antonyms:

compensation, earnings, guerdon, penalty, remuneration, wages.

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GIVE.

Synonyms:

bestow, communicate, deliver, grant, supply. cede, confer, furnish, impart,

To give is primarily to transfer to another's possession or ownership without compensation; in its secondary sense in popular use, it is to put into another's possession by any means and on any terms whatever; a buyer may say "Give me the goods, and I will give you the money;" we speak of giving answers, information, etc., and often of giving what is not agreeable to the recipient, as blows, medicine, reproof; but when there is nothing in the context to indicate the contrary, give is always understood in its primary sense; as, this book was given me. Give thus becomes, like get, a term of such general import as to be a synonym for a wide variety of words. To grant is to put into one's possession in some formal way, or by authoritative act; as, Congress grants lands to a railroad corporation. To speak of granting a favor carries a claim or concession of superiority on the part of the one by whom the grant may be made; to confer has a similar sense; as, to confer a degree or an honor; we grant a request or petition, but do not confer it. To impart is to give of that which one still, to a greater or less degree, retains; the teacher imparts instruction. To bestow is to give that of which the receiver stands in especial need; we bestow alms.

Prepositions:

We give money to a person for a thing, for a purpose, etc. (or without proposition, give a person a sum of money); we give a thing to or into one's care or keeping; the weary fugitive gave himself up to his pursuers.

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GOVERN.

Synonyms:

command, curb, influence, mold, reign over, rule, control, direct, manage, reign, restrain, sway.

Govern carries the idea of authoritative administration or some exercise of authority that is at once effective and continuous; control is effective, but may be momentary or occasional. One controls what he holds or can hold at will absolutely in check; as, a skilful horseman controls a spirited horse; a person controls his temper; we say to one who is excited, "control yourself." A person commands another when he has, or claims, the right to make that other do his will, with power of inflicting penalty if not obeyed; he controls another whom he can effectually prevent from doing anything contrary to his will; he governs one whom he actually does cause, regularly or constantly, to obey his will; a parent may command a child whom he can not govern or control. The best teachers are not greatly prone to command, but govern or control their pupils largely by other means. Command is, however, often used in the sense of securing, as well as requiring, submission or obedience, as when we speak of a commanding influence; a man commands the situation when he can shape events as he pleases; a fortress commands the region when no enemy can pass against its resistance. Govern implies the exercise of knowledge and judgment as well as power. To rule is more absolute and autocratic than to govern; to sway is to move by quiet but effectual influence; to mold is not only to influence feeling and action, but to shape character; to manage is to secure by skilful contrivance the doing of one's will by those whom one can not directly control; a wise mother, by gentle means, sways the feelings and molds the lives of her children; to be able to manage servants is an important element of good housekeeping. The word reign, once so absolute, now simply denotes that one holds the official station of sovereign in a monarchy, with or without effective power; the Queen of England reigns; the Czar of Russia both reigns and rules.

Antonyms:

be in subjection, be subject, comply, obey, submit, yield.

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GRACEFUL.

Synonym:

beautiful.

That which is graceful is marked by elegance and harmony, with ease of action, attitude, or posture, or delicacy of form. Graceful commonly suggests motion or the possibility of motion; beautiful may apply to absolute fixity; a landscape or a blue sky is beautiful, but neither is graceful. Graceful commonly applies to beauty as addressed to the eye, tho we often speak of a graceful poem or a graceful compliment. Graceful applies to the perfection of motion, especially of the lighter motions, which convey no suggestion of stress or strain, and are in harmonious curves. Apart from the thought of motion, graceful denotes a pleasing harmony of outline, proportion, etc., with a certain degree of delicacy; a Hercules is massive, an Apollo is graceful. We speak of a graceful attitude, graceful drapery. Compare BEAUTIFUL; BECOMING.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for AWKWARD.

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GRIEF.

Synonyms:

affliction, melancholy, regret, sorrow, trouble, distress, mourning, sadness, tribulation, wo.

Grief is acute mental pain resulting from loss, misfortune, or deep disappointment. Grief is more acute and less enduring than sorrow. Sorrow and grief are for definite cause; sadness and melancholy may arise from a vague sense of want or loss, from a low state of health, or other ill-defined cause; sadness may be momentary; melancholy is more enduring, and may become chronic. Affliction expresses a deep heart-sorrow and is applied also to the misfortune producing such sorrow; mourning most frequently denotes sorrow publicly expressed, or the public expression of such sorrow as may reasonably be expected; as, it is common to observe thirty days of mourning on the death of an officer of state.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for HAPPINESS.

Prepositions:

Grief at a loss; for a friend.

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HABIT.

Synonyms:

custom, habitude, routine, system, use, fashion, practise, rule, usage, wont.

Habit is a tendency or inclination toward an action or condition, which by repetition has become easy, spontaneous, or even unconscious, or an action or regular series of actions, or a condition so induced. Custom is the uniform doing of the same act in the same circumstance for a definite reason; routine is the doing of customary acts in a regular and uniform sequence and is more mechanical than custom. It is the custom of tradesmen to open at a uniform hour, and to follow a regular routine of business until closing-time. Habit always includes an involuntary tendency, natural or acquired, greatly strengthened by frequent repetition of the act, and may be uncontrollable, or even unconscious. Habitude is habitual relation or association. Custom is chiefly used of the action of many; habit of the action of one; we speak of the customs of society, the habits of an individual. Fashion is the generally recognized custom in the smaller matters, especially in dress. A rule is prescribed either by some external authority or by one's own will; as, it is the rule of the house; or, I make it my invariable rule. System is the coordination of many acts or things into a unity, and is more and better than routine. Use and usage denote the manner of using something; we speak of one person's use of language, but of the usage of many; a use or usage is almost always a habit. Practise is the active doing of something in a systematic way; we do not speak of the practise, but of the habit of going to sleep; we speak of a tradesman's custom, a lawyer's or a physician's practise. Educationally, practise is the voluntary and persistent attempt to make skill a habit; as, practise in penmanship. Wont is blind and instinctive habit like that which attaches an animal to a locality: the word is now almost wholly poetic. Compare DRESS.

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HAPPEN.

Synonyms:

bechance, chance, fall out, supervene, befall, come to pass, occur, take place. betide, fall,

A thing is said to happen when no design is manifest, or none especially thought of; it is said to chance when it appears to be the result of accident (compare synonyms for ACCIDENT). An incident happens or occurs; something external or actual happens to one; a thought or fancy occurs to him. Befall and betide are transitive; happen is intransitive; something befalls or betides a person or happens to him. Betide is especially used for anticipated evil, thought of as waiting and coming at its appointed time; as, wo betide him! One event supervenes upon another event, one disease upon another, etc. ["Transpire," in the sense of happen, is not authorized by good usage: a thing that has happened is properly said to transpire when it becomes known.]

Prepositions:

An event happens to a person; a person happens on or upon a fact, discovery, etc.

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HAPPINESS.

Synonyms:

blessedness, delight, gladness, pleasure, bliss, ecstasy, gratification, rapture, cheer, enjoyment, joy, rejoicing, comfort, felicity, merriment, satisfaction, contentment, gaiety, mirth, triumph.

Gratification is the giving any mental or physical desire something that it craves; satisfaction is the giving such a desire all that it craves. Happiness is the positively agreeable experience that springs from the possession of good, the gratification or satisfaction of the desires or the relief from pain and evil. Comfort may be almost wholly negative, being found in security or relief from that which pains or annoys; there is comfort by a warm fireside on a wintry night; the sympathy of a true friend affords comfort in sorrow. Enjoyment is more positive, always implying something to be definitely and consciously delighted in; a sick person finds comfort in relief from pain, while he may be far from a state of enjoyment. Pleasure is still more vivid, being an arousing of the faculties to an intensely agreeable activity; satisfaction is more tranquil than pleasure, being the agreeable consciousness of having all that our faculties demand or crave; when a worthy pleasure is past, a worthy satisfaction remains. As referring to a mental state, gratification is used to denote a mild form of happiness resulting from some incident not of very great importance; satisfaction should properly express a happiness deeper, more complete, and more abiding; but as intellect or sensibilities of a low order may find satisfaction in that which is very poor or unworthy, the word has come to be feeble and tame in ordinary use. Happiness is more positive than comfort, enjoyment, or satisfaction, more serene and rational than pleasure; pleasure is of necessity transient; happiness is abiding, and may be eternal; thus, we speak of pleasures, but the plural of happiness is scarcely used. Happiness, in the full sense, is mental or spiritual or both, and is viewed as resulting from some worthy gratification or satisfaction; we may speak of a brute as experiencing comfort or pleasure, but scarcely as in possession of happiness; we speak of vicious pleasure, delight, or joy, but not of vicious happiness. Felicity is a philosophical term, colder and more formal than happiness. Gladness is happiness that overflows, expressing itself in countenance, voice, manner, and action. Joy is more intense than happiness, deeper than gladness, to which it is akin, nobler and more enduring than pleasure. Gaiety is more superficial than joy, more demonstrative than gladness. Rejoicing is happiness or joy that finds utterance in word, song, festivity, etc. Delight is vivid, overflowing happiness of a somewhat transient kind; ecstasy is a state of extreme or extravagant delight so that the one affected by it seems almost beside himself with joy; rapture is closely allied to ecstasy, but is more serene, exalted, and enduring. Triumph is such joy as results from victory, success, achievement. Blessedness is at once the state and the sense of being divinely blessed; as, the blessedness of the righteous. Bliss is ecstatic, perfected happiness; as, the bliss of heaven. Compare COMFORT.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for GRIEF.

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HAPPY.

Synonyms:

blessed, cheering, gay, lucky, rejoiced, blissful, cheery, glad, merry, rejoicing, blithe, delighted, jocund, mirthful, smiling, blithesome, delightful, jolly, pleased, sprightly, bright, dexterous, joyful, prosperous, successful, buoyant, felicitous, joyous, rapturous, sunny. cheerful, fortunate,

Happy primarily refers to something that comes "by good hap," a chance that brings prosperity, benefit, or success.

And grasps the skirts of happy chance.

TENNYSON In Memoriam lxiii, st. 2.

In this sense happy is closely allied to fortunate and lucky. (See FORTUNATE.) Happy has, however, so far diverged from this original sense as to apply to advantages where chance is not recognized, or is even excluded by direct reference to the divine will, when it becomes almost equivalent to blessed.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.

Job v, 17.

Happy is also applied to the ready dexterity or skill by which favorable results (usually in minor matters) are secured, when it becomes a synonym for dexterous, felicitous, and the associated words; as, he has a happy wit; happy at retort (compare CLEVER). In its most frequent present use, happy is applied to the state of one enjoying happiness, or to that by which happiness is expressed; as, a happy heart; a happy face; happy laughter; happy tears (compare synonyms for HAPPINESS). Cheerful applies to the possession or expression of a moderate and tranquil happiness. A cheery word spontaneously gives cheer to others; a cheering word is more distinctly planned to cheer and encourage. Gay applies to an effusive and superficial happiness (often not really worthy of that name) perhaps resulting largely from abundant animal spirits: we speak of gay revelers or a gay horse. A buoyant spirit is, as it were, borne up by joy and hope. A sunny disposition has a constant tranquil brightness that irradiates all who come within its influence.

Antonyms:

Compare synonyms for GRIEF.

Prepositions:

A happy event for him; happy at a reply; happy in his home, with his friends, among his children; happy at the discovery, over his success.

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HARMONY.

Synonyms:

accord, concurrence, consistency, uniformity, accordance, conformity, consonance, union, agreement, congruity, symmetry, unison, amity, consent, unanimity, unity. concord,

When tones, thoughts, or feelings, individually different, combine to form a consistent and pleasing whole, there is harmony. Harmony is deeper and more essential than agreement; we may have a superficial, forced, or patched-up agreement, but never a superficial, forced, or patched-up harmony. Concord is less full and spiritual than harmony. Concord implies more volition than accord; as, their views were found to be in perfect accord; or, by conference concord was secured; we do not secure accord, but discover it. We may speak of being in accord with a person on one point, but harmony is wider in range. Conformity is correspondence in form, manner, or use; the word often signifies submission to authority or necessity, and may be as far as possible from harmony; as, the attempt to secure conformity to an established religion. Congruity involves the element of suitableness; consistency implies the absence of conflict or contradiction in views, statements, or acts which are brought into comparison, as in the different statements of the same person or the different periods of one man's life; unanimity is the complete hearty agreement of many; consent and concurrence refer to decision or action, but consent is more passive than concurrence; one speaks by general consent when no one in the assembly cares to make formal objection; a decision of the Supreme Court depends upon the concurrence of a majority of the judges. Compare AGREE; FRIENDSHIP; MELODY.

Antonyms:

antagonism, contest, discord, hostility, schism, battle, controversy, disproportion, incongruity, separation, conflict, difference, dissension, inconsistency, variance, contention, disagreement, disunion, opposition, warfare.

* * * * *

HARVEST.

Synonyms:

crop, harvest-home, ingathering, result, fruit, harvesting, proceeds, return, growth, harvest-tide, produce, yield. harvest-feast, harvest-time, product, harvest-festival, increase, reaping,

Harvest, from the Anglo-Saxon, signified originally "autumn," and as that is the usual season of gathering ripened crops in Northern lands, the word came to its present meaning of the season of gathering ripened grain or fruits, whether summer or autumn, and hence a crop gathered or ready for gathering; also, the act or process of gathering a crop or crops. "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few," Luke x, 2. "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest," John iv, 35. Harvest is the elegant and literary word; crop is the common and commercial expression; we say a man sells his crop, but we should not speak of his selling his harvest; we speak of an ample or abundant harvest, a good crop. Harvest is applied almost wholly to grain; crop applies to almost anything that is gathered in; we speak of the potato-crop, not the potato-harvest; we may say either the wheat-crop or the wheat-harvest. Produce is a collective word for all that is produced in farming or gardening, and is, in modern usage, almost wholly restricted to this sense; we speak of produce collectively, but of a product or various products; vegetables, fruits, eggs, butter, etc., may be termed farm-produce, or the products of the farm. Product is a word of wider application than produce; we speak of the products of manufacturing, the products of thought, or the product obtained by multiplying one number by another. The word proceeds is chiefly used of the return from an investment: we speak of the produce of a farm, but of the proceeds of the money invested in farming. The yield is what the land gives up to the farmer's demand; we speak of the return from an expenditure of money or labor, but of the yield of corn or oats. Harvest has also a figurative use, such as crop more rarely permits; we term a religious revival a harvest of souls; the result of lax enforcement of law is a harvest of crime. As regards time, harvest, harvest-tide, and harvest-time alike denote the period or season when the crops are or should be gathered (tide being simply the old Saxon word for time). Harvest-home ordinarily denotes the festival of harvest, and when used to denote simply the season always gives a suggestion of festivity and rejoicing, such as harvest and harvest-time by themselves do not express.

* * * * *

HATRED.

Synonyms:

abhorrence, detestation, hostility, rancor, anger, dislike, ill will, repugnance, animosity, enmity, malevolence, resentment, antipathy, grudge, malice, revenge, aversion, hate, malignity, spite.

Repugnance applies to that which one feels himself summoned or impelled to do or to endure, and from which he instinctively draws back. Aversion is the turning away of the mind or feelings from some person or thing, or from some course of action, etc. Hate, or hatred, as applied to persons, is intense and continued aversion, usually with disposition to injure; anger is sudden and brief, hatred is lingering and enduring; "Her wrath became a hate," TENNYSON Pelleas and Ettarre st. 16. As applied to things, hatred is intense aversion, with desire to destroy or remove; hatred of evil is a righteous passion, akin to abhorrence, but more vehement. Malice involves the active intent to injure; in the legal sense, malice is the intent to injure, even tho with no personal ill will; as, a highwayman would be said to entertain malice toward the unknown traveler whom he attacks. Malice is direct, pressing toward a result; malignity is deep, lingering, and venomous, tho often impotent to act; rancor (akin to rancid) is cherished malignity that has soured and festered and is virulent and implacable. Spite is petty malice that delights to inflict stinging pain; grudge is deeper than spite; it is sinister and bitter; grudge, resentment, and revenge are all retaliatory, grudge being the disposition, revenge the determination to repay real or supposed offense with injury; revenge may denote also the retaliatory act; resentment, the best word of the three, always holds itself to be justifiable, but looks less certainly to action than grudge or revenge. Simple goodness may arouse the hatred of the wicked; they will be moved to revenge only by what they deem an injury or affront. Compare ABOMINATION; ANGER; ANTIPATHY; ENMITY.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for FRIENDSHIP; LOVE.

* * * * *

HAVE.

Synonyms:

be in possession of, hold, occupy, own, possess. be possessed of,

Have is the most general word, and is applied to whatever belongs to or is connected with one; a man has a head or a head-ache, a fortune or an opinion, a friend or an enemy; he has time, or has need; he may be said to have what is his own, what he has borrowed, what has been entrusted to him, or what he has stolen. To possess a thing is to have the ownership with control and enjoyment of it. To hold is to have in one's hand, or securely in one's control; a man holds his friend's coat for a moment, or he holds a struggling horse; he holds a promissory note, or holds an office. To own is to have the right of property in; to possess is to have that right in actual exercise; to occupy is to have possession and use, with some degree of permanency, with or without ownership. A man occupies his own house or a room in a hotel; a man may own a farm of which he is not in possession because a tenant occupies it and is determined to hold it; the proprietor owns the property, but the tenant is in possession. To be in possession differs from possess in that to possess denotes both right and fact, while to be in possession denotes simply the fact with no affirmation as to the right. To have reason is to be endowed with the faculty; to be in possession of one's reason denotes that the faculty is in actual present exercise.