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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>GARRULOUS.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>chattering,</td><td>loquacious,</td><td>talkative,</td><td>verbose.</td></tr> </table> Garrulous signifies given to constant trivial talking. Chattering signifies uttering rapid, noisy, and unintelligible, or scarcely intelligible, sounds, whether articulate words or such as resemble them; chattering is often used of vocal sounds that may be intelligible by themselves but are ill understood owing to confusion of many voices or other cause. The talkative person has a strong disposition to talk, with or without an abundance of words, or many ideas; the loquacious person has an abundant flow of language and much to say on any subject suggested; either may be lively and for a time entertaining; the garrulous person is tedious, repetitious, petty, and self-absorbed. Verbose is applied to utterances more formal than conversation, as to writings or public addresses. We speak of a chattering monkey or a chattering idiot, a talkative child, a talkative or loquacious woman, a garrulous old man, a verbose writer. Compare CIRCUMLOCUTION. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>laconic,</td><td>reserved,</td><td>reticent,</td><td>silent,</td><td>speechless,</td><td>taciturn.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GENDER.</h3> <h4>Synonym:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>sex.</td></tr> </table> Sex is a distinction among living beings; it is also the characteristic by which most living beings are distinguished from inanimate things, which are of no sex; gender is a distinction in language partially corresponding to this distinction in nature; while there are but two sexes, there are in some languages, as in English and German, three genders. The French language has but two genders and makes the names of all inanimate objects either masculine or feminine; some languages are without the distinction of gender, and those that maintain it are often quite arbitrary in its application. We speak of the masculine or feminine gender, the male or female sex. <hr /> <h3>GENERAL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>common,</td><td>familiar,</td><td>ordinary,</td><td>universal,</td></tr> <tr><td>commonplace,</td><td>frequent,</td><td>popular,</td><td rowspan="3">usual.</td></tr> <tr><td>customary,</td><td>habitual,</td><td>prevalent,</td></tr> <tr><td>everyday,</td><td>normal,</td><td>public,</td></tr> </table> Common signifies frequently occurring, not out of the regular course, not exceptional; hence, not above the average, not excellent or distinguished, inferior, or even low; common also signifies pertaining to or participated in by two or more persons or things; as, sorrow is common to the race. General may signify pertaining equally to all of a class, race, etc., but very commonly signifies pertaining to the greater number, but not necessarily to all. Universal applies to all without exception; general applies to all with possible or comparatively slight exceptions; common applies to very many without deciding whether they are even a majority. A common remark is one we often hear; a general experience is one that comes to the majority of people; a universal experience is one from which no human being is exempt. It is dangerous for a debater to affirm a universal proposition, since that can be negatived by a single exception, while a general statement is not invalidated even by adducing many exceptions. We say a common opinion, common experience, a general rule, general truth, a universal law. Compare synonyms for NORMAL; USUAL. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>exceptional,</td><td>infrequent,</td><td>rare,</td><td>singular,</td><td>uncommon,</td><td>unknown,</td><td>unusual.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GENEROUS.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>bountiful,</td><td>free,</td><td>liberal,</td><td>noble,</td></tr> <tr><td>chivalrous,</td><td>free-handed,</td><td>magnanimous,</td><td>open-handed,</td></tr> <tr><td>disinterested,</td><td>free-hearted,</td><td>munificent,</td><td>open-hearted.</td></tr> </table> Generous (L. genus, a race) primarily signifies having the qualities worthy of noble or honorable birth; hence, free and abundant in giving, giving freely, heartily, and self-sacrificingly. As regards giving, generous refers rather to the self-sacrificing heartiness of the giver, liberal to the amount of the gift; a child may show himself generous in the gift of an apple, a millionaire makes a liberal donation; a generous gift, however, is commonly thought of as both ample and hearty. A munificent gift is vast in amount, whatever the motive of its bestowal. One may be free with another's money; he can be generous only with his own. Disinterested suggests rather the thought of one's own self-denial; generous, of one's hearty interest in another's welfare or happiness. One is magnanimous by a greatness of soul (L. magnus, great, and animus, soul) that rises above all that is poor, mean, or weak, especially above every petty or ignoble motive or feeling pertaining to one's self, and thus above resentment of injury or insult; one is generous by a kindness of heart that would rejoice in the welfare rather than in the punishment of the offender. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>avaricious,</td><td>covetous,</td><td>ignoble,</td><td>mean,</td><td>niggardly,</td><td>penurious,</td><td>rapacious,</td></tr> <tr><td>close,</td><td>greedy,</td><td>illiberal,</td><td>miserly,</td><td>parsimonious,</td><td>petty,</td><td>stingy.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GENIUS.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>talent,</td><td>talents.</td></tr> </table> Genius is exalted intellectual power capable of operating independently of tuition and training, and marked by an extraordinary faculty for original creation, invention, discovery, expression, etc. Talent is marked mental ability, and in a special sense, a particular and uncommon aptitude for some special mental work or attainment. Genius is higher than talent, more spontaneous, less dependent upon instruction, less amenable to training; talent is largely the capacity to learn, acquire, appropriate, adapt oneself to demand. Yet the genius that has won the largest and most enduring success has been joined with tireless industry and painstaking. Compare synonyms for MIND; POWER. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>dulness,</td><td>folly,</td><td>imbecility,</td><td>obtuseness,</td><td>senselessness,</td><td>stupidity.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GET.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>achieve,</td><td>attain,</td><td>gain,</td><td>procure,</td><td>secure,</td></tr> <tr><td>acquire,</td><td>earn,</td><td>obtain,</td><td>receive,</td><td>win.</td></tr> </table> Get is a most comprehensive word. A person gets whatever he comes to possess or experience, whether with or without endeavor, expectation, or desire; he gets a bargain, a blow, a fall, a fever; he gains what he comes to by effort or striving; the swimmer gains the shore; a man acquires by continuous and ordinarily by slow process; as, one acquires a foreign language. A person is sometimes said to gain and often to acquire what has not been an object of direct endeavor; in the pursuits of trade, he incidentally gains some knowledge of foreign countries; he acquires by association with others a correct or incorrect accent; he acquires a bronzed complexion by exposure to a tropical sun; in such use, what he gains is viewed as desirable, what he acquires as slowly and gradually resulting. A person earns what he gives an equivalent of labor for, tho he may not get it. On the other hand, he may get what he has not earned; the temptation to all dishonesty is the desire to get a living or a fortune without earning it. When one gets the object of his desire, he is said to obtain it, whether he has gained or earned it or not. Win denotes contest, with a suggestion of chance or hazard; in popular language, a person is often said to win a lawsuit, or to win in a suit at law, but in legal phrase he is said to gain his suit, case, or cause. In receiving, one is strictly passive; he may get an estate by his own exertions or by inheritance; in the latter case he is said to receive it. One obtains a thing commonly by some direct effort of his own; he procures it commonly by the intervention of some one else; he procures a dinner or an interview; he secures what has seemed uncertain or elusive, when he gets it firmly into his possession or under his control. Compare synonyms for ATTAIN; MAKE; REACH. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> See synonyms for ABANDON. <hr /> <h3>GIFT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>benefaction,</td><td>boon,</td><td>bribe,</td><td>grant,</td><td>largess,</td></tr> <tr><td>bequest,</td><td>bounty,</td><td>donation,</td><td>gratuity,</td><td>present.</td></tr> </table> A gift is in the popular, and also in the legal sense that which is voluntarily bestowed without expectation of return or compensation. Gift is now almost always used in the good sense, bribe always in the evil sense to signify payment for a dishonorable service under the semblance of a gift. In Scriptural language gift is often used for bribe. "The king by judgment establisheth the land; but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." Prov. xxix, 4. A benefaction is a charitable gift, generally of large amount, and viewed as of enduring value, as an endowment for a college. A donation is something, perhaps of great, never of trivial value, given usually on some public ground, as to a cause or to a person representing a cause, but not necessarily of value beyond the immediate present; as, a donation to a pastor. A gratuity is usually something of moderate value and is always given as to an inferior, and as of favor, not of right; as, a gratuity to a waiter. Largess is archaic for a bountiful gratuity, usually to be distributed among many, as among the heralds at ancient tournaments. A present is a gift of friendship, or conciliation, and given as to an equal or a superior; no one's pride is hurt by accepting what is viewed as strictly a present. A boon is a gift that has been desired or craved or perhaps asked, or something freely given that meets some great desire. A grant is commonly considerable in amount and given by public authority; as, a grant of public lands for a college. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>compensation,</td><td>earnings,</td><td>guerdon,</td><td>penalty,</td><td>remuneration, wages.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GIVE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>bestow,</td><td>communicate,</td><td>deliver,</td><td>grant,</td><td rowspan="2">supply.</td></tr> <tr><td>cede,</td><td>confer,</td><td>furnish,</td><td>impart,</td></tr> </table> To give is primarily to transfer to another's possession or ownership without compensation; in its secondary sense in popular use, it is to put into another's possession by any means and on any terms whatever; a buyer may say "Give me the goods, and I will give you the money;" we speak of giving answers, information, etc., and often of giving what is not agreeable to the recipient, as blows, medicine, reproof; but when there is nothing in the context to indicate the contrary, give is always understood in its primary sense; as, this book was given me. Give thus becomes, like get, a term of such general import as to be a synonym for a wide variety of words. To grant is to put into one's possession in some formal way, or by authoritative act; as, Congress grants lands to a railroad corporation. To speak of granting a favor carries a claim or concession of superiority on the part of the one by whom the grant may be made; to confer has a similar sense; as, to confer a degree or an honor; we grant a request or petition, but do not confer it. To impart is to give of that which one still, to a greater or less degree, retains; the teacher imparts instruction. To bestow is to give that of which the receiver stands in especial need; we bestow alms. <h4>Prepositions:</h4> We give money to a person for a thing, for a purpose, etc. (or without proposition, give a person a sum of money); we give a thing to or into one's care or keeping; the weary fugitive gave himself up to his pursuers. <hr /> <h3>GOVERN.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>command,</td><td>curb,</td><td>influence,</td><td>mold,</td><td>reign over,</td><td>rule,</td></tr> <tr><td>control,</td><td>direct,</td><td>manage,</td><td>reign,</td><td>restrain,</td><td>sway.</td></tr> </table> Govern carries the idea of authoritative administration or some exercise of authority that is at once effective and continuous; control is effective, but may be momentary or occasional. One controls what he holds or can hold at will absolutely in check; as, a skilful horseman controls a spirited horse; a person controls his temper; we say to one who is excited, "control yourself." A person commands another when he has, or claims, the right to make that other do his will, with power of inflicting penalty if not obeyed; he controls another whom he can effectually prevent from doing anything contrary to his will; he governs one whom he actually does cause, regularly or constantly, to obey his will; a parent may command a child whom he can not govern or control. The best teachers are not greatly prone to command, but govern or control their pupils largely by other means. Command is, however, often used in the sense of securing, as well as requiring, submission or obedience, as when we speak of a commanding influence; a man commands the situation when he can shape events as he pleases; a fortress commands the region when no enemy can pass against its resistance. Govern implies the exercise of knowledge and judgment as well as power. To rule is more absolute and autocratic than to govern; to sway is to move by quiet but effectual influence; to mold is not only to influence feeling and action, but to shape character; to manage is to secure by skilful contrivance the doing of one's will by those whom one can not directly control; a wise mother, by gentle means, sways the feelings and molds the lives of her children; to be able to manage servants is an important element of good housekeeping. The word reign, once so absolute, now simply denotes that one holds the official station of sovereign in a monarchy, with or without effective power; the Queen of England reigns; the Czar of Russia both reigns and rules. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>be in subjection,</td><td>be subject,</td><td>comply,</td><td>obey,</td><td>submit,</td><td>yield.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>GRACEFUL.</h3> <h4>Synonym:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>beautiful.</td></tr> </table> That which is graceful is marked by elegance and harmony, with ease of action, attitude, or posture, or delicacy of form. Graceful commonly suggests motion or the possibility of motion; beautiful may apply to absolute fixity; a landscape or a blue sky is beautiful, but neither is graceful. Graceful commonly applies to beauty as addressed to the eye, tho we often speak of a graceful poem or a graceful compliment. Graceful applies to the perfection of motion, especially of the lighter motions, which convey no suggestion of stress or strain, and are in harmonious curves. Apart from the thought of motion, graceful denotes a pleasing harmony of outline, proportion, etc., with a certain degree of delicacy; a Hercules is massive, an Apollo is graceful. We speak of a graceful attitude, graceful drapery. Compare BEAUTIFUL; BECOMING. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> See synonyms for AWKWARD. <hr /> <h3>GRIEF.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>affliction,</td><td>melancholy,</td><td>regret,</td><td>sorrow,</td><td>trouble,</td></tr> <tr><td>distress,</td><td>mourning,</td><td>sadness,</td><td>tribulation,</td><td>wo.</td></tr> </table> Grief is acute mental pain resulting from loss, misfortune, or deep disappointment. Grief is more acute and less enduring than sorrow. Sorrow and grief are for definite cause; sadness and melancholy may arise from a vague sense of want or loss, from a low state of health, or other ill-defined cause; sadness may be momentary; melancholy is more enduring, and may become chronic. Affliction expresses a deep heart-sorrow and is applied also to the misfortune producing such sorrow; mourning most frequently denotes sorrow publicly expressed, or the public expression of such sorrow as may reasonably be expected; as, it is common to observe thirty days of mourning on the death of an officer of state. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> See synonyms for HAPPINESS. <h4>Prepositions:</h4> Grief at a loss; for a friend. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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