word form meaning synonym example

without concealment or deception; aboveboard / their business was open and

aboveboard Adj Sat
honest aboveboard
straightforward
in he can't get it honestly, he is willing
aboveboard Adv in an honest manner honestly / aboveboard to steal it

abysmal Adj Sat very great; limitless abysmal abysmal misery

resembling an abyss in depth; so abysmal / abyssal /

abysmal Adj Sat
deep as to be unmeasurable
the abyssal depths of the ocean
unfathomable
acme / height /
the highest level or degree elevation / peak /
his landscapes were deemed the acme
acme Noun attainable; the highest stage of pinnacle / summit / of beauty
development
superlative / meridian
/ tiptop / top
vertex / peak / apex /
acme Noun the highest point (of something) at the peak of the pyramid
acme
having the requisite qualities or
adequate Adj
resources to meet a task
adequate / equal she had adequate training

adequate / decent /
adequate Adj Sat sufficient for the purpose an adequate income
enough
adequate / passable /
adequate Adj Sat about average; acceptable fair_to_middling / more than adequate as a secretary

tolerable
 a person who pleads for a cause or advocate / advocator /
advocate Noun
propounds an idea proponent / exponent

advocate / counsel /
counselor / counsellor
advocate Noun a lawyer who pleads cases in court
/ counselor-at-law /
pleader
The travel agent recommended
recommend / urge /
advocate Verb push for something strongly that we not travel on
advocate Thanksgiving Day
The doctor advocated a smoking ban in
advocate Verb speak, plead, or argue in favor of preach / advocate the entire house
affable / amiable /
affable Adj Sat diffusing warmth and friendliness an affable smile
cordial / genial
an affluent person; a person who is
affluent Noun
financially well off
affluent the so-called emerging affluents

a branch that flows into the main feeder / tributary /

affluent Noun
stream confluent / affluent
affluent / flush /
having an abundant supply of money
affluent Adj Sat
or possessions of value loaded / moneyed / an affluent banker

wealthy
the quality of unselfish concern for
altruism Noun
the welfare of others
altruism / selflessness
 amiable / good-
an amiable villain with a cocky sidelong
amiable Adj Sat disposed to please; - Hal Hinson humored / good- grin
humoured
affable / amiable /
amiable Adj Sat diffusing warmth and friendliness an affable smile
cordial / genial
to an ample degree or in an ample
amply Adv
manner
amply / richly these voices were amply represented
the evidence amply (or fully) confirms
amply Adv sufficiently; more than adequately amply / fully our suspicions
amuck / amok /
berserk / demoniac /
amuck Adj Sat frenzied as if possessed by a demon the soldier was completely amuck
demoniacal /
possessed
when the restaurant caught fire the
amuck Adv wildly; without self-control amok / amuck patrons ran amuck, blocking the exit
amok / amuck / rioters running amuck and throwing
amuck Adv in a murderous frenzy
sticks and bottles and stones
murderously
similar or equivalent in some analogous / brains and computers are often
analogous Adj Sat
respects though otherwise dissimilar considered analogous
correspondent
corresponding in function but not in the wings of a bee and those of a
analogous Adj
evolutionary origin
analogous hummingbird are analogous
a feeling of ill will arousing active animosity / animus /
animosity Noun
hostility bad_blood
predate / precede /
antedate Verb be earlier in time; go back further forego / forgo / Stone tools precede bronze tools

antecede / antedate
 establish something as being earlier predate / antedate /
antedate Verb
relative to something else foredate
antiquated Verb make obsolete or old-fashioned antiquate
antiquated Verb give an antique appearance to antique / antiquate antique furniture

so extremely old as seeming to antediluvian /

antiquated Adj Sat
belong to an earlier period
a ramshackle antediluvian tenement
antiquated / archaic
vertex / peak / apex /
apex Noun the highest point (of something) at the peak of the pyramid
acme
the point on the celestial sphere apex / solar_apex /
toward which the sun and solar
apex Noun
system appear to be moving relative apex_of_the_sun's_w
to the fixed stars ay
aphorism / apothegm
aphorism Noun a short pithy instructive saying
/ apophthegm

aphoristic Adj containing aphorisms or maxims axiomatic / aphoristic axiomatic wisdom

aphoristic /
aphoristic Adj Sat terse and witty and like a maxim apothegmatic / much given to apothegmatic instruction

epigrammatic
appreciable amounts of noxious wastes
appreciable Adj Sat enough to be estimated or measured appreciable are dumped into the harbor
apprehension /
the student looked around the
apprehension Noun fearful expectation or anticipation apprehensiveness / examination room with apprehension
dread
 understanding /
the cognitive condition of someone he has virtually no understanding of
apprehension Noun
who understands apprehension / social cause and effect
discernment / savvy
apprehension /
apprehension Noun painful expectation
misgiving
apprehension / arrest
the act of apprehending (especially the policeman on the beat got credit
apprehension Noun
apprehending a criminal) / catch / collar / pinch for the collar
/ taking_into_custody
so extremely old as seeming to antediluvian /
archaic Adj Sat
belong to an earlier period
a ramshackle antediluvian tenement
antiquated / archaic
little evolved from or characteristic
archaic Adj Sat
of an earlier ancestral type
archaic / primitive archaic forms of life

dominance /
the state that exists when one ascendance / her apparent dominance of her
ascendancy Noun person or group has power over ascendence / husband was really her attempt to
another make him pay attention to her
ascendancy /
ascendency / control
impute / ascribe / We attributed this quotation to
ascribe Verb attribute or credit to
Shakespeare
assign / attribute
attack someone physically or assail / assault /
assail Verb
emotionally
The mugger assaulted the woman
set_on / attack
launch an attack or assault on; begin Hitler attacked Poland on September 1,
assail Verb
hostilities or start warfare with
attack / assail 1939 and started World War II
 attack / round / assail
The editors of the left-leaning paper
assail Verb attack in speech or writing / lash_out / snipe / attacked the new House Speaker
assault
pacify / lenify /
conciliate / assuage /
cause to be more favorably inclined; She managed to mollify the angry
assuage Verb
gain the good will of appease / mollify / customer
placate / gentle /
gruntle
quench / slake / allay /
assuage Verb satisfy (thirst) The cold water quenched his thirst
assuage
relieve / alleviate /
assuage Verb provide physical relief, as from pain This pill will relieve your headaches
palliate / assuage
augment Verb grow or intensify augment The pressure augmented
reprehensible acquisitiveness; avarice / greed /
insatiable desire for wealth
avarice Noun
(personified as one of the deadly covetousness /
sins) rapacity / avaritia
avarice /
avariciousness /
avarice Noun extreme greed for material wealth
covetousness /
cupidity
 debar / forefend /
forfend / obviate /
prevent the occurrence of; prevent deflect / avert /
avert Verb
from happening
Let's avoid a confrontation
head_off / stave_off /
fend_off / avoid /
ward_off
They averted their eyes when the King
avert Verb turn away or aside avert / turn_away entered
(often followed by `for') ardently or avid / devouring /
avid Adj Sat
excessively desirous
avid for adventure
esurient / greedy
marked by active interest and
avid Adj Sat
enthusiasm
avid / zealous an avid sports fan

badger Noun a native or resident of Wisconsin Wisconsinite / Badger

sturdy carnivorous burrowing
mammal with strong claws; widely
badger Noun
distributed in the northern
badger
hemisphere
tease / badger /
The children teased the boy because of
badger Verb annoy persistently pester / bug / his stammer
beleaguer
badger Verb persuade through constant efforts badger
the area on a billiard table behind a player with ball in hand must play
balk Noun
the balkline
balk / baulk from the balk
 hindrance /
hinderance /
something immaterial that interferes deterrent /
balk Noun
with or delays action or progress impediment / balk /
baulk / check /
handicap
one of several parallel sloping beams
balk Noun
that support a roof
rafter / balk / baulk
an illegal pitching motion while
balk Noun
runners are on base
balk
resist / balk / baulk /
balk Verb refuse to comply
jib
banish / ban /
ostracize / ostracise /
banish Verb expel from a community or group
shun / cast_out /
blackball
ban from a place of residence, as for
banish Verb
punishment
banish / ban

banish Verb expel, as if by official decree banish / relegate / bar he was banished from his own country

banish Verb drive away banish banish bad thoughts

experiencing or bestowing celestial
beatific Adj Sat
joy
beatific beatific peace

marked by utter benignity; angelic / angelical /

beatific Adj Sat resembling or befitting an angel or beatific / saintlike / angelic beneficence
saint
saintly / sainted
 enter or assume a certain state or He became annoyed when he heard the
becoming Verb
condition
become / go / get bad news
becoming Verb undergo a change or development become / turn The water turned into ice

becoming Verb come into existence become What becomes has duration

becoming Verb enhance the appearance of become / suit Mourning becomes Electra

becoming / comely /
comme_il_faut /
becoming Adj Sat according with custom or propriety her becoming modesty
decent / decorous /
seemly
displaying or setting off to best
becoming Adj Sat
advantage
becoming a becoming new shade of rose

begrudge Verb be envious of; set one's heart on envy / begrudge

begrudge Verb wish ill or allow unwillingly begrudge / resent
behoove Verb be appropriate or necessary behoove / behove It behooves us to reflect on this matter

cause to seem less serious; play minimize / belittle /

belittle Verb
down
Don't belittle his influence
denigrate / derogate
disparage / belittle /
belittle Verb express a negative opinion of She disparaged her student's efforts
pick_at
lessen the authority, dignity, or
belittle Verb
reputation of
diminish / belittle don't belittle your colleagues

having or showing a ready disposition battleful / bellicose /

bellicose Adj Sat
to fight
bellicose young officers
combative
not dangerous to health; not
benign Adj recurrent or progressive (especially benign
of a tumor)
 pleasant and beneficial in nature or
benign Adj
influence
benign / benignant a benign smile

benign Adj Sat kindness of disposition or manner benign the benign ruler of millions

besiege / beleaguer /
besiege Verb surround so as to force to give up surround / hem_in / The Turks besieged Vienna

circumvent
The press photographers besieged the
besiege Verb harass, as with questions or requests besiege movie star
defame / slander /
charge falsely or with malicious smirch / asperse /
besmirch Verb intent; attack the good name and denigrate / calumniate The journalists have defamed me!
reputation of someone
/ smear / sully /
besmirch
besmirch Verb smear so as to make dirty or stained smirch / besmirch
offering little or no hope; ; ; -
bleak Adj Sat
J.M.Synge
black / bleak / dim the future looked black

bare / barren / bleak /

bleak Adj Sat providing no shelter or sustenance bare rocky hills
desolate / stark
bleak Adj Sat unpleasantly cold and damp bleak / cutting / raw bleak winds of the North Atlantic

boon Noun a desirable state blessing / boon enjoy the blessings of peace

boon Adj Sat very close and convivial boon boon companions

boorish / loutish /
ill-mannered and coarse and
neanderthal /
boorish Adj Sat contemptible in behavior or was boorish and insensitive
appearance neandertal / oafish /
swinish
 bluffly / bluntly /
brusquely Adv in a blunt direct manner brusquely / flat_out / he spoke bluntly

roundly
a gymnastic horse without pommels
vaulting_horse /
buck Noun and with one end elongated; used
lengthwise for vaulting long_horse / buck
dollar / dollar_bill /
a piece of paper money worth one
buck Noun
dollar one_dollar_bill / buck
/ clam
United States author whose novels Buck / Pearl_Buck /
buck Noun drew on her experiences as a Pearl_Sydenstricker_B
missionary in China (1892-1973)
uck
a framework for holding wood that is sawhorse / horse /
buck Noun
being sawed sawbuck / buck
mature male of various mammals
buck Noun
(especially deer or antelope)
buck
buck Verb to strive with determination buck John is bucking for a promotion

buck Verb resist buck / go_against buck the trend

tear / shoot /
buck Verb move quickly and violently shoot_down / charge / The car tore down the street

buck
jump vertically, with legs stiff and
buck Verb
back arched
buck / jerk / hitch the yung filly bucked

a support usually of stone or brick;

buttress Noun
supports the wall of a building
buttress / buttressing

buttress Verb make stronger or defensible buttress buttress your thesis

 bony / cadaverous /
very thin especially from disease or emaciated / gaunt /
cadaverous Adj Sat
hunger or cold
emaciated bony hands
haggard / pinched /
skeletal / wasted
cadaverous / we had long anticipated his cadaverous
cadaverous Adj of or relating to a cadaver or corpse
end
cadaveric
blunt / candid /
forthright / frank /
characterized by directness in free-spoken /
candid Adj Sat manner or speech; without subtlety outspoken / blunt talking and straight shooting
or evasion
plainspoken / point-
blank / straight-from-
the-shoulder
informal or natural; especially caught
candid Adj Sat
off guard or unprepared
candid a candid photograph

openly straightforward and direct candid / open / heart-

candid Adj Sat
without reserve or secretiveness
his candid eyes
to-heart
candor / candour /
the quality of being honest and
candidness / frankness
candidness Noun straightforward in attitude and
speech / directness /
forthrightness
 (Roman Catholic Church) one of a
group of more than 100 prominent
cardinal Noun
bishops in the Sacred College who
cardinal
advise the Pope and elect new Popes
the number of elements in a
cardinal_number /
cardinal Noun mathematical set; denotes a quantity
but not the order cardinal
cardinal Noun a variable color averaging a vivid red cardinal / carmine
cardinal /
cardinal_grosbeak /
crested thick-billed North American
Richmondena_Cardina
cardinal Noun finch having bright red plumage in
the male lis /
Cardinalis_cardinalis /
redbird
cardinal / central /
cardinal Adj Sat serving as an essential component fundamental / key / a cardinal rule

primal
being or denoting a numerical
cardinal Adj
quantity but not order
cardinal cardinal numbers

persistent petty and unjustified

carping Noun
criticism
faultfinding / carping

carping Verb raise trivial objections cavil / carp / chicane

(chemistry) a substance that initiates
catalyst Noun or accelerates a chemical reaction catalyst / accelerator
without itself being affected
something that causes an important the invasion acted as a catalyst to unite
catalyst Noun
event to happen
catalyst the country
cavalier Noun a gallant or courtly gentleman cavalier / chevalier
a royalist supporter of Charles I
cavalier Noun
during the English Civil War
Cavalier / Royalist

cavalier Adj Sat given to haughty disregard of others cavalier / high-handed

a person who is authorized to read
publications or correspondence or to
watch theatrical performances and
censor Noun
suppress in whole or in part anything
censor
considered obscene or politically
unacceptable
forbid the public distribution of ( a
censor Verb
movie or a newspaper)
ban / censor
subject to political, religious, or This magazine is censored by the
censor Verb
moral censorship
censor government
involving intelligence rather than
cerebral Adj
emotions or instinct
cerebral / intellectual a cerebral approach to the problem

of or relating to the cerebrum or

cerebral Adj
brain
cerebral cerebral hemisphere

someone who has won first place in champion / champ /

champion Noun
a competition title-holder
champion / fighter /
champion Noun someone who fights for a cause
hero / paladin
supporter /
a person who backs a politician or a protagonist / all their supporters came out for the
champion Noun
team etc. game
champion / admirer /
booster / friend
 ace / adept /
champion / sensation
/ maven / mavin /
someone who is dazzlingly skilled in
champion Noun
any field
virtuoso / genius /
hotshot / star /
superstar / whiz /
whizz / wizard / wiz
champion Verb protect or fight for as a champion champion / defend
champion /
champion Adj Sat holding first place in a contest a champion show dog
prizewinning
a person with a prejudiced belief in
chauvinist Noun
the superiority of his or her own kind
chauvinist
chauvinist / jingoist /
jingo / flag-waver /
chauvinist Noun an extreme bellicose nationalist
hundred-percenter /
patrioteer
a written order directing a bank to check / bank_check /
check Noun
pay money
he paid all his bills by check
cheque
check Noun an appraisal of the state of affairs assay / check they made an assay of the contents

check Noun the bill in a restaurant check / chit / tab he asked the waiter for the check

arrest / check / halt /

the state of inactivity following an
check Noun
interruption hitch / stay / stop / the negotiations were in arrest

stoppage
 additional proof that something that confirmation /
fossils provided further confirmation of
check Noun was believed (some fact or verification / check / the evolutionary theory
hypothesis or theory) is correct
substantiation
check / checkout /
check Noun the act of inspecting or verifying they made a check of their equipment
check-out_procedure
a mark indicating that something has check_mark / check / as he called the role he put a check
check Noun
been noted or completed etc. mark by each student's name
tick
hindrance /
hinderance /
something immaterial that interferes deterrent /
check Noun
with or delays action or progress impediment / balk /
baulk / check /
handicap
a mark left after a small piece has
check Noun been chopped or broken off of check / chip
something
(chess) a direct attack on an
check Noun
opponent's king
check
the act of restraining power or action his common sense is a bridle to his
check Noun
or limiting excess
bridle / check / curb quick temper
 check / check_up_on /
look_into / check_out
examine so as to determine
check Verb
accuracy, quality, or condition
/ suss_out / check the brakes

check_over / go_over
/ check_into

arrest the motion (of something) He checked the flow of water by

check Verb
abruptly
check shutting off the main valve
see / check / insure /
be careful or certain to do
see_to_it / ensure /
check Verb something; make certain of He verified that the valves were closed
something control / ascertain /
assure

lessen the intensity of; temper; hold control / hold_in /

check Verb in restraint; hold or keep within hold / contain / check moderate your alcohol intake
limits
/ curb / moderate
check / check_off /
put a check mark on or near or next
check Verb
to
mark / mark_off / Please check each name on the list

tick_off / tick
The brain damage will retard the child's
check Verb slow the growth or development of check / retard / delay language development
be verified or confirmed; pass
check Verb
inspection
check / check_out These stories don't check!
 match / fit /
be compatible, similar or consistent; correspond / check / The two stories don't agree in many
check Verb
coincide in their characteristics details
jibe / gibe / tally /
agree
develop (children's) behavior by
discipline / train /
check Verb instruction and practice; especially to Parents must discipline their children
teach self-control check / condition
mark into squares or draw squares check / checker /
check Verb
on; draw crossed lines on chequer
hold back, as of a danger or an check / turn_back /
check Verb enemy; check the expansion or arrest / stop / contain Arrest the downward trend
influence of
/ hold_back
determine / check /
find out, learn, or determine with
find_out / see / I want to see whether she speaks
check Verb certainty, usually by making an
French
inquiry or other effort ascertain / watch /
learn
check Verb make cracks or chinks in check / chink The heat checked the paint

become fractured; break or crack on

check Verb
the surface only
crack / check / break The glass cracked when it was heated

mark into squares or draw squares check / checker /

checkered Verb
on; draw crossed lines on chequer
variegate with different colors,
checkered Verb
shades, or patterns
checker / chequer
patterned with alternating squares of checked / checkered /
checkered Adj Sat
color chequered
checkered Adj Sat marked by changeable fortune checkered a checkered business career

being attentive to women like an chivalrous / gallant /

chivalrous Adj Sat
ideal knight knightly
good weather with comfortable
clemency Noun
temperatures
mildness / clemency
leniency and compassion shown
toward offenders by a person or clemency / he threw himself on the mercy of the
clemency Noun
agency charged with administering court
mercifulness / mercy
justice

blend / flux / mix /

conflate / commingle /
coalesce Verb mix together different elements immix / fuse / The colors blend well

coalesce / meld /
combine / merge

coalesce Verb fuse or cause to grow together coalesce

cogent / telling /
cogent Adj Sat powerfully persuasive a cogent argument
weighty
cohering or tending to cohere; well
cohesive Adj Sat
integrated
cohesive a cohesive organization

collusion Noun secret agreement collusion

collusion Noun agreement on a secret plot connivance / collusion

so great in size or force or extent as colossal / prodigious / colossal crumbling ruins of an ancient
colossal Adj Sat
to elicit awe temple
stupendous
 applaudable /
commendable / applaudable efforts to save the
commendable Adj Sat worthy of high praise
environment
laudable /
praiseworthy
admirably / laudably /
the children's responses were
commendable Adv in an admirable manner praiseworthily / admirably normal
commendable
complacent / self-
contented to a fault with oneself or he had become complacent after years
complacent Adj Sat
one's actions satisfied / self- of success
complacent
either one of two chromatic colors
that when mixed together give white complementary_color
complementary Noun
(in the case of lights) or grey (in the
yellow and blue are complementaries
/ complementary
case of pigments)
of words or propositions so related `male' and `female' are complementary
complementary Adj Sat
that each is the negation of the other
complementary terms

acting as or providing a complement complemental /

complementary Adj Sat (something that completes the complementary /
whole)
completing
an enclosure of residences and other
compound Noun
building (especially in the Orient)
compound
(chemistry) a substance formed by
chemical union of two or more compound /
compound Noun
elements or ingredients in definite chemical_compound
proportion by weight

make more intense, stronger, or intensify / compound

compound Verb
more marked; ,
The efforts were intensified
/ heighten / deepen
compound Verb combine so as to form a whole; mix compound / combine compound the ingredients

compound Verb create by mixing or combining compound

composed of more than one part; compound leaves are composed of
compound Adj
compound flower heads"
compound several lobes;
consisting of two or more substances
compound Adj Sat
or ingredients or elements or parts
compound soap is a compound substance
composed of many distinct
compound Adj Sat individuals united to form a whole or colonial / compound coral is a colonial organism
colony
conducive /
contributing /
tending to bring about; being partly working conditions are not conducive
conducive Adj Sat
responsible for
contributive / to productivity
contributory /
tributary
encourage or assent to illegally or
conniving Verb
criminally
connive
form intrigues (for) in an underhand scheme / intrigue /
conniving Verb
manner connive
acting together in secret toward a
conniving Adj Sat
fraudulent or illegal end
collusive / conniving

calculating /
the most calculating and selfish men in
conniving Adj Sat used of persons calculative / conniving the community
/ scheming / shrewd
ordain / consecrate /
consecrate Verb appoint to a clerical posts he was ordained in the Church
ordinate / order
 give / dedicate /
give entirely to a specific person, She committed herself to the work of
consecrate Verb
activity, or cause consecrate / commit / God
devote
consecrate Verb dedicate to a deity by a vow vow / consecrate
render holy by means of religious consecrate / bless /
consecrate Verb
rites hallow / sanctify
consecrated /
solemnly dedicated to or set apart
consecrate Adj
for a high purpose
consecrate / a life consecrated to science

dedicated
the state of being physically
constraint Noun
constrained
constraint / restraint dogs should be kept under restraint
a device that retards something's the car did not have proper restraints
constraint Noun
motion
restraint / constraint fitted
the act of constraining; the threat or
constraint Noun use of force to control the thoughts constraint
or behavior of others
contemptuous /
contemptuous Adj Sat expressing extreme contempt disdainful / insulting /
scornful
feeling or expressing pain or sorrow contrite / remorseful /
contrite Adj Sat
for sins or offenses rueful / ruthful
riddle / conundrum /
conundrum Noun a difficult problem
enigma / brain-teaser
occupied with or fond of the
convivial Adj Sat
pleasures of good company
convivial / good-time a convivial atmosphere at the reunion
convoluted Verb curl, wind, or twist together convolve / convolute
practice sophistry; change the twist / twist_around /
convoluted Verb meaning of or be vague about in pervert / convolute / Don't twist my words
order to mislead or deceive
sophisticate
convolute /
convoluted Adj Sat rolled longitudinally upon itself a convolute petal
convoluted
Byzantine /
highly complex or intricate and
convoluted / involved
convoluted Adj Sat occasionally devious; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - Sir the Byzantine tax structure
Walter Scott / knotty / tangled /
tortuous
a goat's horn filled with grain and
horn_of_plenty /
cornucopia Noun flowers and fruit symbolizing
prosperity cornucopia
profusion /
the property of being extremely
cornucopia Noun
abundant
profuseness / richness the profusion of detail

/ cornucopia

confirm / corroborate
establish or strengthen as with new / sustain /
corroborate Verb
evidence or facts
his story confirmed my doubts
substantiate / support
/ affirm

corroborate Verb give evidence for validate / corroborate

 corroborate /
support with evidence or authority or The stories and claims were born out by
corroborate Verb
make more certain or confirm underpin / bear_out / the evidence
support
a sophisticated person who has cosmopolitan /
cosmopolitan Noun
travelled in many countries cosmopolite
growing or occurring in many parts of cosmopolitan /
cosmopolitan Adj
the world
a cosmopolitan herb
widely_distributed
composed of people from or at home
his cosmopolitan benevolence
in many parts of the world; especially
cosmopolitan Adj
not provincial in attitudes or
cosmopolitan impartially extended to all races and to
all creeds
interests; - T.B. Macaulay
cosmopolitan /
ecumenical /
of worldwide scope or applicability; ; - oecumenical / general
cosmopolitan Adj Sat
Christopher Morley
an issue of cosmopolitan import
/ universal /
worldwide / world-
wide
the mental attitude that something is
credence Noun believable and should be accepted as credence / acceptance he gave credence to the gossip
true
credence Noun a kind of sideboard or buffet credenza / credence
worthy of often limited the student's effort on the essay--
creditable Adj Sat
commendation creditable though not outstanding--was creditable

credulity Noun tendency to believe readily credulity

difficult to handle or use especially cumbersome /
cumbersome Adj Sat
because of size or weight
a cumbersome piece of machinery
cumbrous
 awkward / clumsy /
cumbersome Adj Sat not elegant or graceful in expression cumbersome / inapt / an awkward prose style

inept / ill-chosen
dearth / famine /
dearth Noun an acute insufficiency
shortage
dearth Noun an insufficient quantity or number dearth / paucity
corrupt / pervert /
subvert / demoralize /
corrupt morally or by intemperance demoralise / debauch debauch the young people with wine
debase Verb
or sensuality and women
/ debase / profane /
vitiate / deprave /
misdirect
lower in value by increasing the base-
debase Verb
metal content
debase / alloy
corrupt, debase, or make impure by
adding a foreign or inferior load / adulterate /
debase Verb substance; often by replacing stretch / dilute / adulterate liquor
valuable ingredients with inferior
ones
debase
expose while ridiculing; especially of The physicist debunked the psychic's
debunk Verb
pretentious or false claims and ideas
debunk / expose claims
destroying or killing a large part of
decimation Noun the population (literally every tenth decimation
person as chosen by lot)
reduce the level of land, as by
degrade Verb
erosion
degrade
 take_down / degrade
reduce in worth or character, usually She tends to put down younger women
degrade Verb
verbally / disgrace / demean / colleagues
put_down
lower the grade of something;
degrade Verb
reduce its worth
degrade / cheapen
a person appointed or elected to
delegate Noun
represent others
delegate
delegate Verb transfer power to someone delegate / depute
give an assignment to (a person) to a delegate / designate /
delegate Verb
post, or assign a task to (a person) depute / assign
consider / debate /
They considered the possibility of a
deliberate Verb think about carefully; weigh moot / turn_over / strike
deliberate
deliberate Verb discuss the pros and cons of an issue debate / deliberate
deliberate / calculated
deliberate Adj Sat carefully thought out in advance a calculated insult
/ measured
careful / deliberate /
deliberate Adj Sat unhurried and with care and dignity walking at the same measured pace
measured
take_down / degrade
reduce in worth or character, usually She tends to put down younger women
demean Verb
verbally
/ disgrace / demean / colleagues
put_down
affectedly modest or shy especially in coy / demure /
demure Adj Sat
a playful or provocative way overmodest
 He derided his student's attempt to
deride Verb treat or speak of with contempt deride solve the biggest problem in
mathematics
derisive / gibelike /
abusing vocally; expressing contempt
derisive Adj Sat
or ridicule
jeering / mocking / derisive laughter

taunting
derogative /
derogative Adj Sat expressive of low opinion derogatory / derogatory comments

disparaging
violate the sacred character of a desecrate / profane /
desecrate Verb
place or language
desecrate a cemetery
outrage / violate
remove the consecration from a desecrate / unhallow /
desecrate Verb
person or an object deconsecrate
destitute /
impoverished /
poor enough to need help from
destitute Adj Sat
others indigent / necessitous
/ needy / poverty-
stricken
barren / destitute /
destitute Adj Sat completely wanting or lacking devoid / free / writing barren of insight

innocent
We should discourage this practice
deter Verb try to prevent; show opposition to deter / discourage among our youth
Negative campaigning will only
deter Verb turn away from by persuasion dissuade / deter dissuade people
 damaging /
(sometimes followed by `to') causing detrimental /
detrimental Adj Sat
harm or injury
damaging to career and reputation
prejudicial /
prejudicious
The representative devolved his duties
devolve Verb pass on or delegate to another devolve to his aides while he was in the hospital

fall / return / pass /

devolve Verb be inherited by The estate fell to my sister
devolve
devolve / deteriorate /
devolve Verb grow worse Her condition deteriorated
drop / degenerate
devilish / diabolic /
showing the cunning or ingenuity or diabolical /
diabolical Adj Sat
wickedness typical of a devil
devilish schemes
mephistophelian /
mephistophelean
demonic / diabolic /
extremely evil or cruel; expressive of diabolical / fiendish / something demonic in him--something
diabolical Adj Sat
cruelty or befitting hell that could be cruel
hellish / infernal /
satanic / unholy
 distinguish / separate
/ differentiate / secern
differentiate Verb mark as different / secernate / We distinguish several kinds of maple

severalize / severalise
/ tell / tell_apart

be a distinctive feature, attribute, or

distinguish / mark / His modesty distinguishes him from his
differentiate Verb trait; sometimes in a very positive
peers
sense differentiate
become distinct and acquire a
differentiate Verb
different character
differentiate

evolve so as to lead to a new species speciate /

differentiate Verb or develop in a way most suited to differentiate /
the environment
specialize / specialise
bring into a condition of decay or
dilapidated Verb
partial ruin by neglect or misuse
dilapidate
decay / crumble /
dilapidated Verb fall into decay or ruin The unoccupied house started to decay
dilapidate
bedraggled / broken-
down / derelict /
dilapidated /
dilapidated Adj Sat in deplorable condition a street of bedraggled tenements
ramshackle /
tatterdemalion /
tumble-down
 quietly and steadily persevering
diligent Adj Sat
especially in detail or exactness
diligent / persevering a diligent (or patient) worker

characterized by care and

diligent Adj
perseverance in carrying out tasks
diligent a diligent detective investigates all clues

discord Noun lack of agreement or harmony discord / strife

disagreement among those expected
discord Noun
to cooperate
discord / dissension

discord Noun a harsh mixture of sounds discordance / discord

strife resulting from a lack of
discord Noun
agreement
discord / discordance
disagree / disaccord /
discord Verb be different from one another
discord
marked by prudence or modesty and
discreet Adj
wise self-restraint
discreet his trusted discreet aide
unobtrusively perceptive and
discreet Adj Sat
sympathetic
discerning / discreet a discerning editor

discreet Adj Sat heedful of potential consequences circumspect / discreet circumspect actions

discriminate /
discriminate Verb recognize or perceive the difference
know_apart
treat differently on the basis of sex discriminate /
discriminate Verb
or race separate / single_out
I could not discriminate the different
discriminate Verb distinguish discriminate tastes in this complicated dish
marked by the ability to see or make
discriminate Adj
fine distinctions
discriminate discriminate judgments
 disenfranchise /
disenfranchise Verb deprive of voting rights
disfranchise
disheartened Verb take away the enthusiasm of dishearten / put_off
demoralized /
demoralised / desperate demoralized people looking
disheartened Adj Sat made less hopeful or enthusiastic
for work
discouraged /
disheartened
including markedly dissimilar a disparate aggregate of creeds and
disparate Adj Sat
elements
disparate songs and prayers
an official report (usually sent in dispatch / despatch /
dispatch Noun
haste) communique
dispatch / despatch /
dispatch Noun the act of sending off something
shipment
dispatch / despatch /
the property of being prompt and
dispatch Noun
efficient
expedition / it was done with dispatch

expeditiousness
dispatch Noun killing a person or animal dispatch / despatch
dispatch / despatch /
dispatch Verb send away towards a designated goal
send_off
dispatch / discharge /
dispatch Verb complete or carry out discharge one's duties
complete
murder / slay / hit /
kill intentionally and with dispatch / bump_off / The mafia boss ordered his enemies
dispatch Verb
premeditation murdered
off / polish_off /
remove
 the traitor was dispatched by the
dispatch Verb kill without delay dispatch conspirators
willing to be taught or led or
docile Adj
supervised or directed
docile the docile masses of an enslaved nation

docile Adj Sat ready and willing to be taught docile / teachable docile pupils eager for instruction

docile Adj Sat easily handled or managed docile / gentle a gentle old horse, docile and obedient
a member of the genus Canis
(probably descended from the
common wolf) that has been dog / domestic_dog /
dog Noun
domesticated by man since
the dog barked all night
Canis_familiaris
prehistoric times; occurs in many
breeds
a dull unattractive unpleasant girl or
dog Noun
woman
frump / dog she got a reputation as a frump

dog Noun informal term for a man dog you lucky dog

cad / bounder /
someone who is morally
dog Noun
reprehensible blackguard / dog / you dirty dog

hound / heel
frank / frankfurter /
a smooth-textured sausage of
hotdog / hot_dog /
dog Noun minced beef or pork usually smoked;
often served on a bread roll dog / wiener /
wienerwurst / weenie
a hinged catch that fits into a notch
pawl / detent / click /
dog Noun of a ratchet to move a wheel forward
or prevent it from moving backward dog
andiron / firedog / dog
dog Noun metal supports for logs in a fireplace the andirons were too hot to touch
/ dog-iron
 chase / chase_after /
trail / tail / tag / The policeman chased the mugger
dog Verb go after with the intent to catch
down the alley
give_chase / dog /
go_after / track
dupe Noun a person who is tricked or swindled victim / dupe
gull / dupe / slang /
befool / cod / fool /
The immigrant was duped because he
dupe Verb fool or hoax put_on / take_in / trusted everyone
put_one_over /
put_one_across
eccentric /
a person with an unusual or odd
eccentric Noun
personality eccentric_person /
flake / oddball / geek
a person of a specified kind (usually character / eccentric /
eccentric Noun
with many eccentricities)
a real character
type / case
bizarre / eccentric /
freakish / freaky /
conspicuously or grossly restaurants of bizarre design--one like a
eccentric Adj Sat
unconventional or unusual flaky / flakey / gonzo / hat, another like a rabbit
off-the-wall /
outlandish / outre
not having a common center; not eccentric /
eccentric Adj
concentric
eccentric circles
nonconcentric
 egotist / egoist /
egotist Noun a conceited and self-centered person
swellhead
elaborate / lucubrate /
add details, as to an account or idea; expatiate / exposit /
She elaborated on the main ideas in her
elaborate Verb clarify the meaning of and discourse enlarge / flesh_out / dissertation
in a learned way, usually in writing
expand / expound /
dilate
produce from basic elements or
elaborate Verb sources; change into a more elaborate The bee elaborates honey
developed product
make more complex, intricate, or complicate / refine /
elaborate Verb
richer
refine a design or pattern
rarify / elaborate
elaborate Verb work out in detail elaborate / work_out elaborate a plan

marked by complexity and richness

elaborate Adj Sat
of detail
elaborate / luxuriant an elaborate lace pattern

developed or executed with care and detailed / elaborate /

elaborate Adj Sat
in minute detail; ; - John Buchan
a detailed plan
elaborated
elude Verb escape, either physically or mentally elude / evade / bilk The thief eluded the police
be incomprehensible to; escape
elude Verb
understanding by
elude / escape What you are seeing in him eludes me
 hedge / fudge / evade
avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, / put_off / circumvent
elude Verb answering, or performing (duties, / parry / elude / skirt / He dodged the issue
questions, or issues)
dodge / duck /
sidestep
skillful at eluding capture; - David a cabal of conspirators, each more
elusive Adj Sat
Kline
elusive elusive than the archterrorist
difficult to detect or grasp by the his whole attitude had undergone a
elusive Adj Sat
mind or analyze
elusive / subtle subtle change

baffling / elusive /
making great mental demands; hard
elusive Adj Sat
to comprehend or solve or believe knotty / problematic / a baffling problem

problematical / tough
embroider / pad / lard
/ embellish /
aggrandize /
embellish Verb add details to
aggrandise / blow_up
/ dramatize /
dramatise
deck / adorn /
embellish Verb be beautiful to look at decorate / grace / Flowers adorned the tables everywhere

embellish / beautify
decorate / adorn /
make more attractive by adding
embellish Verb
ornament, colour, etc.
grace / ornament / Decorate the room for the party

embellish / beautify
 fancify / beautify /
embellish Verb make more beautiful
embellish / prettify
embroil / tangle /
force into some kind of situation,
embroiled Verb
condition, or course of action
sweep / sweep_up / They were swept up by the events

drag / drag_in
deeply involved especially in
embroiled Adj Sat
something complicated
embroiled / entangled embroiled in the conflict

showing empathy or ready empathic / a sensitive and empathetic school

empathetic Adj Sat
comprehension of others' states counselor
empathetic
compete with successfully; approach This artist's drawings cannot emulate
emulate Verb
or reach equality with
emulate his water colors
a disease that is constantly present
to a greater or lesser degree in endemic /
endemic Noun
people of a certain class or in people endemic_disease
living in a particular location
a plant that is native to a certain
endemic Noun
limited area
endemic it is an endemic found only this island
of or relating to a disease (or
anything resembling a disease)
endemic Adj
constantly present to greater or
endemic / endemical diseases endemic to the tropics
lesser extent in a particular locality
native to or confined to a certain the islands have a number of
endemic Adj
region
endemic interesting endemic species

autochthonal /
autochthonic / the autochthonal fauna of Australia
endemic Adj Sat originating where it is found
includes the kangaroo
autochthonous /
endemic / indigenous
 hostility / enmity /
enmity Noun a state of deep-seated ill-will
antagonism
hostility / enmity /
enmity Noun the feeling of a hostile person he could no longer contain his hostility
ill_will
provoke someone to do something
entice Verb through (often false or exaggerated) entice / lure / tempt He lured me into temptation
promises or persuasion
enumerate / recite / She enumerated the many obstacles
enumerate Verb specify individually
she had encountered
itemize / itemise
count / number /
enumerate Verb determine the number or amount of enumerate / Can you count the books on your shelf?

numerate
err Verb to make a mistake or be incorrect err / mistake / slip
wander from a direct course or at The child strayed from the path and her
err Verb
random
stray / err / drift parents lost sight of her
uncontrolled motion that is irregular
errant Adj Sat
or unpredictable
errant an errant breeze

liable to sudden unpredictable erratic / fickle /

erratic Adj Sat
change
erratic behavior
mercurial / quicksilver
erratic / planetary /
erratic Adj Sat having no fixed course an erratic comet
wandering
likely to perform unpredictably; ; ; - erratic /
erratic Adj Sat
Osbert Lancaster
erratic winds are the bane of a sailor
temperamental
a feeling of great (usually
euphoria Noun
exaggerated) elation
euphoria / euphory
 avoiding or escaping from difficulty
evasive Adj Sat
or danger especially enemy fire
evasive pilots are taught to take evasive action

evenhanded Adj Sat without partiality evenhanded evenhanded justice

exacerbate /
exasperate Verb exasperate or irritate exasperate /
aggravate
infuriate / exasperate
exasperate Verb make furious
/ incense
worsen / aggravate /
exasperate Verb make worse exacerbate / This drug aggravates the pain

exasperate
torment / torture /
excruciating Verb torment emotionally or mentally
excruciate / rack
torture / excruciate / The sinners will be tormented in Hell,
excruciating Verb subject to torture
according to the Bible
torment
agonizing / agonising /
excruciating /
excruciating Adj Sat extremely painful harrowing / torturing /
torturous /
torturesome
This compositional style is exemplified
exemplify Verb be characteristic of exemplify / represent by this fugue

exemplify / illustrate /
exemplify Verb clarify by giving an example of
instance
 cheer / root_on /
spur on or encourage especially by inspire / urge / The crowd cheered the demonstrating
exhort Verb
cheers and shouts strikers
barrack / urge_on /
exhort / pep_up
force or impel in an indicated urge / urge_on / press
exhort Verb
direction
I urged him to finish his studies
/ exhort
lessen or to try to lessen the extenuate / palliate /
extenuating Verb
seriousness or extent of
The circumstances extenuate the crime
mitigate
extenuating Adj Sat partially excusing or justifying extenuating extenuating circumstances

bantering / facetious /
facetious Adj Sat cleverly amusing in tone a bantering tone
tongue-in-cheek
a color or pigment varying around a dun / greyish_brown /
fawn Noun
light grey-brown color
she wore dun
grayish_brown / fawn

fawn Noun a young deer fawn

fawn / crawl / creep /
fawn Verb show submission or fear
cringe / cower / grovel

fawn / toady / truckle

try to gain favor by cringing or
fawn Verb
flattering / bootlick / kowtow / He is always kowtowing to his boss

kotow / suck_up

fawn Verb have fawns fawn deer fawn

 black-footed_ferret /
musteline mammal of prairie regions
ferret Noun
of United States; nearly extinct ferret /
Mustela_nigripes
domesticated albino variety of the
ferret Noun European polecat bred for hunting ferret
rats and rabbits
ferret Verb hunt with ferrets ferret
search and discover through
ferret Verb
persistent investigation
ferret_out / ferret She ferreted out the truth

fete Noun an elaborate party (often outdoors) fete / feast / fiesta

an organized series of acts and
fete Noun
performances (usually in one place)
festival / fete a drama festival
They were feting the patriarch of the
fete Verb have a celebration celebrate / fete family
marked by erratic changeableness in
fickle Adj Sat
affections or attachments
fickle / volatile fickle friends

liable to sudden unpredictable erratic / fickle /

fickle Adj Sat
change
erratic behavior
mercurial / quicksilver
achieve something by means of wangle / finagle /
finagle Verb
trickery or devious methods manage
newcomer / fledgling /
fledgeling / starter /
fledgling Noun any new participant in some activity
neophyte / freshman /
newbie / entrant
young bird that has just fledged or
fledgling Noun
become capable of flying
fledgling / fledgeling
 (of a young bird) having acquired its
fledgling Adj Sat
flight feathers
fledgling / fledgeling a fledgling robin

fledgling / unfledged /
fledgling Adj Sat young and inexperienced a fledgling enterprise
callow
a soft bulky fabric with deep pile;
fleece Noun
used chiefly for clothing
fleece
tanned skin of a sheep with the
fleece Noun
fleece left on; used for clothing
sheepskin / fleece
outer coat of especially sheep and
fleece Noun
yaks
wool / fleece
overcharge / soak /
surcharge / gazump /
fleece Verb rip off; ask an unreasonable price
fleece / plume / pluck
/ rob / hook
fleece Verb shear the wool from fleece / shear shear sheep
any of various European and non-
flounder Noun
European marine flatfish
flounder
flounder Verb walk with great difficulty stagger / flounder He staggered along in the heavy snow

flounder Verb behave awkwardly; have difficulties flounder She is floundering in college

flower / prime / peak /

the period of greatest prosperity or heyday / bloom /
flush Noun
productivity blossom /
efflorescence / flush
a rosy color (especially in the cheeks) bloom / blush / flush /
flush Noun
taken as a sign of good health rosiness
 sudden brief sensation of heat
flush Noun (associated with menopause and hot_flash / flush
some mental disorders)
a poker hand with all 5 cards in the
flush Noun
same suit
flush
bang / boot / charge /
the swift release of a store of
flush Noun
affective force rush / flush / thrill / they got a great bang out of it

kick
flush / gush /
flush Noun a sudden rapid flow (as of water) he heard the flush of a toilet
outpouring
sudden reddening of the face (as
flush Noun from embarrassment or guilt or blush / flush
shame or modesty)
turn red, as if in embarrassment or blush / crimson / flush The girl blushed when a young man
flush Verb
shame whistled as she walked by
/ redden
cause to flow or flood with or as if
flush Verb
with water
flush flush the meadows

flush / level /
flush Verb make level or straight level the ground
even_out / even
flush Verb rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid flush / scour / purge flush the wound with antibiotics

flush Verb irrigate with water from a sluice sluice / flush sluice the earth
of a surface exactly even with an
flush Adj Sat adjoining one, forming the same flush a door flush with the wall
plane
affluent / flush /
having an abundant supply of money
flush Adj Sat
or possessions of value loaded / moneyed / an affluent banker

wealthy
flush Adv in the same plane flush set it flush with the top of the table
 a behavioral attribute that is
idiosyncrasy / foible /
foible Noun distinctive and peculiar to an
individual mannerism
the weaker part of a sword's blade
foible Noun
from the forte to the tip
foible
marked by defiant disregard for foolhardy / heady / foolhardy enough to try to seize the
foolhardy Adj Sat
danger or consequences; ; -Macaulay gun from the hijacker
rash / reckless
blunt / candid /
forthright / frank /
characterized by directness in free-spoken /
forthright Adj Sat manner or speech; without subtlety outspoken / blunt talking and straight shooting
or evasion
plainspoken / point-
blank / straight-from-
the-shoulder
directly and without evasion; not squarely / forthrightly
forthright Adv
roundabout
to face a problem squarely
/ forthright
futile / ineffectual /
futile Adj Sat producing no result or effect a futile effort
otiose / unavailing
bootless / fruitless /
futile Adj Sat unproductive of success futile / sleeveless / a fruitless search

vain
affable / amiable /
genial Adj Sat diffusing warmth and friendliness an affable smile
cordial / genial
of or relating to the chin or median
genial Adj
part of the lower jaw
genial / mental
genial Adj Sat agreeable, conducive to comfort kind / genial a dry climate kind to asthmatics

civilized / civilised /
marked by refinement in taste and
genteel Adj Sat
manners cultivated / cultured / cultivated speech

genteel / polite
glean Verb gather, as of natural products reap / harvest / glean harvest the grapes

glib Adj Sat marked by lack of intellectual depth glib glib generalizations

glib Adj Sat having only superficial plausibility glib / pat / slick glib promises

glib / glib-tongued /
glib Adj Sat artfully persuasive in speech a glib tongue
smooth-tongued
a pointed instrument that is used to
goad Noun
prod into a state of motion
prod / goad

goad / goading / prod

a verbalization that encourages you the ceaseless prodding got on his
goad Noun
to attempt something / prodding / urging / nerves
spur / spurring

goad Verb give heart or courage to spur / goad

goad Verb urge with or as if with a goad goad
stab or urge on as if with a pointed
goad Verb
stick
goad / prick
goad or provoke,as by constant He needled her with his sarcastic
goad Verb
criticism
needle / goad remarks

fawn / crawl / creep /

grovel Verb show submission or fear
cringe / cower / grovel
 guffaw Noun a burst of deep loud hearty laughter guffaw / belly_laugh

guffaw Verb laugh boisterously guffaw / laugh_loudly

a restraint that confines or restricts
shackle / bond /
hamper Noun freedom (especially something used
to tie down or restrain a prisoner) hamper / trammel
hamper Noun a basket usually with a cover hamper
prevent the progress or free hamper / halter / He was hampered in his efforts by the
hamper Verb
movement of bad weather
cramp / strangle
handicap / hinder / The brace I have to wear is hindering
hamper Verb put at a disadvantage
my movements
hamper
hamstrung Verb cripple by cutting the hamstring hamstring
flower / prime / peak /
the period of greatest prosperity or heyday / bloom /
heyday Noun
productivity blossom /
efflorescence / flush
odds_and_ends /
oddments / melange /
farrago / ragbag /
mishmash / mingle-
hodgepodge Noun a motley assortment of things
mangle / hodgepodge
/ hotchpotch /
gallimaufry / omnium-
gatherum
 a theory or argument made up of patchwork /
hodgepodge Noun
miscellaneous or incongruous ideas hodgepodge / jumble
any of several breeds of dog used for
hound Noun hunting typically having large hound / hound_dog
drooping ears
cad / bounder /
someone who is morally
hound Noun
reprehensible blackguard / dog / you dirty dog

hound / heel
The hunters traced the deer into the
hound Verb pursue or chase relentlessly hound / hunt / trace woods

the quality of wearisome constancy, monotony / humdrum he had never grown accustomed to the
humdrum Noun
routine, and lack of variety monotony of his work
/ sameness
commonplace /
not challenging; dull and lacking humdrum / prosaic /
humdrum Adj Sat
excitement
an unglamorous job greasing engines
unglamorous /
unglamourous
tediously repetitious or lacking in humdrum / a humdrum existence; all work and no
humdrum Adj Sat
variety play
monotonous
contrary to accepted morality
illicit Adj (especially sexual morality) or illicit an illicit association with his secretary
convention
illegitimate / illicit /
illicit Adj Sat contrary to or forbidden by law outlaw / outlawed / an illegitimate seizure of power

unlawful
 of no importance or relevance an objection that is immaterial after the
immaterial Adj
especially to a law case
immaterial fact
incorporeal /
immaterial Adj without material form or substance an incorporeal spirit
immaterial
immaterial /
immaterial Adj not consisting of matter immaterial apparitions
nonmaterial
extraneous /
not pertinent to the matter under immaterial /
immaterial Adj Sat
consideration
an issue extraneous to the debate
impertinent /
orthogonal
(often followed by `to') lacking whether you choose to do it or not is a
immaterial /
immaterial Adj Sat importance; not mattering one way matter that is quite immaterial (or
or the other indifferent indifferent)

faultless / immaculate
impeccable Adj Sat without fault or error faultless logic
/ impeccable

impeccable Adj Sat not capable of sin impeccable

She is impeding the progress of our
impede Verb be a hindrance or obstacle to impede / hinder project

obstruct / obturate /
impede Verb block passage through impede / occlude / obstruct the path

jam / block / close_up

impending Verb be imminent or about to happen impend Changes are impending

 at_hand /
close_at_hand /
impending Adj Sat close in time; about to occur retribution is at hand
imminent / impendent
/ impending
preventing especially liquids to pass
impermeable Adj
or diffuse through
impermeable impermeable stone
bring into intimate and incriminating He is implicated in the scheme to
implicate Verb
connection
implicate defraud the government
impose, involve, or imply as a
implicate Verb
necessary accompaniment or result
entail / implicate What does this move entail?
a factor whose effects cannot be human behavior depends on many
imponderable Noun
accurately assessed
imponderable imponderables
difficult or impossible to evaluate such imponderable human factors as
imponderable Adj
with precision
imponderable aesthetic sensibility
impregnable /
immune to attack; incapable of being inviolable / secure /
impregnable Adj Sat
tampered with
an impregnable fortress
strong / unassailable /
unattackable
conceptive /
impregnable Adj Sat capable of conceiving
impregnable
incapable of being overcome, impregnable /
impregnable Adj Sat
challenged or refuted
an impregnable argument
inexpugnable
happening by chance or accidental / with an inadvertent gesture she swept
inadvertent Adj Sat
unexpectedly or unintentionally the vase off the table
inadvertent
without or deprived of the use of inarticulate /
inarticulate Adj
speech or words
inarticulate beasts
unarticulate
 the pleasing scent produced when
incense Noun
incense is burned
incense incense filled the room

cense / incense /
incense Verb perfume especially with a censer
thurify
infuriate / exasperate
incense Verb make furious
/ incense
ceaseless / constant /
incessant / never-
uninterrupted in time and
incessant Adj Sat
indefinitely long continuing ending / perpetual / the ceaseless thunder of surf

unceasing /
unremitting
used of persons or behavior; showing the harsh sentence of an inclement
inclement Adj
no clemency or mercy
inclement judge
incumbent /
incumbent Noun the official who holds an office
officeholder
incumbent Adj Sat currently holding an office incumbent the incumbent governor

indict Verb accuse formally of a crime indict

autochthonal /
autochthonic / the autochthonal fauna of Australia
indigenous Adj Sat originating where it is found
includes the kangaroo
autochthonous /
endemic / indigenous
indignant / incensed /
angered at something unjust or
indignant Adj Sat
wrong outraged / an indignant denial

umbrageous
 hardworking /
characterized by hard work and
industrious Adj Sat
perseverance industrious / tireless /
untiring
energetic / gumptious
working hard to promote an
industrious Adj Sat
enterprise / industrious / up-and-
coming
flammable /
inflammable Adj Sat easily ignited
inflammable
inventiveness /
ingenuity Noun the power of creative imagination ingeniousness /
ingenuity / cleverness
ingenuity /
ingenuity Noun the property of being ingenious ingeniousness / a plot of great ingenuity

cleverness
a slight suggestion or vague inkling / intimation / he had no inkling what was about to
inkling Noun
understanding happen
glimmering / glimmer

bland / flat / flavorless

/ flavourless / insipid /
insipid Adj Sat lacking taste or flavor or tang a bland diet
savorless / savourless
/ vapid
 lacking interest or significance or
insipid Adj Sat
impact
insipid / jejune an insipid personality
someone who has insufficient assets
insolvent Noun
to cover their debts
bankrupt / insolvent
unable to meet or discharge financial
insolvent Adj
obligations
insolvent an insolvent person
stopping and starting at irregular
intermittent Adj Sat
intervals
intermittent intermittent rain showers

fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a deluge / flood / the basement was inundated after the
inundate Verb
liquid storm
inundate / swamp
fill or cover completely, usually with inundate / deluge /
inundate Verb
water submerge
choleric / irascible /
hotheaded / hot-
irascible Adj Sat quickly aroused to anger tempered / quick- a hotheaded commander

tempered / short-
tempered
irascible Adj Sat characterized by anger choleric / irascible a choleric outburst

irk Verb irritate or vex gall / irk It galls me that we lost the suit
the committee was timid and mediocre
irresolute Adj uncertain how to act or proceed irresolute and irresolute
slang / cant / jargon /
a characteristic language of a
jargon Noun
particular group (as among thieves)
lingo / argot / patois / they don't speak our lingo

vernacular
a colorless (or pale yellow or smoky)
jargon Noun
variety of zircon
jargoon / jargon
specialized technical terminology
jargon Noun
characteristic of a particular subject
jargon
 characterized by jokes and good jesting / jocose /
jocular Adj Sat
humor jocular / joking
they tried to deal with this painful
jocular Adv with humor jocosely / jocular subject jocularly
a group of military officers who rule a
junta Noun
country after seizing power
military_junta / junta
an identifying or descriptive marker
label Noun
that is attached to an object
label
the artists and repertoire department
trade name of a company that
label Noun
produces musical recordings label / recording_label of a recording label is responsible for
finding new talent
distinguish (an element or atom) by
using a radioactive isotope or an
label Verb
isotope of unusual mass for tracing
label
through chemical reactions
label Verb attach a tag or label to tag / label / mark label these bottles

pronounce / label /
label Verb pronounce judgment on They labeled him unfit to work here
judge
arduous /
backbreaking /
characterized by effort to the point
grueling / gruelling / worked their arduous way up the
laborious Adj Sat of exhaustion; especially physical
mining valley
effort hard / heavy /
laborious / operose /
punishing / toilsome
 leery / mistrustful /
openly distrustful and unwilling to
leery Adj Sat
confide suspicious / untrusting
/ wary
bullfrogs became lethargic with the first
lethargic Adj deficient in alertness or activity lethargic / unenrgetic cold nights

limpid / lucid /
(of language) transparently clear;
luculent / pellucid /
lucid Adj Sat easily understandable; ; ; - Robert writes in a limpid style
Burton crystal_clear /
perspicuous
lucid Adj Sat having a clear mind lucid a lucid moment in his madness
capable of thinking and expressing
coherent / logical /
lucid Adj Sat yourself in a clear and consistent a lucid thinker
manner lucid
crystalline /
transmitting light; able to be seen crystal_clear / limpid / the cold crystalline water of melted
lucid Adj Sat
through with clarity snow
lucid / pellucid /
transparent
ghastly / grim / grisly /
macabre Adj Sat shockingly repellent; inspiring horror gruesome / macabre / ghastly wounds

sick
any unwholesome or desperate
malady Noun
condition
malady what maladies afflict our nation?
impairment of normal physiological
illness / unwellness /
malady Noun function affecting part or all of an
organism malady / sickness
 wishing or appearing to wish evil to
malevolent Adj Sat others; arising from intense ill will or malevolent a gossipy malevolent old woman
hatred
having or exerting a malignant malefic / malevolent /
malevolent Adj Sat
influence
malevolent stars
malign / evil
malleable Adj Sat easily influenced ductile / malleable
ductile / malleable /
capable of being shaped or bent or
malleable Adj Sat
drawn out
pliable / pliant / ductile copper

tensile / tractile
malodorous /
malodourous /
malodorous Adj having an unpleasant smell
unpleasant-smelling /
ill-smelling / stinky
Roman poet noted for epigrams (first
martial Noun
century BC)
Martial

soldierly / soldierlike /
martial Adj Sat (of persons) befitting a warrior a military bearing
warriorlike / martial

martial Adj Sat suggesting war or military life warlike / martial

martial Adj Sat of or relating to the armed forces martial martial law
a saying that is widely accepted on its
maxim Noun
own merits
maxim / axiom
English inventor (born in the United Maxim /
States) who invented the Maxim gun
maxim Noun
that was used in World War I (1840- Sir_Hiram_Stevens_M
1916) axim
a bend or curve, as in a stream or
meander Noun
river
meander
 an aimless amble on a winding
meander Noun
course
ramble / meander

to move or cause to move in a weave / wind / thread

meander Verb
sinuous, spiral, or circular course
the river winds through the hills
/ meander / wander
a constitutional tendency to be
melancholy Noun
gloomy and depressed
melancholy
a humor that was once believed to
black_bile /
melancholy Noun be secreted by the kidneys or spleen
and to cause sadness and melancholy melancholy
characterized by or causing or melancholy /
melancholy Adj Sat
expressing sadness
growing more melancholy every hour
melancholic
somber / sombre /
melancholy Adj Sat grave or even gloomy in character solemn and mournful music
melancholy
melee / scrimmage /
melee Noun a noisy riotous fight
battle_royal
magnetize /
mesmerize /
She magnetized the audience with her
mesmerize Verb attract strongly, as if with a magnet mesmerise / tricks
magnetise / bewitch /
spellbind
hypnotize / hypnotise
mesmerize Verb induce hypnosis in / mesmerize /
mesmerise
 someone who dislikes people in misanthrope /
misanthrope Noun
general misanthropist
miscreant Noun a person without moral scruples reprobate / miscreant
a stingy hoarder of money and
miser Noun
possessions (often living miserably)
miser
a misanthrope who dislikes women misogynist /
misogynist Noun
in particular woman_hater
moment / minute /
moment Noun a particular point in time the moment he arrived the party began
second / instant
moment / mo /
moment Noun an indefinitely short time wait just a moment
minute / second / bit
here_and_now /
the disappointments of the here and
moment Noun at this time present_moment / now
moment
consequence / import decisions of great consequence are
moment Noun having important effects or influence
made by the president himself
/ moment
the n-th moment of a distribution is
moment Noun the expected value of the n-th power moment
of the deviations from a fixed value
a hypothetical case that law students
moot Noun
argue as an exercise
moot he organized the weekly moot

consider / debate /
They considered the possibility of a
moot Verb think about carefully; weigh moot / turn_over / strike
deliberate
 of no legal significance (as having
moot Adj Sat
been previously decided)
moot
arguable / debatable /
moot Adj Sat open to argument or debate that is a moot question
disputable / moot
dark / dour /
glowering / glum /
showing a brooding ill humor; ; ; ; ; ; -
morose Adj Sat
Bruce Bliven moody / morose / a dark scowl

saturnine / sour /
sullen
change shape as via computer In the video, Michael Jackson morphed
morph Verb
animation
morph into a panther
muffle / mute / dull /
deaden (a sound or noise), especially
muted Verb
by wrapping damp / dampen /
tone_down
hushed / muted /
muted Adj Sat in a softened tone hushed voices
subdued / quiet
being or made softer or less loud or dull / muffled / muted the dull boom of distant breaking
muted Adj Sat
clear waves
/ softened
cussed / obdurate /
obdurate Adj Sat stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing obstinate /
unrepentant
showing unfeeling resistance to flinty / flint / granitic /
obdurate Adj Sat
tender feelings
his flinty gaze
obdurate / stony
 compel / oblige / We compel all students to fill out this
obliging Verb force somebody to do something
form
obligate
bind by an obligation; cause to be oblige / bind / hold /
obliging Verb
indebted
He's held by a contract
obligate
provide a service or favor for
obliging Verb
someone
oblige / accommodate We had to oblige him

showing a cheerful willingness to do to close one's eyes like a complaisant

obliging Adj Sat
favors for others complaisant / obliging husband whose wife has taken a lover
he obstinates himself against all
obstinate Verb persist stubbornly obstinate rational arguments
tenaciously unwilling or marked by stubborn / obstinate /
obstinate Adj
tenacious unwillingness to yield unregenerate
cussed / obdurate /
obstinate Adj Sat stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing obstinate /
unrepentant
contrary / obstinate /
obstinate Adj Sat resistant to guidance or discipline Mary Mary quite contrary
perverse / wayward
marked by elaborate rhetoric and
ornate Adj Sat elaborated with decorative details; ; - flowery / ornate a flowery speech
John Milton
seemingly contradictory but paradoxical / self- it is paradoxical that standing is more
paradoxical Adj Sat
nonetheless possibly true tiring than walking
contradictory
a musical composition that evokes pastorale / pastoral /
pastoral Noun
rural life idyll / idyl
 a literary work idealizing the rural life
pastoral Noun
(especially the life of shepherds)
pastoral
pastoral Adj of or relating to a pastor pastoral pastoral work
relating to shepherds or herdsmen or
pastoral Adj
devoted to raising sheep or cattle
bucolic / pastoral pastoral seminomadic people

(used with regard to idealized arcadian / bucolic /

pastoral Adj Sat
country life) idyllically rustic
a country life of arcadian contentment
pastoral
sponsor / patronize /
patronize Verb assume sponsorship of
patronise
patronize / patronise /
do one's shopping at; do business shop / shop_at /
patronize Verb
with; be a customer or client of buy_at / frequent /
sponsor
patronize / patronise /
patronize Verb treat condescendingly
condescend

patronize / patronise /
patronize Verb be a regular customer or client of patronage / support / We patronize this store

keep_going

paucity Noun an insufficient quantity or number dearth / paucity

 cranky / fractious /
irritable / nettlesome
/ peevish / peckish /
peevish Adj Sat easily irritated or annoyed an incorrigibly fractious young man
pettish / petulant /
scratchy / testy /
tetchy / techy
(botany) a plant lasting for three
perennial Noun
seasons or more
perennial
the common buttercup is a popular
perennial Adj lasting three seasons or more perennial perennial plant
lasting an indefinitely long time;
perennial Adj Sat
suggesting self-renewal
perennial perennial happiness

perennial / recurrent / perennial efforts to stipulate the

perennial Adj Sat recurring again and again
requirements
repeated
perpetuate Verb cause to continue or prevail perpetuate perpetuate a myth
having precise or logical relevance to a list of articles pertinent to the
pertinent Adj Sat
the matter at hand
pertinent discussion
being of striking appropriateness and apposite / apt / the successful copywriter is a master of
pertinent Adj Sat
pertinence apposite and evocative verbal images
pertinent
perturb / unhinge /
disturb in mind or make uneasy or disquiet / trouble / She was rather perturbed by the news
perturb Verb
cause to be worried or alarmed that her father was seriously ill
cark / distract /
disorder
 cause a celestial body to deviate
from a theoretically regular orbital
The orbits of these stars were
perturb Verb motion, especially as a result of perturb perturbed by the passings of a comet
interposed or extraordinary
gravitational pull
Fundamental Islamicists threaten to
throw into great confusion or perturb / derange /
perturb Verb
disorder
perturb the social order in Algeria and
throw_out_of_kilter Egypt
examine or consider with attention
peruse Verb
and in detail
peruse Please peruse this report at your leisure

pine / pine_tree /
pine Noun a coniferous tree
true_pine
straight-grained durable and often
resinous white to yellowish timber of
pine Noun
any of numerous trees of the genus
pine
Pinus
have a desire for something or ache / yearn / yen /
pine Verb
someone who is not present
She ached for a cigarette
pine / languish
pinnacle Noun a lofty peak pinnacle
acme / height /
the highest level or degree elevation / peak /
his landscapes were deemed the acme
pinnacle Noun attainable; the highest stage of pinnacle / summit / of beauty
development
superlative / meridian
/ tiptop / top

pinnacle Verb raise on or as if on a pinnacle pinnacle He did not want to be pinnacled

 piquant / savory /
piquant Adj Sat having an agreeably pungent taste
savoury / spicy / zesty

piquant Adj Sat engagingly stimulating or provocative piquant / salty a piquant wit

piquant Adj Sat attracting or delighting engaging / piquant an engaging frankness

concise and full of meaning; ; -
pithy Adj Sat
Hervey Allen
pithy / sententious welcomed her pithy comments

pittance Noun an inadequate payment pittance they work all day for a mere pittance

placid / quiet / still /

(of a body of water) free from a ribbon of sand between the angry sea
placid Adj Sat
disturbance by heavy waves
tranquil / smooth / and the placid bay
unruffled
equable / even-
placid Adj Sat not easily irritated tempered / good- an equable temper

tempered / placid
drudgery / plodding /
plodding Noun hard monotonous routine work
grind / donkeywork
the act of walking with a slow heavy
plodding Noun
gait
plodding / plod I could recognize his plod anywhere

walk heavily and firmly, as when slog / footslog / plod / Mules plodded in a circle around a
plodding Verb
weary, or through mud grindstone
trudge / pad / tramp

plodding Adj Sat (of movement) slow and laborious leaden / plodding leaden steps
an opening remark intended to
ploy Noun
secure an advantage for the speaker
gambit / ploy
 a maneuver in a game or ploy / gambit /
ploy Noun
conversation stratagem
powwow Noun (informal) a quick private conference huddle / powwow
powwow Noun a council of or with Native Americans powwow
hold a powwow, talk, conference or
powwow Verb
meeting
powwow
an example that is used to justify precedent /
precedent Noun
similar occurrences at a later time case_in_point
(civil law) a law established by case_law / precedent
precedent Noun
following earlier judicial decisions / common_law

a system of jurisprudence based on common law originated in the

common_law /
precedent Noun judicial precedents rather than unwritten laws of England and was later
statutory laws case_law / precedent applied in the United States

a subject mentioned earlier

precedent Noun
(preceding in time)
precedent
preceding in time, order, or
precedent Adj Sat
significance
precedent
a high bid that is intended to prevent preemptive_bid / pre-
preempt Noun
the opposing players from bidding empt / preempt
make a preemptive bid in the game
preempt Verb
of bridge
preempt
take the place of or have precedence live broadcast of the presidential
preempt Verb
over
preempt / displace debate preempts the regular news hour
designed or having the power to
preemptive / pre-
preemptive Adj Sat deter or prevent an anticipated a preemptive business offer
situation or occurrence emptive
 an assumption that is taken for given / presumption /
presumption Noun
granted precondition
a kind of discourtesy in the form of
presumption Noun
an act of presuming
presumption his presumption was intolerable

presumption /
audacious (even arrogant) behavior presumptuousness / he despised them for their
presumption Noun
that you have no right to presumptuousness
effrontery /
assumption
assumptive / assuming
presumptuous Adj Sat excessively forward an assumptive person
/ presumptuous
predominate /
be larger in number, quantity, power,
prevail Verb
status or importance dominate / rule / reign Money reigns supreme here

/ prevail
prevail Verb be valid, applicable, or true prevail / hold / obtain This theory still holds

prevail / persist /
prevail Verb continue to exist die_hard / run / These stories die hard

endure
The champion prevailed, though it was
prevail Verb prove superior prevail / triumph a hard fight
He prevailed upon her to visit his
prevail Verb use persuasion successfully prevail parents
handed her his pristine white
pristine Adj Sat immaculately clean and unused pristine handkerchief
 exuberant / lush /
produced or growing in extreme
profuse Adj Sat
abundance luxuriant / profuse / their riotous blooming

riotous
profusion /
the property of being extremely
profusion Noun
abundant profuseness / richness the profusion of detail

/ cornucopia

a person who pleads for a cause or advocate / advocator /

proponent Noun
propounds an idea proponent / exponent

probationary /
under terms not final or fully worked provisional /
provisional Adj Sat
out or agreed upon
probationary employees
provisionary /
tentative
tough and callous by virtue of hard-bitten / hard-
pugnacious Adj Sat
experience boiled / pugnacious
pugnacious spirits...lamented that there
ready and able to resort to force or
pugnacious Adj Sat
violence; - Herman Melville
pugnacious / rough was so little prospect of an exhilarating
disturbance
uneasiness about the fitness of an scruple / qualm /
qualm Noun
action misgiving
queasiness /
qualm Noun a mild state of nausea squeamishness /
qualm
 a situation from which extrication is
predicament / finds himself in a most awkward
quandary Noun difficult especially an unpleasant or
predicament
trying one quandary / plight
state of uncertainty or perplexity
quandary Noun especially as requiring a choice dilemma / quandary
between equally unfavorable options

quip Noun a witty saying epigram / quip

wisecrack / crack /
quip Noun witty remark
sally / quip
The students were gagging during
quip Verb make jokes or quips gag / quip dinner

dapper / dashing /
marked by up-to-dateness in dress jaunty / natty / raffish
raffish Adj Sat
and manners
a dapper young man
/ rakish / spiffy /
snappy / spruce
marked by a carefree
devil-may-care / a cocktail party given by some...raffish
raffish Adj Sat unconventionality or
bachelors
disreputableness; - Crary Moore raffish / rakish
a flat float (usually made of logs or
planks) that can be used for
raft Noun
transport or as a platform for
raft
swimmers
 batch / deal / flock /
good_deal /
great_deal / hatful /
heap / lot / mass /
mess / mickle / mint /
(often followed by `of') a large
raft Noun
number or amount or extent
mountain / muckle / a batch of letters

passel / peck / pile /

plenty / pot /
quite_a_little / raft /
sight / slew / spate /
stack / tidy_sum / wad
raft Verb make into a raft raft raft these logs

dapper / dashing /
marked by up-to-dateness in dress jaunty / natty / raffish
rakish Adj Sat
and manners
a dapper young man
/ rakish / spiffy /
snappy / spruce
marked by a carefree
devil-may-care / a cocktail party given by some...raffish
rakish Adj Sat unconventionality or
bachelors
disreputableness; - Crary Moore raffish / rakish
eat_into / fret / rankle
rankle Verb gnaw into; make resentful or angry The injustice rankled her
/ grate
 rash / roseola /
rash Noun any red eruption of the skin efflorescence /
skin_rash
a series of unexpected and
rash Noun
unpleasant occurrences
rash / blizzard a rash of bank robberies
imprudently incurring risk; - George do something rash that he will forever
rash Adj Sat
Meredith
rash repent
marked by defiant disregard for foolhardy / heady / foolhardy enough to try to seize the
rash Adj Sat
danger or consequences; ; -Macaulay gun from the hijacker
rash / reckless
damages / amends /
a sum of money paid in indemnity /
redress Noun
compensation for loss or injury indemnification /
restitution / redress
act of correcting an error or a fault or redress / remedy /
redress Noun
an evil remediation
right / compensate / right a wrongs done to the victims of
redress Verb make reparations or amends for
the Holocaust
redress / correct
refer to another person for decision relegate / pass_on / She likes to relegate difficult questions
relegate Verb
or judgment to her colleagues
submit
demote / bump /
assign to a lower position; reduce in She was demoted because she always
relegate Verb
rank relegate / break / speaks up
kick_downstairs
relegate Verb expel, as if by official decree banish / relegate / bar he was banished from his own country

relegate Verb assign to a class or kind relegate / classify How should algae be classified?
 derelict / delinquent /
remiss Adj Sat failing in what duty requires derelict (or delinquent) in his duty
neglectful / remiss
the mistake of not following suit
renege Noun
when able to do so
revoke / renege
renege / renege_on /
renege Verb fail to fulfill a promise or obligation renegue_on / She backed out of her promise

go_back_on
satiate / sate / replete
replete Verb fill to satisfaction I am sated
/ fill
filled to satisfaction with food or
replete Adj Sat
drink
full / replete a full stomach
(followed by `with')deeply filled or imbued with the spirit of the
replete Adj Sat
permeated
instinct / replete Reformation

reprobate Noun a person without moral scruples reprobate / miscreant

reprobate Verb abandon to eternal damnation reprobate God reprobated the unrepenting sinner

condemn / reprobate
reprobate Verb express strong disapproval of / decry / objurgate / We condemn the racism in South Africa

excoriate

deviating from what is considered depraved / perverse /

reprobate Adj Sat
moral or right or proper or good
depraved criminals
perverted / reprobate
a district that is reserved for
reservation Noun
particular purpose
reservation / reserve
 a statement that limits or restricts reservation / he recommended her without any
reservation Noun
some claim reservations
qualification
an unstated doubt that prevents you mental_reservation /
reservation Noun from accepting something reservation /
wholeheartedly
arriere_pensee
the act of reserving (a place or
reservation Noun passage) or engaging the services of booking / reservation wondered who had made the booking
(a person or group)
the act of keeping back or setting
reservation Noun
aside for some future occasion
reservation
resignation /
resignation Noun acceptance of despair
surrender
a formal document giving notice of he submitted his resignation as of next
resignation Noun
your intention to resign
resignation month

resoluteness /
firmness / his resoluteness carried him through
resolve Noun the trait of being resolute
the battle
firmness_of_purpose /
resolve / resolution
a formal expression by a meeting; resolution /
resolve Noun
agreed to by a vote declaration / resolve
decide / settle /
resolve Verb bring to an end; settle conclusively The case was decided
resolve / adjudicate
reach a conclusion after a discussion
resolve Verb
or deliberation
conclude / resolve
resolve Verb reach a decision purpose / resolve he resolved never to drink again
 The question concerning the meaning
resolve Verb understand the meaning of answer / resolve of life cannot be answered
resolve Verb make clearly visible resolve can this image be resolved?

resolve Verb find the solution resolve / solve solve an equation

dissolve / resolve / The recipe says that we should dissolve

resolve Verb cause to go into a solution
a cup of sugar in two cups of water
break_up
the act of reprieving; postponing or
respite Noun
remitting punishment
reprieve / respite
a pause from doing something (as respite / recess /
respite Noun
work)
we took a 10-minute break
break / time_out
suspension / respite /
an interruption in the intensity or
respite Noun
amount of something reprieve / hiatus /
abatement
respite / rest / relief / people actually accomplish more when
respite Noun a pause for relaxation
they take time for short rests
rest_period
postpone the punishment of a
respite Verb convicted criminal, such as an reprieve / respite
execution
dispose of (something no longer
retiring Verb
useful or needed)
retire She finally retired that old coat

retiring Verb lose interest retire / withdraw he retired from life when his wife died

withdraw / retreat /
pull_away /
retiring Verb pull back or move away or backward draw_back / recede / The enemy withdrew

pull_back / retire /
move_back
 adjourn / withdraw /
retiring Verb break from a meeting or gathering We adjourned for lunch
retire
retiring Verb cause to be out on a fielding play put_out / retire
retiring Verb cause to get out retire / strike_out The pitcher retired three batters

go_to_bed / turn_in /
bed / crawl_in /
kip_down /
retiring Verb prepare for sleep hit_the_hay / I usually turn in at midnight

hit_the_sack /
sack_out /
go_to_sleep / retire
unassuming to a fault, skeptical about
retiring Adj Sat not arrogant or presuming retiring / unassuming the value of his work

of a person who has held and past / preceding /

retiring Adj Sat
relinquished a position or office
a retiring member of the board
retiring
reluctant to draw attention to reticent / self-effacing
retiring Adj Sat
yourself / retiring
abjure / recant /
formally reject or disavow a formerly He retracted his earlier statements
retract Verb
held belief, usually under pressure forswear / retract / about his religion
resile
pull away from a source of disgust or
retract Verb
fear
shrink_back / retract
use a surgical instrument to hold
retract / pull_back /
retract Verb open (the edges of a wound or an
organ) draw_back
 retract Verb pull inward or towards a center draw_in / retract The pilot drew in the landing gear

annoy / rag / get_to /

bother / get_at /
cause annoyance in; disturb, Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really
rile Verb
especially by minor irritations irritate / rile / nark / bothers me
nettle / gravel / vex /
chafe / devil
make turbid by stirring up the
rile Verb
sediments of
roil / rile
sturdy and strong in form,
robust Adj
constitution, or construction
robust a robust body

marked by richness and fullness of full-bodied / racy /

robust Adj Sat
flavor
a rich ruby port
rich / robust
robust Adj Sat rough and crude robust a robust tale

holier-than-thou /
pietistic / pietistical /
sanctimonious Adj Sat excessively or hypocritically pious pharisaic / pharisaical a sickening sanctimonious smile

/ sanctimonious / self-
righteous

sanguine Noun a blood-red color sanguine

sanguine Adj Sat confidently optimistic and cheerful sanguine
inclined to a healthy reddish color rubicund / ruddy /
sanguine Adj Sat
often associated with outdoor life
a ruddy complexion
florid / sanguine
 understanding /
the cognitive condition of someone he has virtually no understanding of
savvy Noun
who understands apprehension / social cause and effect
discernment / savvy

grok / get_the_picture
/ comprehend / savvy Do you comprehend the meaning of
savvy Verb get the meaning of something
this letter?
/ dig / grasp / compass
/ apprehend

physics: fluoresce momentarily when

scintillating Verb struck by a charged particle or high- scintillate the phosphor fluoresced
energy photon
be lively or brilliant or exhibit sparkle / scintillate /
scintillating Verb
virtuosity
The musical performance sparkled
coruscate
emit or reflect light in a flickering twinkle / winkle / Does a constellation twinkle more
scintillating Verb
manner brightly than a single star?
scintillate
scintillating Adj Sat brilliantly clever scintillating scintillating wit

bubbling /
scintillating Adj Sat marked by high spirits or excitement effervescent / frothy / his fertile effervescent mind

scintillating / sparkly
 aglitter / coruscant /
fulgid / glinting /
having brief brilliant points or flashes
scintillating Adj Sat
of light
glistering / glittering / bugle beads all aglitter

glittery / scintillant /
scintillating / sparkly
an accurately levelled strip of
material placed on a wall or floor as
screed Noun
guide for the even application of
screed
plaster or concrete
given to or marked by sentiment or
sentimental Adj Sat
sentimentality
sentimental
bathetic / drippy /
hokey / maudlin /
mawkish / kitschy /
sentimental Adj Sat effusively or insincerely emotional mushy / schmaltzy / a bathetic novel

schmalzy /
sentimental / soppy /
soupy / slushy
good luck in making unexpected and
serendipity Noun
fortunate discoveries
serendipity
not agitated; without losing self- calm / unagitated /
serene Adj Sat
possession
spoke in a calm voice
serene / tranquil
serene Adj Sat completely clear and fine serene serene skies and a bright blue sea
 haphazard / slapdash / a most haphazard system of record
slapdash Adj Sat marked by great carelessness
keeping
slipshod / sloppy

slapdash Adv in a careless or reckless manner slapdash / slam-bang the shelves were put up slapdash

bang / slap / slapdash

slapdash Adv directly he ran bang into the pole
/ smack / bolt
only a handful of responses were
smattering Noun a small number or amount handful / smattering received
a slight or superficial understanding
smattering Noun
of a subject
smattering
dabble / smatter /
smattering Verb work with in an amateurish manner She dabbles in astronomy
play_around
babble / blather /
The two women babbled and crooned
smattering Verb to talk foolishly smatter / blether / at the baby
blither
speak with spotty or superficial
smattering Verb
knowledge
smatter She smatters Russian
marked by excessive complacency or
smug Adj Sat
self-satisfaction
smug / self-satisfied a smug glow of self-congratulation

supercilious / sneering
snide Adj Sat expressive of contempt curled his lip in a supercilious smile
/ snide
an instance of driving away or
snub Noun
warding off
rebuff / snub / repulse
a refusal to recognize someone you snub / cut /
snub Noun
know
the snub was clearly intentional
cold_shoulder
 ignore / disregard /
snub Verb refuse to acknowledge She cut him dead at the meeting
snub / cut
snub Verb reject outright and bluntly rebuff / snub / repel She snubbed his proposal

snub Adj Sat unusually short snub a snub nose

morally degraded; ; ; ; - Seattle seamy / seedy / sleazy

sordid Adj Sat
Weekly; - James Joyce
a seedy district
/ sordid / squalid

sordid Adj Sat unethical or dishonest dirty / sordid dirty police officers

flyblown / squalid /
sordid Adj Sat foul and run-down and repulsive a flyblown bar on the edge of town
sordid
sordid Adj Sat meanly avaricious and mercenary sordid sordid avarice

spendthrift / spend-all
someone who spends money
spendthrift Noun
prodigally
/ spender /
scattergood
extravagant / prodigal
spendthrift Adj Sat recklessly wasteful / profligate / prodigal in their expenditures

spendthrift
reject / spurn /
freeze_off / scorn /
spurn Verb reject with contempt She spurned his advances
pooh-pooh / disdain /
turn_down
waste / blow / He wasted his inheritance on his
squander Verb spend thoughtlessly; throw away
insincere friends
squander
 consume / squander /
squander Verb spend extravagantly waste not, want not
waste / ware
characterized by dignity and
staid Adj Sat
propriety
sedate / staid
start Noun the beginning of anything start it was off to a good start

beginning /
commencement / first
the time at which something is / outset / get-go /
start Noun
supposed to begin
they got an early start
start / kickoff /
starting_time /
showtime / offset
a turn to be a starter (in a game at he got his start because one of the
start Noun
the beginning)
start / starting regular pitchers was in the hospital
start Noun a sudden involuntary movement startle / jump / start he awoke with a start

beginning / start / he was responsible for the beginning of

start Noun the act of starting something
negotiations
commencement
a line indicating the location of the start / starting_line /
start Noun
start of a race or a game scratch / scratch_line

start Noun a signal to begin (as in a race) starting_signal / start the starting signal was a green light

the advantage gained by beginning with an hour's start he will be hard to

start Noun
early (as in a race)
start / head_start catch
 get_down / begin /
take the first step or steps in carrying get / start_out / start /
start Verb
out an action
We began working at dawn
set_about / set_out /
commence
begin / lead_off / start The U.S. started a war in the Middle
start Verb set in motion, cause to start
East
/ commence
depart / part / start /
start_out / set_forth /
start Verb leave The family took off for Florida
set_off / set_out /
take_off
begin an event that is implied and
start Verb limited by the nature or inherent begin / start begin a cigar
function of the direct object
originate / initiate /
start Verb bring into being He initiated a new program
start
start / start_up /
start Verb get off the ground embark_on / Who started this company?

commence
move or jump suddenly, as if in She startled when I walked into the
start Verb
surprise or alarm
startle / jump / start room
start Verb get going or set in motion start / start_up We simply could not start the engine

start Verb begin or set in motion start / go / get_going I start at eight in the morning

begin work or acting in a certain

start Verb
capacity, office or job
start / take_up Take up a position

start Verb play in the starting lineup start

 start / protrude / pop
/ pop_out / bulge /
start Verb bulge outward His eyes popped
bulge_out / bug_out /
come_out
firm / steadfast /
steady / stiff /
marked by firm determination or unbendable /
steadfast Adj Sat
resolution; not shakable
firm convictions
unfaltering /
unshakable /
unwavering
firm and dependable especially in steadfast / staunch /
steadfast Adj Sat
loyalty
a steadfast ally
unswerving
root / root_word /
(linguistics) the form of a word after
stem Noun
all affixes are removed base / stem / theme / thematic vowels are part of the stem

radical
a slender or elongated structure that
stem Noun supports a plant or fungus or a plant stalk / stem
part or plant organ
cylinder forming a long narrow part
stem Noun
of something
shank / stem
stem Noun the tube of a tobacco pipe stem
bow / fore / prow / he pointed the bow of the boat toward
stem Noun front part of a vessel or aircraft
the finish line
stem
a turn made in skiing; the back of one
stem Noun ski is forced outward and the other stem_turn / stem
ski is brought parallel to it
 for automatic natural language
stem Verb remove the stem from stem processing, the words must be
stemmed
stem / stanch /
stem Verb stop the flow of a liquid staunch the blood flow
staunch / halt
a sum of money allotted on a regular
stipend Noun basis; usually for some specific stipend
purpose
having or revealing little emotion or
sensibility; not easily aroused or
stolid Adj Sat
excited; ; - Nordhoff & Hall; -Virginia
impassive / stolid her impassive remoteness
Woolf
stymie Noun a thwarting and distressing situation stymie / stymy
obstruct / blockade /
hinder or prevent the progress or
stymie Verb
accomplishment of block / hinder / stymie His brother blocked him at every turn

/ stymy / embarrass

acme / height /
the highest level or degree elevation / peak /
his landscapes were deemed the acme
summit Noun attainable; the highest stage of pinnacle / summit / of beauty
development
superlative / meridian
/ tiptop / top
the top or extreme point of
peak / crown / crest / the view from the peak was
summit Noun something (usually a mountain or
magnificent
hill) top / tip / summit
summit /
summit Noun a meeting of heads of governments
summit_meeting
summit Verb reach the summit (of a mountain) summit / breast They breasted the mountain
inclined to anger or bad feelings with
surly Adj Sat
overtones of menace
surly / ugly a surly waiter
consideration in dealing with others
tact Noun
and avoiding giving offense
tact / tactfulness
discoloration of metal surface caused
tarnish Noun
by oxidation
tarnish
tarnish / stain /
make dirty or spotty, as by exposure The silver was tarnished by the long
tarnish Verb
to air; also used metaphorically
maculate / sully / exposure to the air
defile
brassy / cheap / flash /
flashy / garish / gaudy
tawdry Adj Sat tastelessly showy / gimcrack / loud / a flash car

meretricious / tacky /
tatty / tawdry / trashy
cheapjack / shoddy / cheapjack moviemaking...that feeds on
tawdry Adj Sat cheap and shoddy; - Judith Crist
the low taste of the mob
tawdry
They taxed him failure to appear in
taxing Verb make a charge against or accuse tax court
set or determine the amount of (a
taxing Verb
payment such as a fine)
tax / assess
taxing Verb use to the limit tax / task you are taxing my patience

burdensome / the burdensome task of preparing the

taxing Adj Sat not easily borne; wearing
income tax return
onerous / taxing
relation / telling / he was the hero according to his own
telling Noun an act of narration
relation
recounting
 telling / apprisal /
telling Noun informing by words
notification
disclosing information or giving
telling Noun
evidence about another
tattle / singing / telling

telling Verb express in words state / say / tell He said that he wanted to marry her

telling Verb discern or comprehend tell He could tell that she was unhappy

tell / narrate / recount

telling Verb narrate or give a detailed account of Tell what happened
/ recite
give instructions to or direct
order / tell / enjoin /
telling Verb somebody to do something with I said to him to go home
authority say
inform positively and with certainty
telling Verb
and confidence
assure / tell I tell you that man is a crook!
he was telling on all his former
telling Verb give evidence tell / evidence colleague

distinguish / separate
/ differentiate / secern
telling Verb mark as different / secernate / We distinguish several kinds of maple

severalize / severalise
/ tell / tell_apart

revealing / telling /
telling Adj Sat disclosing unintentionally a telling smile
telltale
cogent / telling /
telling Adj Sat powerfully persuasive a cogent argument
weighty
 gave an impressive performance as
telling Adj Sat producing a strong effect impressive / telling Othello
tattletale / tattler /
taleteller / talebearer
telltale Noun someone who gossips indiscreetly
/ telltale /
blabbermouth
revealing / telling /
telltale Adj Sat disclosing unintentionally a telling smile
telltale
something that can be used as an tender / legal_tender
tender Noun
official medium of payment / stamp
someone who waits on or tends to or attendant / attender /
tender Noun
attends to the needs of another tender
a formal proposal to buy at a
tender Noun
specified price
bid / tender
car attached to a locomotive to carry
tender Noun
fuel and water
tender
a boat for communication between tender / ship's_boat /
tender Noun
ship and shore pinnace / cutter
ship that usually provides supplies to
tender Noun
other ships
tender / supply_ship
make a tender of; in legal
tender Verb
settlements
tender
The Swiss dealer offered $2 million for
tender Verb propose a payment offer / bid / tender the painting
make tender or more tender as by
tender / tenderize /
tender Verb marinating, pounding, or applying a tenderize meat
tenderizer tenderise
tender Adj easy to cut or chew tender tender beef
 sensitive / sore / raw /
tender Adj Sat hurting the tender spot on his jaw
tender
(of plants) not hardy; easily killed by
tender Adj Sat
adverse growing condition
tender tender green shoots

affectionate / fond /
having or displaying warmth or
tender Adj Sat
affection lovesome / tender / affectionate children

warm
tender Adj physically untoughened tender / untoughened tender feet

(used of boats) inclined to heel over crank / cranky /

tender Adj Sat
easily under sail tender / tippy
performed comprehensively and exhaustive / thorough
thoroughgoing Adj Sat
completely
an exhaustive study
/ thoroughgoing

arrant / complete /
consummate / double-
dyed / everlasting /
without qualification; used informally gross / perfect / pure /
thoroughgoing Adj Sat
as (often pejorative) intensifiers
an arrant fool
sodding / stark /
staring /
thoroughgoing / utter
/ unadulterated
 careful and diligent in the use of
thrifty Adj
resources
thrifty
mindful of the future in spending
thrifty Adj Sat
money
careful / thrifty careful with money

a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of

thwart Noun
a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat
thwart / cross_thwart

thwart / queer / spoil What ultimately frustrated every

hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans,
thwart Verb
or desires) of / scotch / foil / cross / challenger was Ruth's amazing
September surge
frustrate / baffle / bilk
tirade / philippic /
tirade Noun a speech of violent denunciation
broadside
someone who buys tickets to an
tout Noun event in order to resell them at a tout / ticket_tout
profit
someone who advertises for
tout Noun customers in an especially brazen tout / touter
way
one who sells advice about gambling
tout Noun or speculation (especially at the tipster / tout
racetrack)
This product was touted as a
tout Verb advertize in strongly positive terms tout revolutionary invention

boast / tout / swash /

shoot_a_line / brag /
tout Verb show off
gas / blow / bluster /
vaunt / gasconade
 ephemeral / passing /
short-lived / transient
transitory Adj Sat lasting a very short time the ephemeral joys of childhood
/ transitory /
fugacious
parturiency / labor /
concluding state of pregnancy; from
labour / confinement /
travail Noun the onset of contractions to the birth she was in labor for six hours
of a child lying-in / travail /
childbed

effort / elbow_grease
use of physical or mental energy;
travail Noun
hard work
/ exertion / travail / he got an A for effort

sweat
labor / labour / toil /
She was digging away at her math
travail Verb work hard fag / travail / grind / homework
drudge / dig / moil
an annoying or frustrating or trial / tribulation / his mother-in-law's visits were a great
tribulation Noun
catastrophic event trial for him
visitation
tumult /
a state of commotion and noise and
tumult Noun
confusion tumultuousness /
uproar / garboil
tumult Noun violent agitation tumult / turmoil
 commotion / din /
tumult Noun the act of making a noisy disturbance ruction / ruckus /
rumpus / tumult
suggesting the operation of
eldritch / weird /
uncanny Adj Sat supernatural influences; ; ; - John an eldritch screech
Galsworthy; ; - Henry Kingsley uncanny / unearthly
surpassing the ordinary or normal; - preternatural / Beyond his preternatural affability
uncanny Adj Sat
George Will there is some acid and some steel
uncanny
uncompromising / took an uncompromising stance in the
uncompromising Adj not making concessions
peace talks
sturdy / inflexible
conscienceless /
unconscionable Adj Sat lacking a conscience a conscienceless villain
unconscionable
exorbitant /
extortionate /
greatly exceeding bounds of reason
unconscionable Adj Sat
or moderation outrageous / steep / exorbitant rent

unconscionable /
usurious
underwrite / The opera tour was subvented by a
underwrite Verb guarantee financial support of
bank
subvention / subvent
cover / insure /
underwrite Verb protect by insurance The insurance won't cover this
underwrite
faze / unnerve /
unnerve Verb disturb the composure of
enervate / unsettle
an unprecedented expansion in
unprecedented Adj having no precedent; novel unprecedented population and industry
 boisterous /
noisy and lacking in restraint or rambunctious /
unruly Adj Sat
discipline
a boisterous crowd
robustious /
rumbustious / unruly

unruly Adj Sat unwilling to submit to authority disobedient / unruly unruly teenagers

indocile / the little boy's parents think he is

unruly Adj Sat of persons uncontrollable / spirited, but his teacher finds him
unruly
ungovernable / unruly

indecent / indecorous
not in keeping with accepted
/ unbecoming /
unseemly Adj Sat standards of what is right or proper was buried with indecent haste
in polite society uncomely / unseemly
/ untoward

showing a high degree of refinement

polished / refined /
urbane Adj Sat and the assurance that comes from his polished manner
wide social experience svelte / urbane
asinine / fatuous /
vacuous Adj Sat devoid of intelligence inane / mindless /
vacuous
empty / hollow /
vacuous Adj Sat devoid of significance or point empty promises
vacuous
vacuous Adj Sat devoid of matter vacuous a vacuous space
vacuous Adj Sat void of expression blank / vacuous a blank stare

beat / beat_out /
come out better in a competition, Agassi beat Becker in the tennis
vanquish Verb
race, or conflict crush / shell / trounce championship
/ vanquish
an event that departs from discrepancy / variance
variance Noun
expectations / variant
variance Noun discord that splits a group division / variance
an official dispensation to act
variance Noun contrary to a rule or regulation variance a zoning variance
(typically a building regulation)

discrepancy /
a difference between conflicting facts
variance Noun
or claims or opinions disagreement / a growing divergence of opinion

divergence / variance
variability /
the quality of being subject to
variance Noun
variation variableness /
variance
an activity that varies from a norm or any variation in his routine was
variance Noun
standard
variation / variance immediately reported
coating consisting of a thin layer of
veneer Noun superior wood glued to a base of veneer / veneering
inferior wood
veneer Noun an ornamental coating to a building facing / veneer
veneer Verb cover with veneer veneer veneer the furniture to protect it
suffered or done by one person as a
vicarious Adj Sat
substitute for another
vicarious vicarious atonement
 compete for something; engage in a
compete / vie /
vie Verb contest; measure oneself against
others contend
disposed to seek revenge or intended
revengeful / vindictive
vindictive Adj Sat for revenge; - Shakespeare; - more vindictive than jealous love
M.R.Cohen / vengeful
showing malicious ill will and a desire despiteful / spiteful /
vindictive Adj Sat
to hurt; motivated by spite
a despiteful fiend
vindictive
a noisy or scolding or domineering
virago Noun
woman
virago
virago Noun a large strong and aggressive woman amazon / virago
rapacious / ravening /
voracious Adj Sat excessively greedy and grasping a rapacious divorcee on the prowl
voracious
edacious / esurient /
devouring or craving food in great rapacious / ravening /
voracious Adj Sat
quantities
edacious vultures
ravenous / voracious /
wolfish
wanton Noun lewd or lascivious woman wanton
piddle / wanton /
waste time; spend one's time idly or
wanton Verb
inefficiently
wanton_away /
piddle_away / trifle
behave extremely cruelly and
wanton Verb
brutally
wanton
wanton /
wanton Verb spend wastefully wanton_away / wanton one's money away

trifle_away
 become extravagant; indulge
wanton Verb
(oneself) luxuriously
luxuriate / wanton

occurring without motivation or motiveless /

wanton Adj Sat
provocation; ; - F.D.Roosevelt
motiveless malignity
unprovoked / wanton
easy / light / loose /
casual and unrestrained in sexual
wanton Adj Sat
behavior
promiscuous / sluttish her easy virtue

/ wanton
any of various substances of either
mineral origin or plant or animal
wax Noun
origin; they are solid at normal
wax
temperatures and insoluble in water
wax Verb cover with wax wax wax the car

wax / mount / climb / Sales were climbing after prices were

wax Verb go up or advance
lowered
rise
wax Verb increase in phase wax / full the moon is waxing

determined by chance or impulse or

capricious / impulsive
whimsical Adj Sat whim rather than by necessity or a capricious refusal
reason / whimsical
the point above the observer that is
directly opposite the nadir on the
zenith Noun imaginary sphere against which zenith
celestial bodies appear to be
projected