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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>SUCCEED.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>achieve,</td><td>attain,</td><td>flourish,</td><td>prevail,</td><td>prosper,</td><td>thrive,</td><td>win.</td></tr> </table> A person succeeds when he accomplishes what he attempts, or attains a desired object or result; an enterprise or undertaking succeeds that has a prosperous result. To win implies that some one loses, but one may succeed where no one fails. A solitary swimmer succeeds in reaching the shore; if we say he wins the shore we contrast him with himself as a possible loser. Many students may succeed in study; a few win the special prizes, for which all compete. Compare FOLLOW. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>be defeated,</td><td>come short,</td><td>fail,</td><td>fall short,</td><td>lose,</td><td>miss,</td><td>miscarry.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>SUGGESTION.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>hint,</td><td>implication,</td><td>innuendo,</td><td>insinuation,</td><td>intimation.</td></tr> </table> A suggestion (L. sub, under, and gero, bring) brings something before the mind less directly than by formal or explicit statement, as by a partial statement, an incidental allusion, an illustration, a question, or the like. Suggestion is often used of an unobtrusive statement of one's views or wishes to another, leaving consideration and any consequent action entirely to his judgment, and is hence, in many cases, the most respectful way in which one can convey his views to a superior or a stranger. A suggestion may be given unintentionally, and even unconsciously, as when we say an author has "a suggestive style." An intimation is a suggestion in brief utterance, or sometimes by significant act, gesture, or token, of one's meaning or wishes; in the latter case it is often the act of a superior; as, God in his providence gives us intimations of his will. A hint is still more limited in expression, and is always covert, but frequently with good intent; as, to give one a hint of danger or of opportunity. Insinuation and innuendo are used in the bad sense; an insinuation is a covert or partly veiled injurious utterance, sometimes to the very person attacked; an innuendo is commonly secret as well as sly, as if pointing one out by a significant nod (L. in, in, to, and nuo, nod). <hr /> <h3>SUPERNATURAL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>miraculous,</td><td>preternatural,</td><td>superhuman.</td></tr> </table> The supernatural (super, above) is above or superior to the recognized powers of nature; the preternatural (preter, beyond) is aside from or beyond the recognized results or operations of natural law, often in the sense of inauspicious; as, a preternatural gloom. Miraculous is more emphatic and specific than supernatural, as referring to the direct personal intervention of divine power. Some hold that a miracle, as the raising of the dead, is a direct suspension and even violation of natural laws by the fiat of the Creator, and hence is, in the strictest sense, supernatural; others hold that the miracle is simply the calling forth of a power residing in the laws of nature, but not within their ordinary operation, and dependent on a distinct act of God, so that the miraculous might be termed "extranatural," rather than supernatural. All that is beyond human power is superhuman; as, prophecy gives evidence of superhuman knowledge; the word is sometimes applied to remarkable manifestations of human power, surpassing all that is ordinary. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>common,</td><td>commonplace,</td><td>everyday,</td><td>natural,</td><td>ordinary,</td><td>usual.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>SUPPORT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>bear,</td><td>cherish,</td><td>keep,</td><td>maintain,</td><td>sustain,</td></tr> <tr><td>carry,</td><td>hold up,</td><td>keep up,</td><td>prop,</td><td>uphold.</td></tr> </table> Support and sustain alike signify to hold up or keep up, to prevent from falling or sinking; but sustain has a special sense of continuous exertion or of great strength continuously exerted, as when we speak of sustained endeavor or a sustained note; a flower is supported by the stem or a temple-roof by arches; the foundations of a great building sustain an enormous pressure; to sustain life implies a greater exigency and need than to support life; to say one is sustained under affliction is to say more both of the severity of the trial and the completeness of the upholding than if we say he is supported. To bear is the most general word, denoting all holding up or keeping up of any object, whether in rest or motion; in the derived senses it refers to something that is a tax upon strength or endurance; as, to bear a strain; to bear pain or grief. To maintain is to keep in a state or condition, especially in an excellent and desirable condition; as, to maintain health or reputation; to maintain one's position; to maintain a cause or proposition is to hold it against opposition or difficulty. To support may be partial, to maintain is complete; maintain is a word of more dignity than support; a man supports his family; a state maintains an army or navy. To prop is always partial, signifying to add support to something that is insecure. Compare ABET; ENDURE; KEEP. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abandon,</td><td>break down,</td><td>demolish,</td><td>destroy,</td><td>let go,</td><td>throw down,</td></tr> <tr><td>betray,</td><td>cast down,</td><td>desert,</td><td>drop,</td><td>overthrow,</td><td>wreck.</td></tr> </table> <h4>Prepositions:</h4> The roof is supported by, on, or upon pillars; the family was supported on or upon a pittance, or by charity. <hr /> <h3>SUPPOSE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>conjecture,</td><td>deem,</td><td>guess,</td><td>imagine,</td><td>surmise,</td><td>think.</td></tr> </table> To suppose is temporarily to assume a thing as true, either with the expectation of finding it so or for the purpose of ascertaining what would follow if it were so. To suppose is also to think a thing to be true while aware or conceding that the belief does not rest upon any sure ground, and may not accord with fact; or yet again, to suppose is to imply as true or involved as a necessary inference; as, design supposes the existence of a designer. To conjecture is to put together the nearest available materials for a provisional opinion, always with some expectation of finding the facts to be as conjectured. To imagine is to form a mental image of something as existing, tho its actual existence may be unknown, or even impossible. To think, in this application, is to hold as the result of thought what is admitted not to be matter of exact or certain knowledge; as, I do not know, but I think this to be the fact: a more conclusive statement than would be made by the use of conjecture or suppose. Compare DOUBT; HYPOTHESIS. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>ascertain,</td><td>be sure,</td><td>conclude,</td><td>discover,</td><td>know,</td><td>prove.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>SURRENDER.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abandon,</td><td>cede,</td><td>give over,</td><td>relinquish,</td></tr> <tr><td>alienate,</td><td>give,</td><td>give up,</td><td>sacrifice,</td></tr> <tr><td>capitulate,</td><td>give oneself up,</td><td>let go,</td><td>yield.</td></tr> </table> To surrender is to give up upon compulsion, as to an enemy in war, hence to give up to any person, passion, influence, or power. To yield is to give place or give way under pressure, and hence under compulsion. Yield implies more softness or concession than surrender; the most determined men may surrender to overwhelming force; when one yields, his spirit is at least somewhat subdued. A monarch or a state cedes territory perhaps for a consideration; surrenders an army, a navy, or a fortified place to a conqueror; a military commander abandons an untenable position or unavailable stores. We sacrifice something precious through error, friendship, or duty, yield to convincing reasons, a stronger will, winsome persuasion, or superior force. Compare ABANDON. <hr /> <h3>SYNONYMOUS.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>alike,</td><td>equivalent,</td><td>like,</td><td>similar,</td></tr> <tr><td>correspondent,</td><td>identical,</td><td rowspan="2">same,</td><td rowspan="2">synonymic.</td></tr> <tr><td>corresponding,</td><td>interchangeable,</td></tr> </table> Synonymous (Gr. syn, together, and onyma, name) strictly signifies being interchangeable names for the same thing, or being one of two or more interchangeable names for the same thing; to say that two words are synonymous is strictly to say they are alike, equivalent, identical, or the same in meaning; but the use of synonymous in this strict sense is somewhat rare, and rather with reference to statements than to words. <div class="bq1">To say that we are morally developed is synonymous with saying that we have reaped what some one has suffered for us. H. W. Beecher Royal Truths p. 294. [T. & F. '66.] </div> In the strictest sense, synonymous words scarcely exist; rarely, if ever, are any two words in any language equivalent or identical in meaning; where a difference in meaning can not easily be shown, a difference in usage commonly exists, so that the words are not interchangeable. By synonymous words (or synonyms) we usually understand words that coincide or nearly coincide in some part of their meaning, and may hence within certain limits be used interchangeably, while outside of those limits they may differ very greatly in meaning and use. It is the office of a work on synonyms to point out these correspondences and differences, that language may have the flexibility that comes from freedom of selection within the common limits, with the perspicuity and precision that result from exact choice of the fittest words to express each shade of meaning outside of the common limits. To consider synonymous words identical is fatal to accuracy; to forget that they are similar, to some extent equivalent, and sometimes interchangeable, is destructive of freedom and variety. <hr /> <h3>SYSTEM.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>manner,</td><td>method,</td><td>mode,</td><td>order,</td><td>regularity,</td><td>rule.</td></tr> </table> Order in this connection denotes the fact or result of proper arrangement according to the due relation or sequence of the matters arranged; as, these papers are in order; in alphabetical order. Method denotes a process, a general or established way of doing or proceeding in anything; rule, an authoritative requirement or an established course of things; system, not merely a law of action or procedure, but a comprehensive plan in which all the parts are related to each other and to the whole; as, a system of theology; a railroad system; the digestive system; manner refers to the external qualities of actions, and to those often as settled and characteristic; we speak of a system of taxation, a method of collecting taxes, the rules by which assessments are made; or we say, as a rule the payments are heaviest at a certain time of year; a just tax may be made odious by the manner of its collection. Regularity applies to the even disposition of objects or uniform recurrence of acts in a series. There may be regularity without order, as in the recurrence of paroxysms of disease or insanity; there may be order without regularity, as in the arrangement of furniture in a room, where the objects are placed at varying distances. Order commonly implies the design of an intelligent agent or the appearance or suggestion of such design; regularity applies to an actual uniform disposition or recurrence with no suggestion of purpose, and as applied to human affairs is less intelligent and more mechanical than order. The most perfect order is often secured with least regularity, as in a fine essay or oration. The same may be said of system. There is a regularity of dividing a treatise into topics, paragraphs, and sentences, that is destructive of true rhetorical system. Compare HABIT; HYPOTHESIS. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>chaos,</td><td rowspan="2">derangement,</td><td rowspan="2">disarrangement,</td><td rowspan="2">disorder,</td><td rowspan="2">irregularity.</td></tr> <tr><td>confusion,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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