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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>ABSOLUTE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>arbitrary,</td><td>compulsory,</td><td>haughty,</td><td>peremptory,</td></tr> <tr><td>arrogant,</td><td>controlling,</td><td>imperative,</td><td>positive,</td></tr> <tr><td>authoritative,</td><td>despotic,</td><td>imperious,</td><td>supreme,</td></tr> <tr><td>autocratic,</td><td>dictatorial,</td><td>irresponsible,</td><td>tyrannical,</td></tr> <tr><td>coercive,</td><td>dogmatic,</td><td>lordly,</td><td>unconditional,</td></tr> <tr><td>commanding,</td><td>domineering,</td><td>overbearing,</td><td>unequivocal.</td></tr> <tr><td>compulsive,</td><td colspan="3">exacting,</td></tr> </table> In the strict sense, absolute, free from all limitation or control, and supreme, superior to all, can not properly be said of any being except the divine. Both words are used, however, in a modified sense, of human authorities; absolute then signifying free from limitation by other authority, and supreme exalted over all other; as, an absolute monarch, the supreme court. Absolute, in this use, does not necessarily carry any unfavorable sense, but as absolute power in human hands is always abused, the unfavorable meaning predominates. Autocratic power knows no limits outside the ruler's self; arbitrary power, none outside the ruler's will or judgment, arbitrary carrying the implication of wilfulness and capriciousness. Despotic is commonly applied to a masterful or severe use of power, which is expressed more decidedly by tyrannical. Arbitrary may be used in a good sense; as, the pronunciation of proper names is arbitrary; but the bad sense is the prevailing one; as, an arbitrary proceeding. Irresponsible power is not necessarily bad, but eminently dangerous; an executor or trustee should not be irresponsible; an irresponsible ruler is likely to be tyrannical. A perfect ruler might be irresponsible and not tyrannical. Authoritative is used always in a good sense, implying the right to claim authority; imperative, peremptory, and positive are used ordinarily in the good sense; as, an authoritative definition; an imperative demand; a peremptory command; positive instructions; imperious signifies assuming and determined to command, rigorously requiring obedience. An imperious demand or requirement may have in it nothing offensive; it is simply one that resolutely insists upon compliance, and will not brook refusal; an arrogant demand is offensive by its tone of superiority, an arbitrary demand by its unreasonableness; an imperious disposition is liable to become arbitrary and arrogant. A person of an independent spirit is inclined to resent an imperious manner in any one, especially in one whose superiority is not clearly recognized. Commanding is always used in a good sense; as, a commanding appearance; a commanding eminence. Compare DOGMATIC; INFINITE; PERFECT. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accountable,</td><td>constitutional,</td><td>gentle,</td><td>lowly,</td><td>responsible,</td></tr> <tr><td>complaisant,</td><td>contingent,</td><td>humble,</td><td>meek,</td><td>submissive,</td></tr> <tr><td>compliant,</td><td>docile,</td><td>lenient,</td><td>mild,</td><td>yielding.</td></tr> <tr><td>conditional,</td><td>ductile,</td><td colspan="3">limited,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>ABSOLVE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>acquit,</td><td>exculpate,</td><td>forgive,</td><td>pardon,</td></tr> <tr><td>clear,</td><td>exempt,</td><td>free,</td><td>release,</td></tr> <tr><td>discharge,</td><td>exonerate,</td><td>liberate,</td><td>set free.</td></tr> </table> To absolve, in the strict sense, is to set free from any bond. One may be absolved from a promise by a breach of faith on the part of one to whom the promise was made. To absolve from sins is formally to remit their condemnation and penalty, regarded as a bond upon the soul. "Almighty God ... pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel." Book of Common Prayer, Declar. of Absol. To acquit of sin or crime is to free from the accusation of it, pronouncing one guiltless; the innocent are rightfully acquitted; the guilty may be mercifully absolved. Compare PARDON. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accuse,</td><td>charge,</td><td>condemn,</td><td>impeach,</td><td>obligate,</td></tr> <tr><td>bind,</td><td>compel,</td><td>convict,</td><td>inculpate,</td><td>oblige.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Preposition:</h4> One is absolved from (rarely of) a promise, a sin, etc. <hr /> <h3>ABSORB.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>consume,</td><td>engross,</td><td>suck up,</td><td>take in,</td></tr> <tr><td>drink in,</td><td>exhaust,</td><td>swallow,</td><td rowspan="2">take up.</td></tr> <tr><td>drink up,</td><td>imbibe,</td><td>swallow up,</td></tr> </table> A fluid that is absorbed is taken up into the mass of the absorbing body, with which it may or may not permanently combine. Wood expands when it absorbs moisture, iron when it absorbs heat, the substance remaining perhaps otherwise substantially unchanged; quicklime, when it absorbs water, becomes a new substance with different qualities, hydrated or slaked lime. A substance is consumed which is destructively appropriated by some other substance, being, or agency, so that it ceases to exist or to be recognized as existing in its original condition; fuel is consumed in the fire, food in the body; consume is also applied to whatever is removed from the market for individual use; as, silk and woolen goods are consumed. A great talker engrosses the conversation. A credulous person swallows the most preposterous statement. A busy student imbibes or drinks in knowledge; he is absorbed in a subject that takes his whole attention. "I only postponed it because I happened to get absorbed in a book." Kane Grinnell Exped. ch. 43, page 403. [H. '54.] <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>cast out,</td><td>dissipate,</td><td>emit,</td><td>put forth,</td><td>shoot forth,</td></tr> <tr><td>disgorge,</td><td>distract,</td><td>exude,</td><td>radiate,</td><td>throw off,</td></tr> <tr><td>disperse,</td><td>eject,</td><td>give up,</td><td>send out,</td><td>vomit.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> Plants absorb moisture from the air; the student is absorbed in thought; nutriment may be absorbed into the system through the skin. <hr /> <h3>ABSTINENCE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abstemiousness,</td><td>frugality,</td><td>self-denial,</td><td>sobriety,</td></tr> <tr><td>continence,</td><td>moderation,</td><td>self-restraint,</td><td>temperance.</td></tr> <tr><td>fasting,</td><td colspan="3">self-control,</td></tr> </table> Abstinence from food commonly signifies going without; abstemiousness, partaking moderately; abstinence may be for a single occasion, abstemiousness is habitual moderation. Self-denial is giving up what one wishes; abstinence may be refraining from what one does not desire. Fasting is abstinence from food for a limited time, and generally for religious reasons. Sobriety and temperance signify maintaining a quiet, even temper by moderate indulgence in some things, complete abstinence from others. We speak of temperance in eating, but of abstinence from vice. Total abstinence has come to signify the entire abstaining from intoxicating liquors. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>drunkenness,</td><td>greed,</td><td>reveling,</td><td>sensuality,</td></tr> <tr><td>excess,</td><td>intemperance,</td><td>revelry,</td><td rowspan="2">wantonness.</td></tr> <tr><td>gluttony,</td><td>intoxication,</td><td>self-indulgence,</td></tr> </table> <h4>Preposition:</h4> The negative side of virtue is abstinence from vice. <hr /> <h3>ABSTRACT, v.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>appropriate,</td><td>distract,</td><td>purloin,</td><td>steal,</td></tr> <tr><td>detach,</td><td>divert,</td><td>remove,</td><td>take away,</td></tr> <tr><td>discriminate,</td><td>eliminate,</td><td>separate,</td><td>withdraw.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="4">distinguish,</td></tr> </table> The central idea of withdrawing makes abstract in common speech a euphemism for appropriate (unlawfully), purloin, steal. In mental processes we discriminate between objects by distinguishing their differences; we separate some one element from all that does not necessarily belong to it, abstract it, and view it alone. We may separate two ideas, and hold both in mind in comparison or contrast; but when we abstract one of them, we drop the other out of thought. The mind is abstracted when it is withdrawn from all other subjects and concentrated upon one, diverted when it is drawn away from what it would or should attend to by some other interest, distracted when the attention is divided among different subjects, so that it can not be given properly to any. The trouble with the distracted person is that he is not abstracted. Compare DISCERN. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>add,</td><td>complete,</td><td>fill up,</td><td>restore,</td><td rowspan="2">unite.</td></tr> <tr><td>combine,</td><td>conjoin,</td><td>increase,</td><td>strengthen,</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> The purse may be abstracted from the pocket; the substance from the accidents; a book into a compend. <hr /> <h3>ABSTRACTED.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>absent,</td><td>heedless,</td><td>listless,</td><td>preoccupied,</td></tr> <tr><td>absent-minded,</td><td>inattentive,</td><td>negligent,</td><td>thoughtless.</td></tr> <tr><td>absorbed,</td><td>indifferent,</td><td colspan="2">oblivious,</td></tr> </table> As regards mental action, absorbed, abstracted, and preoccupied refer to the cause, absent or absent-minded to the effect. The man absorbed in one thing will appear absent in others. A preoccupied person may seem listless and thoughtless, but the really listless and thoughtless have not mental energy to be preoccupied. The absent-minded man is oblivious of ordinary matters, because his thoughts are elsewhere. One who is preoccupied is intensely busy in thought; one may be absent-minded either through intense concentration or simply through inattention, with fitful and aimless wandering of thought. Compare ABSTRACT. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>alert,</td><td>on hand,</td><td>ready,</td><td rowspan="2">wide-awake.</td></tr> <tr><td>attentive,</td><td>prompt,</td><td>thoughtful,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>ABSURD.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>anomalous,</td><td>ill-considered,</td><td>ludicrous,</td><td>ridiculous,</td></tr> <tr><td>chimerical,</td><td>ill-judged,</td><td>mistaken,</td><td>senseless,</td></tr> <tr><td>erroneous,</td><td>inconclusive,</td><td>monstrous,</td><td>stupid,</td></tr> <tr><td>false,</td><td>incorrect,</td><td>nonsensical,</td><td>unreasonable,</td></tr> <tr><td>foolish,</td><td>infatuated,</td><td>paradoxical,</td><td rowspan="2">wild.</td></tr> <tr><td>ill-advised,</td><td>irrational,</td><td>preposterous,</td></tr> </table> That is absurd which is contrary to the first principles of reasoning; as, that a part should be greater than the whole is absurd. A paradoxical statement appears at first thought contradictory or absurd, while it may be really true. Anything is irrational when clearly contrary to sound reason, foolish when contrary to practical good sense, silly when petty and contemptible in its folly, erroneous when containing error that vitiates the result, unreasonable when there seems a perverse bias or an intent to go wrong. Monstrous and preposterous refer to what is overwhelmingly absurd; as, "O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two," Shakespeare 1 King Henry IV, act ii, sc. 4. The ridiculous or the nonsensical is worthy only to be laughed at. The lunatic's claim to be a king is ridiculous; the Mother Goose rimes are nonsensical. Compare INCONGRUOUS. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>certain,</td><td>incontrovertible,</td><td>rational,</td><td>substantial,</td></tr> <tr><td>consistent,</td><td>indisputable,</td><td>reasonable,</td><td>true,</td></tr> <tr><td>demonstrable,</td><td>indubitable,</td><td>sagacious,</td><td>undeniable,</td></tr> <tr><td>demonstrated,</td><td>infallible,</td><td>sensible,</td><td>unquestionable,</td></tr> <tr><td>established,</td><td rowspan="2">logical,</td><td rowspan="2">sound,</td><td rowspan="2">wise.</td></tr> <tr><td>incontestable,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>ABUSE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>aggrieve,</td><td>impose on or</td><td>oppress,</td><td>ruin,</td></tr> <tr><td>damage,</td><td class="pl2">upon,</td><td>persecute,</td><td>slander,</td></tr> <tr><td>defame,</td><td>injure,</td><td>pervert,</td><td>victimize,</td></tr> <tr><td>defile,</td><td>malign,</td><td>prostitute,</td><td>vilify,</td></tr> <tr><td>disparage,</td><td>maltreat,</td><td>rail at,</td><td>violate,</td></tr> <tr><td>harm,</td><td>misemploy,</td><td>ravish,</td><td>vituperate,</td></tr> <tr><td>ill-treat,</td><td>misuse,</td><td>reproach,</td><td rowspan="2">wrong.</td></tr> <tr><td>ill-use,</td><td>molest,</td><td>revile,</td></tr> </table> Abuse covers all unreasonable or improper use or treatment by word or act. A tenant does not abuse rented property by "reasonable wear," though that may damage the property and injure its sale; he may abuse it by needless defacement or neglect. It is possible to abuse a man without harming him, as when the criminal vituperates the judge; or to harm a man without abusing him, as when the witness tells the truth about the criminal. Defame, malign, rail at, revile, slander, vilify, and vituperate are used always in a bad sense. One may be justly reproached. To impose on or to victimize one is to injure him by abusing his confidence. To persecute one is to ill-treat him for opinion's sake, commonly for religious belief; to oppress is generally for political or pecuniary motives. "Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy," Deut. xxiv, 14. Misemploy, misuse, and pervert are commonly applied to objects rather than to persons. A dissolute youth misemploys his time, misuses his money and opportunities, harms his associates, perverts his talents, wrongs his parents, ruins himself, abuses every good gift of God. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>applaud,</td><td>conserve,</td><td>favor,</td><td>protect,</td><td>sustain,</td></tr> <tr><td>benefit,</td><td>consider,</td><td>laud,</td><td>regard,</td><td>tend,</td></tr> <tr><td>care for,</td><td>eulogize,</td><td>panegyrize,</td><td>respect,</td><td>uphold,</td></tr> <tr><td>cherish,</td><td>extol,</td><td>praise,</td><td>shield,</td><td>vindicate.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>ACCESSORY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abetter or abettor,</td><td>associate,</td><td>companion,</td><td>henchman,</td></tr> <tr><td>accomplice,</td><td>attendant,</td><td>confederate,</td><td>participator,</td></tr> <tr><td>ally,</td><td>coadjutor,</td><td>follower,</td><td>partner,</td></tr> <tr><td>assistant,</td><td>colleague,</td><td>helper,</td><td>retainer.</td></tr> </table> Colleague is used always in a good sense, associate and coadjutor generally so; ally, assistant, associate, attendant, companion, helper, either in a good or a bad sense; abetter, accessory, accomplice, confederate, almost always in a bad sense. Ally is oftenest used of national and military matters, or of some other connection regarded as great and important; as, allies of despotism. Colleague is applied to civil and ecclesiastical connections; members of Congress from the same State are colleagues, even though they may be bitter opponents politically and personally. An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court is near in rank to the Chief Justice. A surgeon's assistant is a physician or medical student who shares in the treatment and care of patients; a surgeon's attendant is one who rolls bandages and the like. Follower, henchman, retainer are persons especially devoted to a chief, and generally bound to him by necessity, fee, or reward. Partner has come to denote almost exclusively a business connection. In law, an abettor (the general legal spelling) is always present, either actively or constructively, at the commission of the crime; an accessory never. An accomplice is usually a principal; an accessory never. If present, though only to stand outside and keep watch against surprise, one is an abettor, and not an accessory. At common law, an accessory implies a principal, and can not be convicted until after the conviction of the principal; the accomplice or abettor can be convicted as a principal. Accomplice and abettor have nearly the same meaning, but the former is the popular, the latter more distinctively the legal term. Compare APPENDAGE; AUXILIARY. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>adversary,</td><td>chief,</td><td>foe,</td><td>leader,</td><td>principal,</td></tr> <tr><td>antagonist,</td><td>commander,</td><td>hinderer,</td><td>opponent,</td><td rowspan="2">rival.</td></tr> <tr><td>betrayer,</td><td>enemy,</td><td>instigator,</td><td>opposer,</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> An accessory to the crime; before or after the fact; the accessories of a figure in a painting. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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