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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>PROWESS.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>bravery,</td><td>gallantry,</td><td>intrepidity,</td></tr> <tr><td>courage,</td><td>heroism,</td><td>valor.</td></tr> </table> Bravery, courage, heroism, and intrepidity may be silent, spiritual, or passive; they may be exhibited by a martyr at the stake. Prowess and valor imply both daring and doing; we do not speak of the prowess of a martyr, a child, or a passive sufferer. Valor meets odds or perils with courageous action, doing its utmost to conquer at any risk or cost; prowess has power adapted to the need; dauntless valor is often vain against superior prowess. Courage is a nobler word than bravery, involving more of the deep, spiritual, and enduring elements of character; such an appreciation of peril as would extinguish bravery may only intensify courage, which is resistant and self-conquering; courage applies to matters in regard to which valor and prowess can have no place, as submission to a surgical operation, or the facing of censure or detraction for conscience' sake. Compare BRAVE; FORTITUDE. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>cowardice,</td><td>cowardliness,</td><td>effeminacy,</td><td>fear,</td><td>pusillanimity,</td><td>timidity.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>PRUDENCE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>care,</td><td>discretion,</td><td>judgment,</td></tr> <tr><td>carefulness,</td><td>forecast,</td><td>judiciousness,</td></tr> <tr><td>caution,</td><td>foresight,</td><td>providence,</td></tr> <tr><td>circumspection,</td><td>forethought,</td><td>wisdom.</td></tr> <tr><td>consideration,</td><td colspan="2">frugality,</td></tr> </table> Prudence may be briefly defined as good judgment and foresight, inclining to caution and frugality in practical affairs. Care may respect only the present; prudence and providence look far ahead and sacrifice the present to the future, prudence watching, saving, guarding, providence planning, doing, preparing, and perhaps expending largely to meet the future demand. Frugality is in many cases one form of prudence. In a besieged city prudence will reduce the rations, providence will strain every nerve to introduce supplies and to raise the siege. Foresight merely sees the future, and may even lead to the recklessness and desperation to which prudence and providence are so strongly opposed. Forethought is thinking in accordance with wise views of the future, and is nearly equivalent to providence, but it is a more popular and less comprehensive term; we speak of man's forethought, God's providence. Compare CARE; FRUGALITY; WISDOM. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>folly,</td><td>improvidence,</td><td>indiscretion,</td><td>rashness,</td><td>thoughtlessness,</td></tr> <tr><td>heedlessness,</td><td>imprudence,</td><td>prodigality,</td><td>recklessness,</td><td>wastefulness.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>PURCHASE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>acquire,</td><td>barter for,</td><td>get,</td><td rowspan="2">procure,</td><td rowspan="2">secure.</td></tr> <tr><td>bargain for,</td><td>buy,</td><td>obtain,</td></tr> </table> Buy and purchase are close synonyms, signifying to obtain or secure as one's own by paying or promising to pay a price; in numerous cases the two words are freely interchangeable, but with the difference usually found between words of Saxon and those of French or Latin origin. The Saxon buy is used for all the homely and petty concerns of common life, the French purchase is often restricted to transactions of more dignity; yet the Saxon word buy is commonly more emphatic, and in the higher ranges of thought appeals more strongly to the feelings. One may either buy or purchase fame, favor, honor, pleasure, etc., but when our feelings are stirred we speak of victory or freedom as dearly bought. "Buy the truth, and sell it not" (Prov. xxiii, 23) would be greatly weakened by the rendering "Purchase the truth, and do not dispose of it." Compare BUSINESS; GET; PRICE; SALE. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>barter,</td><td>dispose of,</td><td>exchange,</td><td>put to sale,</td><td>sell.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> Purchase at a price; at a public sale; of or from a person; for cash; with money; on time. <hr /> <h3>PURE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>absolute,</td><td>guiltless,</td><td>simple,</td><td>unmixed,</td></tr> <tr><td>chaste,</td><td>holy,</td><td>spotless,</td><td>unpolluted,</td></tr> <tr><td>classic,</td><td>immaculate,</td><td>stainless,</td><td>unspotted,</td></tr> <tr><td>classical,</td><td>incorrupt,</td><td>true,</td><td>unstained,</td></tr> <tr><td>clean,</td><td>innocent,</td><td>unadulterated,</td><td>unsullied,</td></tr> <tr><td>clear,</td><td>mere,</td><td>unblemished,</td><td>untainted,</td></tr> <tr><td>continent,</td><td>perfect,</td><td>uncorrupted,</td><td>untarnished,</td></tr> <tr><td>genuine,</td><td>real,</td><td>undefiled,</td><td>upright,</td></tr> <tr><td>guileless,</td><td>sheer,</td><td>unmingled,</td><td>virtuous.</td></tr> </table> That is pure which is free from mixture or contact with anything that weakens, impairs, or pollutes. Material substances are called pure in the strict sense when free from foreign admixture of any kind; as, pure oxygen; the word is often used to signify free from any defiling or objectionable admixture (the original sense); we speak of water as pure when it is bright, clear, and refreshing, tho it may contain mineral salts in solution; in the medical and chemical sense, only distilled water (aqua pura) is pure. In moral and religious use pure is a strong word, denoting positive excellence of a high order; one is innocent who knows nothing of evil, and has experienced no touch of temptation; one is pure who, with knowledge of evil and exposure to temptation, keeps heart and soul unstained. Virtuous refers primarily to right action; pure to right feeling and motives; as, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God," Matt. v, 8. Compare FINE; INNOCENT. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>adulterated,</td><td>foul,</td><td>indecent,</td><td>obscene,</td><td>tainted,</td></tr> <tr><td>defiled,</td><td>gross,</td><td>indelicate,</td><td>polluted,</td><td>tarnished,</td></tr> <tr><td>dirty,</td><td>immodest,</td><td>lewd,</td><td>stained,</td><td>unchaste,</td></tr> <tr><td>filthy,</td><td>impure,</td><td>mixed,</td><td>sullied,</td><td>unclean.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>PUT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>deposit,</td><td>lay,</td><td>place,</td><td>set.</td></tr> </table> Put is the most general term for bringing an object to some point or within some space, however exactly or loosely; we may put a horse in a pasture, or put a bullet in a rifle or into an enemy. Place denotes more careful movement and more exact location; as, to place a crown on one's head, or a garrison in a city. To lay is to place in a horizontal position; to set is to place in an upright position; we lay a cloth, and set a dish upon a table. To deposit is to put in a place of security for future use; as, to deposit money in a bank; the original sense, to lay down or let down (quietly), is also common; as, the stream deposits sediment. <hr /> <h3>QUEER.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>anomalous,</td><td>erratic,</td><td>odd,</td><td>strange,</td></tr> <tr><td>bizarre,</td><td>extraordinary,</td><td>peculiar,</td><td>uncommon,</td></tr> <tr><td>comical,</td><td>fantastic,</td><td>preposterous,</td><td>unique,</td></tr> <tr><td>crotchety,</td><td>funny,</td><td>quaint,</td><td>unmatched,</td></tr> <tr><td>curious,</td><td>grotesque,</td><td>ridiculous,</td><td>unusual,</td></tr> <tr><td>droll,</td><td>laughable,</td><td>singular,</td><td>whimsical.</td></tr> <tr><td>eccentric,</td><td colspan="3">ludicrous,</td></tr> </table> Odd is unmated, as an odd shoe, and so uneven, as an odd number. Singular is alone of its kind; as, the singular number. What is singular is odd, but what is odd may not be singular; as, a drawerful of odd gloves. A strange thing is something hitherto unknown in fact or in cause. A singular coincidence is one the happening of which is unusual; a strange coincidence is one the cause of which is hard to explain. That which is peculiar belongs especially to a person as his own; as, Israel was called Jehovah's "peculiar people," i. e., especially chosen and cherished by him; in its ordinary use there is the implication that the thing peculiar to one is not common to the majority nor quite approved by them, though it may be shared by many; as, the Shakers are peculiar. Eccentric is off or aside from the center, and so off or aside from the ordinary and what is considered the normal course; as, genius is commonly eccentric. Eccentric is a higher and more respectful word than odd or queer. Erratic signifies wandering, a stronger and more censorious term than eccentric. Queer is transverse or oblique, aside from the common in a way that is comical or perhaps slightly ridiculous. Quaint denotes that which is pleasingly odd and fanciful, often with something of the antique; as, the quaint architecture of medieval towns. That which is funny is calculated to provoke laughter; that which is droll is more quietly amusing. That which is grotesque in the material sense is irregular or misshapen in form or outline or ill-proportioned so as to be somewhat ridiculous; the French bizarre is practically equivalent to grotesque. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>common,</td><td>familiar,</td><td>normal,</td><td>regular,</td></tr> <tr><td>customary,</td><td>natural,</td><td>ordinary,</td><td>usual.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>QUICKEN.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accelerate,</td><td>drive on,</td><td>hasten,</td><td>promote,</td></tr> <tr><td>advance,</td><td>expedite,</td><td>hurry,</td><td>speed,</td></tr> <tr><td>despatch,</td><td>facilitate,</td><td>make haste,</td><td>urge,</td></tr> <tr><td>drive,</td><td>further,</td><td>press forward,</td><td>urge on.</td></tr> </table> To quicken, in the sense here considered, is to increase speed, move or cause to move more rapidly, as through more space or with, a greater number of motions in the same time. To accelerate is to increase the speed of action or of motion. A motion whose speed increases upon itself is said to be accelerated, as the motion of a falling body, which becomes swifter with every second of time. To accelerate any work is to hasten it toward a finish, commonly by quickening all its operations in orderly unity toward the result. To despatch is to do and be done with, to get a thing off one's hands. To despatch an enemy is to kill him outright and quickly; to despatch a messenger is to send him in haste; to despatch a business is to bring it quickly to an end. Despatch is commonly used of single items. To promote a cause is in any way to bring it forward, advance it in power, prominence, etc. To speed is really to secure swiftness; to hasten is to attempt it, whether successfully or unsuccessfully. Hurry always indicates something of confusion. The hurried man forgets dignity, appearance, comfort, courtesy, everything but speed; he may forget something vital to the matter in hand; yet, because reckless haste may attain the great object of speed, hurry has come to be the colloquial and popular word for acting quickly. To facilitate is to quicken by making easy; to expedite is to quicken by removing hindrances. A good general will improve roads to facilitate the movements of troops, hasten supplies and perfect discipline to promote the general efficiency of the force, despatch details of business, expedite all preparations, in order to accelerate the advance and victory of his army. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>check,</td><td>clog,</td><td>delay,</td><td>drag,</td><td>hinder,</td><td>impede,</td><td>obstruct,</td><td>retard.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>QUOTE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>cite,</td><td>extract,</td><td>plagiarize,</td><td>repeat.</td></tr> <tr><td>excerpt,</td><td>paraphrase,</td><td colspan="2">recite,</td></tr> </table> To quote is to give an author's words, either exactly, as in direct quotation, or in substance, as in indirect quotation; to cite is, etymologically, to call up a passage, as a witness is summoned. In citing a passage its exact location by chapter, page, or otherwise, must be given, so that it can be promptly called into evidence; in quoting, the location may or may not be given, but the words or substance of the passage must be given. In citing, neither the author's words nor his thought may be given, but simply the reference to the location where they may be found. To quote, in the proper sense, is to give credit to the author whose words are employed. To paraphrase is to state an author's thought more freely than in indirect quotation, keeping the substance of thought and the order of statement, but changing the language, and commonly interweaving more or less explanatory matter as if part of the original writing. One may paraphrase a work with worthy motive for homiletic, devotional, or other purposes (as in the metrical versions of the Psalms), or he may plagiarize atrociously in the form of paraphrase, appropriating all that is valuable in another's thought, with the hope of escaping detection by change of phrase. To plagiarize is to quote without credit, appropriating another's words or thought as one's own. To recite or repeat is usually to quote orally, tho recite is applied in legal phrase to a particular statement of facts which is not a quotation; a kindred use obtains in ordinary speech; as, to recite one's misfortunes. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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