English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3><SPAN name="ANTICIPATE" id="ANTICIPATE"></SPAN>ANTICIPATE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>apprehend,</td><td>forecast,</td><td>hope,</td></tr> <tr><td>expect,</td><td>foretaste,</td><td>look forward to.</td></tr> </table> <p>To <i>anticipate</i> may be either to take before in fact or to take before in thought; in the former sense it is allied with <i>prevent</i>; in the latter, with the synonyms above given. This is coming to be the prevalent and favorite use. We <i>expect</i> that which we have good reason to believe will happen; as, a boy <i>expects</i> to grow to manhood. We <i>hope</i> for that which we much desire and somewhat <i>expect</i>. We <i>apprehend</i> what we both <i>expect</i> and fear. <i>Anticipate</i> is commonly used now, like <i>foretaste</i>, of that which we <i>expect</i> both with confidence and pleasure. In this use it is a stronger word than <i>hope</i>, where often "the wish is father to the thought." I <i>hope</i> for a visit from my friend, tho I have no word from him; I <i>expect</i> it when he writes that he is coming; and as the time draws near I <i>anticipate</i> it with pleasure. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#ABIDE">ABIDE</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#PREVENT">PREVENT</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>despair of,</td><td>distrust,</td><td>doubt,</td><td>dread,</td><td>fear,</td><td>recall,</td><td>recollect,</td><td>remember.</td></tr> </table> <hr /><p><span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></SPAN></span></p> <h3>ANTICIPATION.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>antepast,</td><td>expectation,</td><td>foresight,</td><td>hope,</td></tr> <tr><td>apprehension,</td><td>foreboding,</td><td>foretaste,</td><td>presentiment,</td></tr> <tr><td>expectancy,</td><td>forecast,</td><td>forethought,</td><td>prevision.</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Expectation</i> may be either of good or evil; <i>presentiment</i> almost always, <i>apprehension</i> and <i>foreboding</i> always, of evil; <i>anticipation</i> and <i>antepast</i>, commonly of good. Thus, we speak of the pleasures of <i>anticipation</i>. A <i>foretaste</i> may be of good or evil, and is more than imaginary; it is a part actually received in advance. <i>Foresight</i> and <i>forethought</i> prevent future evil and secure future good by timely looking forward, and acting upon what is foreseen. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#ANTICIPATE">ANTICIPATE</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>astonishment,</td><td>despair,</td><td>dread,</td><td>fear,</td><td>surprise,</td></tr> <tr><td>consummation,</td><td>doubt,</td><td>enjoyment,</td><td>realization,</td><td>wonder.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="ANTIPATHY" id="ANTIPATHY"></SPAN>ANTIPATHY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abhorrence,</td><td>disgust,</td><td>hatred,</td><td>repugnance,</td></tr> <tr><td>antagonism,</td><td>dislike,</td><td>hostility,</td><td>repulsion,</td></tr> <tr><td>aversion,</td><td>distaste,</td><td>opposition,</td><td>uncongeniality.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="4">detestation,</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Antipathy</i>, <i>repugnance</i>, and <i>uncongeniality</i> are instinctive; other forms of <i>dislike</i> may be acquired or cherished for cause. <i>Uncongeniality</i> is negative, a want of touch or sympathy. An <i>antipathy</i> to a person or thing is an instinctive recoil from connection or association with that person or thing, and may be physical or mental, or both. <i>Antagonism</i> may result from the necessity of circumstances; <i>opposition</i> may spring from conflicting views or interests; <i>abhorrence</i> and <i>detestation</i> may be the result of religious and moral training; <i>distaste</i> and <i>disgust</i> may be acquired; <i>aversion</i> is a deep and permanent <i>dislike</i>. A natural <i>antipathy</i> may give rise to <i>opposition</i> which may result in <i>hatred</i> and <i>hostility</i>. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#ACRIMONY">ACRIMONY</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#ANGER">ANGER</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#ENMITY">ENMITY</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#HATRED">HATRED</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>affinity,</td><td>attraction,</td><td>fellow-feeling,</td><td>kindliness,</td><td>sympathy.</td></tr> <tr><td>agreement,</td><td>congeniality,</td><td>harmony,</td><td colspan="2">regard,</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>Antipathy <i>to</i> (less frequently <i>for</i> or <i>against</i>) a person or thing; antipathy <i>between</i> or <i>betwixt</i> two persons or things.</p> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="ANTIQUE" id="ANTIQUE"></SPAN>ANTIQUE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>ancient,</td><td rowspan="2">old-fashioned,</td><td rowspan="2">quaint,</td><td rowspan="2">superannuated.</td></tr> <tr><td>antiquated,</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Antique</i> refers to an <i>ancient</i>, <i>antiquated</i> to a discarded style.<span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></SPAN></span> <i>Antique</i> is that which is either <i>ancient</i> in fact or <i>ancient</i> in style. The reference is to the style rather than to the age. We can speak of the <i>antique</i> architecture of a church just built. The difference between <i>antiquated</i> and <i>antique</i> is not in the age, for a Puritan style may be scorned as <i>antiquated</i>, while a Roman or Renaissance style may be prized as <i>antique</i>. The <i>antiquated</i> is not so much out of date as out of vogue. <i>Old-fashioned</i> may be used approvingly or contemptuously. In the latter case it becomes a synonym for <i>antiquated</i>; in the good sense it approaches the meaning of <i>antique</i>, but indicates less duration. We call a wide New England fireplace <i>old-fashioned</i>; a coin of the C&aelig;sars, <i>antique</i>. <i>Quaint</i> combines the idea of age with a pleasing oddity; as, a <i>quaint</i> gambrel-roofed house. <i>Antiquated</i> is sometimes used of persons in a sense akin to <i>superannuated</i>. The <i>antiquated</i> person is out of style and out of sympathy with the present generation by reason of age; the <i>superannuated</i> person is incapacitated for present activities by reason of age. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#OLD">OLD</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>fashionable,</td><td>fresh,</td><td>modern,</td><td>modish,</td><td>new,</td><td>recent,</td><td>stylish.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="ANXIETY" id="ANXIETY"></SPAN>ANXIETY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>anguish,</td><td>disquiet,</td><td>foreboding,</td><td>perplexity,</td></tr> <tr><td>apprehension,</td><td>disturbance,</td><td>fretfulness,</td><td>solicitude,</td></tr> <tr><td>care,</td><td>dread,</td><td>fretting,</td><td>trouble,</td></tr> <tr><td>concern,</td><td>fear,</td><td>misgiving,</td><td>worry.</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Anxiety</i> is, according to its derivation, a choking <i>disquiet</i>, akin to <i>anguish</i>; <i>anxiety</i> is mental; <i>anguish</i> may be mental or physical; <i>anguish</i> is in regard to the known, <i>anxiety</i> in regard to the unknown; <i>anguish</i> is because of what has happened, <i>anxiety</i> because of what may happen. <i>Anxiety</i> refers to some future event, always suggesting hopeful possibility, and thus differing from <i>apprehension</i>, <i>fear</i>, <i>dread</i>, <i>foreboding</i>, <i>terror</i>, all of which may be quite despairing. In matters within our reach, <i>anxiety</i> always stirs the question whether something can not be done, and is thus a valuable spur to doing; in this respect it is allied to <i>care</i>. <i>Foreboding</i>, <i>dread</i>, etc., commonly incapacitate for all helpful thought or endeavor. <i>Worry</i> is a more petty, restless, and manifest <i>anxiety</i>; <i>anxiety</i> may be quiet and silent; <i>worry</i> is communicated to all around. <i>Solicitude</i> is a milder <i>anxiety</i>. <i>Fretting</i> or <i>fretfulness</i> is a weak complaining without thought of accomplishing or changing anything, but merely as a relief to one's own <i>disquiet</i>. <i>Perplexity</i> often involves <i>anxiety</i>, but may be quite free from it.<span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></SPAN></span> A student may be <i>perplexed</i> regarding a translation, yet, if he has time enough, not at all anxious regarding it.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>apathy,</td><td>calmness,</td><td>confidence,</td><td>light-heartedness,</td><td>satisfaction,</td></tr> <tr><td>assurance,</td><td>carelessness,</td><td>ease,</td><td>nonchalance,</td><td>tranquillity.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>Anxiety <i>for</i> a friend's return; anxiety <i>about</i>, <i>in regard to</i>, or <i>concerning</i> the future.</p> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="APATHY" id="APATHY"></SPAN>APATHY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>calmness,</td><td>indifference,</td><td>quietness,</td><td>stoicism,</td></tr> <tr><td>composure,</td><td>insensibility,</td><td>quietude,</td><td>tranquillity,</td></tr> <tr><td>immobility,</td><td>lethargy,</td><td>sluggishness,</td><td>unconcern,</td></tr> <tr><td>impassibility,</td><td>phlegm,</td><td>stillness,</td><td>unfeelingness.</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Apathy</i>, according to its Greek derivation, is a simple absence of feeling or emotion. There are persons to whom a certain degree of <i>apathy</i> is natural, an innate <i>sluggishness</i> of the emotional nature. In the <i>apathy</i> of despair, a person gives up, without resistance or sensibility, to what he has fiercely struggled to avoid. While <i>apathy</i> is want of feeling, <i>calmness</i> is feeling without agitation. <i>Calmness</i> is the result of strength, courage, or trust; <i>apathy</i> is the result of dulness or weakness. <i>Composure</i> is freedom from agitation or disturbance, resulting ordinarily from force of will, or from perfect confidence in one's own resources. <i>Impassibility</i> is a philosophical term applied to the Deity, as infinitely exalted above all stir of passion or emotion. <i>Unfeelingness</i>, the Saxon word that should be the exact equivalent of <i>apathy</i>, really means more, a lack of the feeling one ought to have, a censurable hardness of heart. <i>Indifference</i> and <i>insensibility</i> designate the absence of feeling toward certain persons or things; <i>apathy</i>, entire absence of feeling. <i>Indifference</i> is a want of interest; <i>insensibility</i> is a want of feeling; <i>unconcern</i> has reference to consequences. We speak of <i>insensibility</i> of heart, <i>immobility</i> of countenance. <i>Stoicism</i> is an intentional suppression of feeling and deadening of sensibilities, while <i>apathy</i> is involuntary. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#CALM">CALM</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#REST">REST</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#STUPOR">STUPOR</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>agitation,</td><td>disturbance,</td><td>feeling,</td><td>sensibility,</td><td>sympathy,</td></tr> <tr><td>alarm,</td><td>eagerness,</td><td>frenzy,</td><td>sensitiveness,</td><td>turbulence,</td></tr> <tr><td>anxiety,</td><td>emotion,</td><td>fury,</td><td>storm,</td><td>vehemence,</td></tr> <tr><td>care,</td><td>excitement,</td><td>passion,</td><td>susceptibility,</td><td>violence.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="5">distress,</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>The apathy <i>of</i> monastic life; apathy <i>toward</i> good.</p> <hr /><p><span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></SPAN></span></p> <h3>APIECE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>distributively,</td><td>each,</td><td>individually,</td><td>separately,</td><td>severally.</td></tr> </table> <p>There is no discernible difference in sense between so much <i>apiece</i> and so much <i>each</i>; the former is the more common and popular, the latter the more elegant expression. <i>Distributively</i> is generally used of numbers and abstract relations. <i>Individually</i> emphasizes the independence of the individuals; <i>separately</i> and <i>severally</i> still more emphatically hold them apart. The signers of a note may become jointly and <i>severally</i> responsible, that is, <i>each</i> liable for the entire amount, as if he had signed it alone. Witnesses are often brought <i>separately</i> into court, in order that no one may be influenced by the testimony of another. If a company of laborers demand a dollar <i>apiece</i>, that is a demand that <i>each</i> shall receive that sum; if they <i>individually</i> demand a dollar, <i>each</i> individual makes the demand.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accumulatively,</td><td>confusedly,</td><td>indiscriminately,</td><td>together,</td><td>unitedly.</td></tr> <tr><td>collectively,</td><td><i>en masse</i>,</td><td colspan="3">synthetically,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="APOLOGY" id="APOLOGY"></SPAN>APOLOGY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>acknowledgment,</td><td>defense,</td><td>excuse,</td><td>plea,</td></tr> <tr><td>confession,</td><td>exculpation,</td><td>justification,</td><td>vindication.</td></tr> </table> <p>All these words express one's answer to a charge of wrong or error that is or might be made. <i>Apology</i> has undergone a remarkable change from its old sense of a valiant <i>defense</i>&mdash;as in Justin Martyr's <i>Apologies</i> for the Christian faith&mdash;to its present meaning of humble <i>confession</i> and concession. He who offers an <i>apology</i> admits himself, at least technically and seemingly, in the wrong. An <i>apology</i> is for what one has done or left undone; an <i>excuse</i> may be for what one proposes to do or leave undone as well; as, one sends beforehand his <i>excuse</i> for not accepting an invitation; if he should fail either to be present or to excuse himself, an <i>apology</i> would be in order. An <i>excuse</i> for a fault is an attempt at partial justification; as, one alleges haste as an <i>excuse</i> for carelessness. <i>Confession</i> is a full <i>acknowledgment</i> of wrong, generally of a grave wrong, with or without <i>apology</i> or <i>excuse</i>. <i>Plea</i> ranges in sense from a prayer for favor or pardon to an attempt at full <i>vindication</i>. <i>Defense</i>, <i>exculpation</i>, <i>justification</i>, and <i>vindication</i> are more properly antonyms than synonyms of <i>apology</i> in its modern sense, and should be so given, but for<span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></SPAN></span> their connection with its historic usage. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#CONFESS">CONFESS</SPAN></span>; <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#DEFENSE">DEFENSE</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accusation,</td><td>charge,</td><td>condemnation,</td><td>injury,</td><td>offense,</td></tr> <tr><td>censure,</td><td>complaint,</td><td>imputation,</td><td>insult,</td><td>wrong.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>An apology <i>to</i> the guest <i>for</i> the oversight would be fitting.</p> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="APPARENT" id="APPARENT"></SPAN>APPARENT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>likely,</td><td>presumable,</td><td>probable,</td><td>seeming.</td></tr> </table> <p>The <i>apparent</i> is that which appears; the word has two contrasted senses, either of that which is manifest, visible, certain, or of that which merely seems to be and may be very different from what is; as, the <i>apparent</i> motion of the sun around the earth. <i>Apparent</i> kindness casts a doubt on the reality of the kindness; <i>apparent</i> neglect implies that more care and pains may have been bestowed than we are aware of. <i>Presumable</i> implies that a thing may be reasonably supposed beforehand without any full knowledge of the facts. <i>Probable</i> implies that we know facts enough to make us moderately confident of it. <i>Seeming</i> expresses great doubt of the reality; <i>seeming</i> innocence comes very near in meaning to <i>probable</i> guilt. <i>Apparent</i> indicates less assurance than <i>probable</i>, and more than <i>seeming</i>. A man's <i>probable</i> intent we believe will prove to be his real intent; his <i>seeming</i> intent we believe to be a sham; his <i>apparent</i> intent may be the true one, tho we have not yet evidence on which to pronounce with certainty or even with confidence. <i>Likely</i> is a word with a wide range of usage, but always implying the belief that the thing is, or will be, true; it is often used with the infinitive, as the other words of this list can not be; as, it is <i>likely</i> to happen. Compare <span class="smcl"><SPAN href="#EVIDENT">EVIDENT</SPAN></span>.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>doubtful,</td><td>dubious,</td><td>improbable,</td><td>unimaginable,</td><td>unlikely.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>(When <i>apparent</i> is used in the sense of evident): His guilt is apparent <i>in</i> every act <i>to</i> all observers.</p> <hr /> <h3><SPAN name="APPEAR" id="APPEAR"></SPAN>APPEAR.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>have the appearance <span class="nbi">or</span> semblance,</td><td>look,</td><td>seem.</td></tr> </table> <p><i>Appear</i> and <i>look</i> refer to what manifests itself to the senses; to a semblance or probability presented directly to the mind. <i>Seem</i><span class="pgn"><SPAN name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></SPAN></span> applies to what is manifest to the mind on reflection. It suddenly <i>appears</i> to me that there is smoke in the distance; as I watch, it <i>looks</i> like a fire; from my knowledge of the locality and observation of particulars, it <i>seems</i> to me a farmhouse must be burning.</p> <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>be,</td><td>be certain, real, <i>or</i> true,</td><td>be the fact,</td><td>exist.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> <p>Appear <i>at</i> the front; <i>among</i> the first; <i>on</i> or <i>upon</i> the surface; <i>to</i> the eye; <i>in</i> evidence, <i>in</i> print; <i>from</i> reports; <i>near</i> the harbor; <i>before</i> the public; <i>in</i> appropriate dress; <i>with</i> the insignia of his rank; <i>above</i> the clouds; <i>below</i> the surface; <i>under</i> the lee; <i>over</i> the sea; <i>through</i> the mist; appear <i>for</i>, <i>in behalf of</i>, or <i>against</i> one in court.</p> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />