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English Synonyms and Antonyms

<h3>UNION.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>coalition,</td><td>conjunction,</td><td>juncture,</td><td>unification,</td></tr> <tr><td>combination,</td><td>junction,</td><td>oneness,</td><td>unity.</td></tr> </table> Unity is oneness, the state of being one, especially of that which never has been divided or of that which can not be conceived of as resolved into parts; as, the unity of God or the unity of the human soul. Union is a bringing together of things that have been distinct, so that they combine or coalesce to form a new whole, or the state or condition of things thus brought together; in a union the separate individuality of the things united is never lost sight of; we speak of the union of the parts of a fractured bone or of the union of hearts in marriage. But unity can be said of that which is manifestly or even conspicuously made up of parts, when a single purpose or ideal is so subserved by all that their possible separateness is lost sight of; as, we speak of the unity of the human body, or of the unity of the church. Compare ALLIANCE; ASSOCIATION; ATTACHMENT; HARMONY; MARRIAGE. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>analysis,</td><td>decomposition,</td><td>disjunction,</td><td>disunion,</td><td>divorce,</td><td>separation,</td></tr> <tr><td>contrariety,</td><td>disconnection,</td><td>dissociation,</td><td>division,</td><td>schism,</td><td>severance.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>USUAL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>accustomed,</td><td>everyday,</td><td>general,</td><td>ordinary,</td><td>public,</td></tr> <tr><td>common,</td><td>familiar,</td><td>habitual,</td><td>prevailing,</td><td>regular,</td></tr> <tr><td>customary,</td><td>frequent,</td><td>normal,</td><td>prevalent,</td><td>wonted.</td></tr> </table> Usual (L. usus, use, habit, wont) signifies such as regularly or often recurs in the ordinary course of events, or is habitually repeated in the life of the same person. Ordinary (L. ordo, order) signifies according to an established order, hence of everyday occurrence. In strictness, common and general apply to the greater number of individuals in a class; but both words are in good use as applying to the greater number of instances in a series, so that it is possible to speak of one person's common practise or general custom, tho ordinary or usual would in such case be preferable. Compare GENERAL; NORMAL. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>exceptional,</td><td>infrequent,</td><td>rare,</td><td>strange,</td><td>unparalleled,</td></tr> <tr><td>extraordinary,</td><td>out-of-the-way,</td><td>singular,</td><td>uncommon,</td><td>unusual.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>UTILITY.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>advantage,</td><td>expediency,</td><td>serviceableness,</td></tr> <tr><td>avail,</td><td>profit,</td><td>use,</td></tr> <tr><td>benefit,</td><td>service,</td><td>usefulness.</td></tr> </table> Utility (L. utilis, useful) signifies primarily the quality of being useful, but is somewhat more abstract and philosophical than usefulness or use, and is often employed to denote adaptation to produce a valuable result, while usefulness denotes the actual production of such result. We contrast beauty and utility. We say of an invention, its utility is questionable, or, on the other hand, its usefulness has been proved by ample trial, or I have found it of use; still, utility and usefulness are frequently interchanged. Expediency (L. ex, out, and pes, foot; literally, the getting the foot out) refers primarily to escape from or avoidance of some difficulty or trouble; either expediency or utility may be used to signify profit or advantage considered apart from right as the ground of moral obligation, or of actions that have a moral character, expediency denoting immediate advantage on a contracted view, and especially with reference to avoiding danger, difficulty, or loss, while utility may be so broadened as to cover all existence through all time, as in the utilitarian theory of morals. Policy is often used in a kindred sense, more positive than expediency but narrower than utility, as in the proverb, "Honesty is the best policy." Compare PROFIT. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>disadvantage,</td><td>futility,</td><td>inadequacy,</td><td>inutility,</td><td>uselessness,</td></tr> <tr><td>folly,</td><td>impolicy,</td><td>inexpediency,</td><td>unprofitableness,</td><td>worthlessness.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>VACANT.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>blank,</td><td>leisure,</td><td>unfilled,</td><td>untenanted,</td><td>void,</td></tr> <tr><td>empty,</td><td>unemployed,</td><td>unoccupied,</td><td>vacuous,</td><td>waste.</td></tr> </table> That is empty which contains nothing; that is vacant which is without that which has filled or might be expected to fill it; vacant has extensive reference to rights or possibilities of occupancy. A vacant room may not be empty, and an empty house may not be vacant. Vacant, as derived from the Latin, is applied to things of some dignity; empty, from the Saxon, is preferred in speaking of slight, common, or homely matters, tho it may be applied with special force to the highest; we speak of empty space, a vacant lot, an empty dish, an empty sleeve, a vacant mind, an empty heart, an empty boast, a vacant office, a vacant or leisure hour. Void and devoid are rarely used in the literal sense, but for the most part confined to abstract relations, devoid being followed by of, and having with that addition the effect of a prepositional phrase; as, the article is devoid of sense; the contract is void for want of consideration. Waste, in this connection, applies to that which is made so by devastation or ruin, or gives an impression of desolation, especially as combined with vastness, probably from association of the words waste and vast: waste is applied also to uncultivated or unproductive land, if of considerable extent; we speak of a waste track or region, but not of a waste city lot. Vacuous refers to the condition of being empty or vacant, regarded as continuous or characteristic. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>brimful,</td><td>busy,</td><td>filled,</td><td>inhabited,</td><td>overflowing,</td></tr> <tr><td>brimmed,</td><td>crammed,</td><td>full,</td><td>jammed,</td><td>packed,</td></tr> <tr><td>brimming,</td><td>crowded,</td><td>gorged,</td><td>occupied,</td><td>replete.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>VAIN.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>abortive,</td><td>futile,</td><td>shadowy,</td><td>unsatisfying,</td></tr> <tr><td>baseless,</td><td>idle,</td><td>trifling,</td><td>unserviceable,</td></tr> <tr><td>bootless,</td><td>inconstant,</td><td>trivial,</td><td>unsubstantial,</td></tr> <tr><td>deceitful,</td><td>ineffectual,</td><td>unavailing,</td><td>useless,</td></tr> <tr><td>delusive,</td><td>nugatory,</td><td>unimportant,</td><td>vapid,</td></tr> <tr><td>empty,</td><td>null,</td><td>unprofitable,</td><td>visionary,</td></tr> <tr><td>fruitless,</td><td>profitless,</td><td>unreal,</td><td>worthless.</td></tr> </table> Vain (L. vanus, empty) keeps the etymological idea through all changes of meaning; a vain endeavor is empty of result, or of adequate power to produce a result, a vain pretension is empty or destitute of support, a vain person has a conceit that is empty or destitute of adequate cause or reason. That which is bootless, fruitless, or profitless fails to accomplish any valuable result; that which is abortive, ineffectual, or unavailing fails to accomplish a result that it was, or was supposed to be, adapted to accomplish. That which is useless, futile, or vain is inherently incapable of accomplishing a specified result. Useless, in the widest sense, signifies not of use for any valuable purpose, and is thus closely similar to valueless and worthless. Fruitless is more final than ineffectual, as applying to the sum or harvest of endeavor. That which is useless lacks actual fitness for a purpose; that which is vain lacks imaginable fitness. Compare VACANT; OSTENTATION; PRIDE. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>adequate,</td><td>effective,</td><td>powerful,</td><td>solid,</td><td>useful,</td></tr> <tr><td>advantageous,</td><td>efficient,</td><td>profitable,</td><td>sound,</td><td>valid,</td></tr> <tr><td>beneficial,</td><td>expedient,</td><td>real,</td><td>substantial,</td><td>valuable,</td></tr> <tr><td>competent,</td><td>potent,</td><td>serviceable,</td><td>sufficient,</td><td>worthy.</td></tr> </table> Compare synonyms for UTILITY. <hr /> <h3>VENAL.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>hireling,</td><td>mercenary,</td><td>purchasable,</td><td>salable.</td></tr> </table> Venal (L. venalis, from venum, sale) signifies ready to sell one's influence, vote, or efforts for money or other consideration; mercenary (L. mercenarius, from merces, pay, reward) signifies influenced chiefly or only by desire for gain or reward; thus, etymologically, the mercenary can be hired, while the venal are openly or actually for sale; hireling (AS. hyrling, from hyr) signifies serving for hire or pay, or having the spirit or character of one who works or of that which is done directly for hire or pay. Mercenary has especial application to character or disposition; as, a mercenary spirit; mercenary motives—i. e., a spirit or motives to which money is the chief consideration or the moving principle. The hireling, the mercenary, and the venal are alike in making principle, conscience, and honor of less account than gold or sordid considerations; but the mercenary and venal may be simply open to the bargain and sale which the hireling has already consummated; a clergyman may be mercenary in making place and pay of undue importance while not venal enough to forsake his own communion for another for any reward that could be offered him. The mercenary may retain much show of independence; hireling service sacrifices self-respect as well as principle; a public officer who makes his office tributary to private speculation in which he is interested is mercenary; if he receives a stipulated recompense for administering his office at the behest of some leader, faction, corporation, or the like, he is both hireling and venal; if he gives essential advantages for pay, without subjecting himself to any direct domination, his course is venal, but not hireling. Compare PAY; VENIAL. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>disinterested,</td><td>honest,</td><td>incorruptible,</td><td>public-spirited,</td><td>unpurchasable.</td></tr> <tr><td>generous,</td><td>honorable,</td><td colspan="3">patriotic,</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>VENERATE.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>adore,</td><td>honor,</td><td>respect,</td><td>revere,</td><td>reverence.</td></tr> </table> In the highest sense, to revere or reverence is to hold in mingled love and honor with something of sacred fear, as for that which while lovely is sublimely exalted and brings upon us by contrast a sense of our unworthiness or inferiority; to revere is a wholly spiritual act; to reverence is often, tho not necessarily, to give outward expression to the reverential feeling; we revere or reverence the divine majesty. Revere is a stronger word than reverence or venerate. To venerate is to hold in exalted honor without fear, and is applied to objects less removed from ourselves than those we revere, being said especially of aged persons, of places or objects having sacred associations, and of abstractions; we venerate an aged pastor, the dust of heroes or martyrs, lofty virtue or self-sacrifice, or some great cause, as that of civil or religious liberty; we do not venerate God, but revere or reverence him. We adore with a humble yet free outflowing of soul. Compare VENERATION. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>contemn,</td><td>detest,</td><td>dishonor,</td><td>scoff at,</td><td>slight,</td></tr> <tr><td>despise,</td><td>disdain,</td><td>disregard,</td><td>scorn,</td><td>spurn.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <h3>VENERATION.</h3> <h4>Synonyms:</h4> <table class="tbs" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>adoration,</td><td>awe,</td><td>dread,</td><td>reverence.</td></tr> </table> Awe is inspired by that in which there is sublimity or majesty so overwhelming as to awaken a feeling akin to fear; in awe, considered by itself, there is no element of esteem or affection, tho the sense of vastness, power, or grandeur in the object is always present. Dread is a shrinking apprehension or expectation of possible harm awakened by any one of many objects or causes, from that which is overwhelmingly vast and mighty to that which is productive of momentary physical pain; in its higher uses dread approaches the meaning of awe, but with more of chilliness and cowering, and without that subjection of soul to the grandeur and worthiness of the object that is involved in awe. Awe is preoccupied with the object that inspires it; dread with apprehension of personal consequences. Reverence and veneration are less overwhelming than awe or dread, and suggest something of esteem, affection, and personal nearness. We may feel awe of that which we can not reverence, as a grandly terrible ocean storm; awe of the divine presence is more distant and less trustful than reverence. Veneration is commonly applied to things which are not subjects of awe. Adoration, in its full sense, is loftier than veneration, less restrained and awed than reverence, and with more of the spirit of direct, active, and joyful worship. Compare ESTEEM; VENERATE. <h4>Antonyms:</h4> <table class="tba" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td>contempt,</td><td>disdain,</td><td>dishonor,</td><td>disregard,</td><td>scorn.</td></tr> </table> <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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