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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>STATE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>affirm,</td><td>aver,</td><td>declare,</td><td>predicate,</td><td>set forth,</td></tr> <tr><td>allege,</td><td>avouch,</td><td>depose,</td><td>pronounce,</td><td>specify,</td></tr> <tr><td>assert,</td><td>avow,</td><td>express,</td><td>propound,</td><td>swear,</td></tr> <tr><td>asseverate,</td><td>certify,</td><td>inform,</td><td>protest,</td><td>tell,</td></tr> <tr><td>assure,</td><td>claim,</td><td>maintain,</td><td>say,</td><td>testify.</td></tr> </table> To state (L. sto, stand) is to set forth explicitly, formally, or particularly in speech or writing. Assert (L. ad, to, and sero, bind) is strongly personal, signifying to state boldly and positively what the one making the statement has not attempted and may not attempt to prove. Affirm has less of egotism than assert (as seen in the word self-assertion), coming nearer to aver. It has more solemnity than declare, and more composure and dignity than asseverate, which is to assert excitedly. In legal usage, affirm has a general agreement with depose and testify; it differs from swear in not invoking the name of God. To assure is to state with such authority and confidence as the speaker feels ought to make the hearer sure. Certify is more formal, and applies rather to written documents or legal processes. Assure, certify, inform, apply to the person; affirm, etc., to the thing. Assert is combative; assure is conciliatory. I assert my right to cross the river; I assure my friend it is perfectly safe. To aver is to state positively what is within one's own knowledge or matter of deep conviction. One may assert himself, or assert his right to what he is willing to contend for; or he may assert in discussion what he is ready to maintain by argument or evidence. To assert without proof is always to lay oneself open to the suspicion of having no proof to offer, and seems to arrogate too much to one's personal authority, and hence in such cases both the verb assert and its noun assertion have an unfavorable sense; we say a mere assertion, a bare assertion, his unsupported assertion; he asserted his innocence has less force than he affirmed or maintained his innocence. Affirm, state, and tell have not the controversial sense of assert, but are simply declarative. To vindicate is to defend successfully what is assailed. Almost every criminal will assert his innocence; the honest man will seldom lack means to vindicate his integrity. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>contradict,</td><td>controvert,</td><td>disprove,</td><td>gainsay,</td><td>refute,</td><td>retract,</td></tr> <tr><td>contravene,</td><td>deny,</td><td>dispute,</td><td>oppose,</td><td>repudiate,</td><td>waive.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>STEEP.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abrupt,</td><td>high,</td><td>precipitous,</td><td>sharp,</td><td>sheer.</td></tr> </table> High is used of simple elevation; steep is said only of an incline where the vertical measurement is sufficiently great in proportion to the horizontal to make it difficult of ascent. Steep is relative; an ascent of 100 feet to the mile on a railway is a steep grade; a rise of 500 feet to the mile makes a steep wagon-road; a roof is steep when it makes with the horizontal line an angle of more than 45°. A high mountain may be climbed by a winding road nowhere steep, while a little hill may be accessible only by a steep path. A sharp ascent or descent is one that makes a sudden, decided angle with the plane from which it starts; a sheer ascent or descent is perpendicular, or nearly so; precipitous applies to that which is of the nature of a precipice, and is used especially of a descent; abrupt is as if broken sharply off, and applies to either acclivity or declivity. Compare HIGH. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>easy,</td><td>flat,</td><td>gentle,</td><td>gradual,</td><td>horizontal,</td><td>level,</td><td>low,</td><td>slight.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>STORM.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>agitation,</td><td>disturbance,</td><td>tempest.</td></tr> </table> A storm is properly a disturbance of the atmosphere, with or without rain, snow, hail, or thunder and lightning. Thus we have rain-storm, snow-storm, etc., and by extension, magnetic storm. A tempest is a storm of extreme violence, always attended with some precipitation, as of rain, from the atmosphere. In the moral and figurative use, storm and tempest are not closely discriminated, except that tempest commonly implies greater intensity. We speak of agitation of feeling, disturbance of mind, a storm of passion, a tempest of rage. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>calm,</td><td>fair weather,</td><td>hush,</td><td>peace,</td><td>serenity,</td><td>stillness,</td><td>tranquillity.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>STORY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>account,</td><td>legend,</td><td>narrative,</td><td>recital,</td><td>relation,</td></tr> <tr><td>anecdote,</td><td>myth,</td><td rowspan="2">novel,</td><td rowspan="2">record,</td><td rowspan="2">tale.</td></tr> <tr><td>incident,</td><td>narration,</td></tr> </table> A story is the telling of some series of connected incidents or events, whether real or fictitious, in prose or verse, orally or in writing; or the series of incidents or events thus related may be termed a story. In children's talk, a story is a common euphemism for a falsehood. Tale is nearly synonymous with story, but is somewhat archaic; it is used for an imaginative, legendary, or fictitious recital, especially if of ancient date; as, a fairy tale; also, for an idle or malicious report; as, do not tell tales; "where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceaseth." Prov. xxvi, 20. An anecdote tells briefly some incident, assumed to be fact. If it passes close limits of brevity, it ceases to be an anecdote, and becomes a narrative or narration. A traditional or mythical story of ancient times is a legend. A history is often somewhat poetically called a story; as, the story of the American civil war. Compare ALLEGORY; FICTION; HISTORY. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>annals,</td><td>biography,</td><td>chronicle,</td><td>history,</td><td>memoir.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>STUPIDITY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>apathy,</td><td>insensibility,</td><td>slowness,</td><td>stupefaction,</td></tr> <tr><td>dulness,</td><td>obtuseness,</td><td>sluggishness,</td><td>stupor.</td></tr> </table> Stupidity is sometimes loosely used for temporary dulness or partial stupor, but chiefly for innate and chronic dulness and sluggishness of mental action, obtuseness of apprehension, etc. Apathy may be temporary, and be dispelled by appeal to the feelings or by the presentation of an adequate motive, but stupidity is inveterate and commonly incurable. Compare APATHY; IDIOCY; STUPOR. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>acuteness,</td><td>brilliancy,</td><td>keenness,</td><td>sagacity,</td></tr> <tr><td>alertness,</td><td>cleverness,</td><td>quickness,</td><td>sense,</td></tr> <tr><td>animation,</td><td>intelligence,</td><td>readiness,</td><td>sensibility.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>STUPOR.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>apathy,</td><td>fainting,</td><td>stupefaction,</td><td>syncope,</td></tr> <tr><td>asphyxia,</td><td>insensibility,</td><td>swoon,</td><td>torpor,</td></tr> <tr><td>coma,</td><td>lethargy,</td><td>swooning,</td><td>unconsciousness.</td></tr> </table> Stupor is a condition of the body in which the action of the senses and faculties is suspended or greatly dulled—weakness or loss of sensibility. The apathy of disease is a mental affection, a state of morbid indifference; lethargy is a morbid tendency to heavy and continued sleep, from which the patient may perhaps be momentarily aroused. Coma is a deep, abnormal sleep, from which the patient can not be aroused, or is aroused only with difficulty, a state of profound insensibility, perhaps with full pulse and deep, stertorous breathing, and is due to brain-oppression. Syncope or swooning is a sudden loss of sensation and of power of motion, with suspension of pulse and of respiration, and is due to failure of heart-action, as from sudden nervous shock or intense mental emotion. Insensibility is a general term denoting loss of feeling from any cause, as from cold, intoxication, or injury. Stupor is especially profound and confirmed insensibility, properly comatose. Asphyxia is a special form of syncope resulting from partial or total suspension of respiration, as in strangulation, drowning, or inhalation of noxious gases. <hr /> <h3>SUBJECTIVE.</h3> <h4>Synonym:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>objective.</td></tr> </table> Subjective and objective are synonyms in but one point of view, being, for the most part, strictly antonyms. Subjective signifies relating to the subject of mental states, that is, to the person who experiences them; objective signifies relating to the object of mental states, that is, to something outside the perceiving mind; in brief phrase it may be said that subjective relates to something within the mind, objective to something without. A mountain, as a mass of a certain size, contour, color, etc., is an objective fact; the impression our mind receives, the mental picture it forms of the mountain, is subjective. But this subjective impression may become itself the object of thought (called "subject-object"), as when we compare our mental picture of the mountain with our idea of a plain or river. The direct experiences of the soul, as joy, grief, hope, fear, are purely subjective; the outward causes of these experiences, as prosperity, bereavement, disappointment, are objective. That which has independent existence or authority apart from our experience or thought is said to have objective existence or authority; thus we speak of the objective authority of the moral law. Different individuals may receive different subjective impressions from the same objective fact, that which to one is a cause of hope being to another a cause of fear, etc. The style of a writer is called objective when it derives its materials mainly from or reaches out toward external objects; it is called subjective when it derives its materials mainly from or constantly tends to revert to the personal experience of the author. Compare INHERENT. <hr /> <h3>SUBSIDY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>aid,</td><td>bounty,</td><td>indemnity,</td><td>reward,</td><td>support,</td></tr> <tr><td>allowance,</td><td>gift,</td><td>pension,</td><td>subvention,</td><td>tribute.</td></tr> <tr><td>bonus,</td><td>grant,</td><td colspan="3">premium,</td></tr> </table> A subsidy is pecuniary aid directly granted by government to an individual or commercial enterprise, or money furnished by one nation to another to aid it in carrying on war against a common enemy. A nation grants a subsidy to an ally, pays a tribute to a conqueror. An indemnity is in the nature of things limited and temporary, while a tribute might be exacted indefinitely. A nation may also grant a subsidy to its own citizens as a means of promoting the public welfare; as, a subsidy to a steamship company. The somewhat rare term subvention is especially applied to a grant of governmental aid to a literary or artistic enterprise. Governmental aid to a commercial or industrial enterprise other than a transportation company is more frequently called a bounty than a subsidy; as, the sugar bounty. The word bounty may be applied to almost any regular or stipulated allowance by a government to a citizen or citizens; as, a bounty for enlisting in the army; a bounty for killing wolves. A bounty is offered for something to be done; a pension is granted for something that has been done. <hr /> <h3>SUBVERT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>destroy,</td><td>overthrow,</td><td>ruin,</td><td>supplant,</td></tr> <tr><td>extinguish,</td><td>overturn,</td><td>supersede,</td><td>suppress.</td></tr> </table> To subvert is to overthrow from or as from the very foundation; utterly destroy; bring to ruin. The word is now generally figurative, as of moral or political ruin. To supersede implies the putting of something that is wisely or unwisely preferred in the place of that which is removed; to subvert does not imply substitution. To supplant is more often personal, signifying to take the place of another, usually by underhanded means; one is superseded by authority, supplanted by a rival. Compare ABOLISH. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>conserve,</td><td>keep,</td><td>perpetuate,</td><td>preserve,</td><td>sustain,</td><td>uphold.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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