The Oxford Thesaurus: An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms

1

Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Report of the United States Preventive Services Task Force US Preventive Services Task Force Year: 2002 Language: english File: PDF, 3.37 MB

2

Oracle 9i. Replication Management API Reference Urbano R. Year: 2001 Language: english File: PDF, 4.22 MB

The Oxford Thesaurus
An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms
INTRO Introduction
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=In its narrowest sense, a synonym is a word or phrase that is perfectly
substitutable in a context for another word or phrase. People who study
language professionally agree that there is no such thing as an ideal
synonym, for it is virtually impossible to find two words or phrases that
are identical in denotation (meaning), connotation, frequency,
familiarity, and appropriateness. Indeed, linguists have long noted the
economy of language, which suggests that no language permits a perfect
fit, in all respects, between any two words or phrases. Many examples of
overlapping can be cited; the more obvious ones in English are those that
reflect a duplication arising from Germanic and Romance sources, like
motherly and maternal, farming and agriculture, teach and instruct. In
such pairs the native English form is often the one with an earthier,
warmer connotation. In some instances, where a new coinage or a loanword
has been adopted inadvertently duplicating an existing term, creating
'true' synonyms, the two will quickly diverge, not necessarily in meaning
but in usage, application, connotation, level, or all of these. For
example, scientists some years ago expressed dissatisfaction with the term
tidal wave, for the phenomenon was not caused by tides but, usually, by
submarine seismic activity. The word tsunami was borrowed from Japanese in
an attempt to describe the phenomenon more accurately, but it was later
pointed out the tsunami means 'tidal wave' in Japanese. Today, the terms
exist side by side in English, the older expression still in common use,
the newer more frequent in the scientific and technical literature.
Any synonym book must be seen as a compromise that relies on the
sensitivity of its users to the idiomatic nuances of the language. In its
best applications, it serves to remind users of words, similar in meaning,
that might not spring readily to mind, and to offer lists of words and
phrases that are alternatives to and compromises for those that might
otherwise be overused and therefore redundant, repetitious, and boring.
The Oxford Thesaurus goes a step further by offering example sentences to
illustrate the uses of the headwords and their alternatives in natural,
idiomatic contexts.
1. Selection of headwords

Two criteria have been employed: first, headwords have been selected
because of their frequency in the language, on the assumption that
synonyms are more likely to be sought for the words that are most
used; second, some headwords of lower frequency have been included
because it would otherwise be impossible to find a suitable place to
group together what are perceived as useful sets of synonyms with
their attendant illustrative sentences. Obvious listings have been
omitted on the grounds that users of the Thesaurus can easily find
synonyms for, say, abdication by making nouns of the verbs listed
under abdicate. This deliberate attempt to avoid duplication is
mitigated in the case of very common words. For the convenience of the
user, both shy and bashful are main entries, as are method, manner,
and mode, which, though much the same in some respects, differ in
detail and application. In this book, however, mitigate is a main
entry but not mitigation, mistake and mistaken are main entries but
not mistakenly, etc. Where it is determined that such derivations are
neither automatic nor semantically obvious, separate listings have
been provided.
2. Illustrative sentences
On the principle that a word is known by the company it keeps, one or
more sentences showing the main entry word in context are provided for
each sense discrimination. These have been carefully selected to
demonstrate the use of the main entry in a context likely to be
encountered in familiar written or spoken ordinary English. (See also
7, below.)
3. Synonym lists
Each main entry is followed by one or more sense groupings, each
illustrated by one or more sentences. An effort has been made to group
the synonyms semantically as well as syntactically and idiomatically:
that is, each synonym listed within a given set should prove to be
more or less substitutable for the main entry in the illustrative
sentence.
In some instances, idiomatic congruity may, unavoidably, become
strained; where it is felt to be stretched too far--though still
properly listed among its accompanying synonyms--a semicolon has been
inserted to separate sub-groups of synonyms, and, in many cases,
additional illustrative sentences have been provided. Such
sub-groupings have been confined largely to distinctions between

literal uses and figures of speech, between transitive and
intransitive verbs, and between synonyms that differ in more subtle
aspectual characteristics of meaning or syntax. (See also 7, below.)
Not all senses of all words are covered for either or both of the
following reasons: the sense, though it exists, is relatively rare in
ordinary discourse and writing; there are no reasonable synonyms for
it. Thus, this sense of mercy,
an affecting or moving of the mind in any way; a mental state
brought about by any influence; an emotion or feeling: Mercy
is an affection of the mind.
is not covered for the first reason, as it is a literary and somewhat
archaic usage. The same can be said for the sense,
a bodily state due to any influence
and for other senses listed in the largest dictionaries but rarely
encountered except in literary contexts. Even in such contexts it
would be unusual to need a synonym for this word and others like it.
4. Cross references
There are very few cross references between main listings in the
Thesaurus. Where such cross references do occur, they are simple and
straightforward:
superior adj....3 See supercilious, above. --n 4 See
supervisor, below.
A number of cross references occur within entries, between variant
forms of an expression. At the entry for take, for example, as one can
say either take or take it in the sense of 'understand' etc., the
option is shown in the following way:
take v...19 understand, gather, interpret, perceive,
apprehend, deduce, conclude, infer, judge, deem, assume,
suppose, imagine, see: I take him to be a fool. I take it from
your expression that you've had bad news.
33 take it: a withstand or tolerate or survive punishment or
abuse, survive: The Marines are extremely tough and can take

it. b See 19, above.
In a few entries, the form 'See also' is used.
5. Labels
a. All words and phrases that are recognized as being typical of a
particular variety of English, whether geographical or stylistic,
are labelled. It might at first seem that a large number of
colloquial, slang, and taboo words have been included. The labels
used are those commonly encountered in ordinary dictionaries:
Colloq Colloquial; informal; used in everyday conversation and
writing, especially in the popular press and in dramatic
dialogue; sometimes avoided where more formal language
is felt to be appropriate, as in business
correspondence, scholarly works, technical reports,
documents, etc.
Slang

Belonging to the most informal register and
characteristic of spoken English; often originating in
the cult language of a particular socio-cultural group.
Not sufficiently elevated to be used in most writing
(aside from dialogue), although often found in the
popular press and frequently heard on popular radio and
television programmes.

Taboo Not used in polite society, usually because of the risk
of offending sexual, religious, or cultural
sensibilities; occasionally encountered on late-night
television and radio; often occurring in graffiti and in
dialogue in novels, plays, and films.
Archaic Describing an obsolete word or phrase (like tickety-boo,
lounge lizard) that is used deliberately to invoke the
feeling of a bygone time.
Old-fashioned
Used of a synonym (like comfit) that is no longer
current but might occasionally be encountered among
older speakers and in older writing.
Technical Used of a somewhat specialized word that is not commonly

encountered in ordinary, everyday English, like
defalcator, which appears as a synonym under swindler.
Literary Describes a word, like euchre 'cheat', that is not
usually met with in everyday language, even of the
formal genre, but may be found in poetry and other
literary works.
Brit, US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand
Marks a word or phrase that occurs mainly in the
designated variety.
The meanings of other labels are self-evident.
b. All labels can occur in combination. Usage labels always take
precedence over regional labels. For example,
pushover n. 1 sure thing, Colloq piece of cake, child's
play, snap, picnic, walk-over, US breeze, Slang cinch,
Brit doddle, US lead-pipe cinch.
Here 'sure thing' is standard universal English. All words and
phrases following Colloq up to the Slang label are colloquial:
'piece of cake,...walkover' are universal colloquial English,
'breeze' is US colloquial. All synonyms following the Slang label
are slang; 'cinch' is universal English slang, 'doddle' is
confined to British slang, and 'lead-pipe cinch' is confined to
American slang.
talented adj....Colloq ace, crack, top-notch, Brit wizard,
whizzo, US crackerjack.
In this entry, all synonyms shown are colloquial, 'ace, crack,
topnotch' being universal English, 'wizard, whizzo' British, and
'crackerjack' US.
It must be emphasized that such labels are to some extent
impressionistic and are based in the Thesaurus on a consensus of
several sources: that is, there is no implication that 'breeze' is
never used in the sense of 'pushover' except in the US, nor should
such an inference be made.
c. Comments regarding what might be viewed as 'correct' in contrast

to 'incorrect' usage are generally avoided. For example, the
non-standard use of between in contexts referring to more than two
of anything or of among in contexts involving fewer than three
goes unmarked. However, if the usage question is confined to what
can easily be represented in a 'lexical' environment, then
suitable treatment is accorded it; thus 'now' and 'at present' are
labelled Non-Standard under presently. To take another example,
'different to', in the typically British usage His house is
different to mine, is rarely encountered in American English; in
American English, purists condemn 'different than', as in His
house is different than mine, which is increasingly heard in
British English; purists on both sides of the Atlantic prefer
'different from'. Such matters are best left to usage books and to
usage notes in dictionaries and are not treated in the Thesaurus.
d. Main entry words and sub-entries are not labelled, only the
synonyms. Thus, under beat appears the idiomatic expression, beat
it, which is not labelled:
8 beat it: depart, leave, abscond, run off or away, Slang
US take it on the lam, lam out of here, hit the road:
You'd better beat it before the cops come.
The idiom is not labelled because it is assumed that the user has
looked it up to find a substitute for it, hence needs no
information about it other than a listing of its alternatives
(which are labelled, when appropriate) and an illustrative
example.
A rare exception to the above rule occurs where a headword has one
meaning in British English and quite a different meaning in
another regional variety. Thus:
subway n. 1 In US: underground (railway), tube: She takes
the subway to work. 2 In Britain: tunnel, underpass: Use
the subway to cross the road in safety.
Here, the two regional labels do not apply to the synonyms (since,
for example, 'tunnel' has the same meaning in both British and US
English) but to the two definitions of the headword.
e. Synonyms bearing any kind of label appear at the end of the set in
which they are listed, except in the case described immediately

above.
6. Spelling and other variants
The spellings shown throughout are those preferred by most modern
British writers. British variant spellings are shown; if they are
variants of the main entry word, they appear as the first word in the
set(s) of synonyms following:
mousy adj. 1 mousey,...
movable adj. moveable,...
Such variants are also shown when they appear within an entry:
movable adj....transferable or transferrable,...
Common American spelling variants (humor, traveler, unraveled) are not
shown, but less common ones are listed for convenience. Where both
forms are variants in American spelling, they are described by 'or US
also':
...accoutrements or US also accouterments,...
...phoney or US also phony,...
This should be understood to mean 'the normal British spelling is
accoutrements (or phoney); this form, together with accouterments (or
phony), occurs in American English'.
7. Substitutability
a. The purpose of a synonym book is to provide the user with a
collection of words that are as close as possible in meaning to a
designated word. The Oxford Thesaurus tries to go to a step
further by providing examples that not only illustrate the main
entry word in a natural contextual environment but also allow the
user to substitute as many of the synonyms as possible into the
framework of the context. For example:
porous adj. spongy, spongelike, permeable, pervious,
penetrable: The rainwater runs through the porous rock and
collects in the pools below.
It is possible to substitute for porous in the sample sentence any

of the words given as synonyms without any adjustment of the
grammar or phrasing of the example. That is not to suggest that
the synonyms are identical: 'permeable' and 'pervious' belong to a
different register from that of 'spongy, spongelike', being more
common in technical usage. Some might argue that 'penetrable' is
not synonymous with the other listed words; but it is the function
of this book to provide synonyms for the main entries, not for the
other synonyms that might be listed. No claim is made--nor could
it be made--that synonyms are identical, either to one another or
to another word, merely that they fall well within the criteria of
what, for practical purposes, is viewed as synonymy in the
language.
It is certainly true that substituting for porous any of the five
listed synonyms will yield five standard English sentence.
b. Some judgement is required of the user in determining the syntax
and idiomaticity with which a given word or expression can be
substituted in an illustrative context: words are rarely as
readily interchangeable in a context as might be components in a
chemical or mathematical formula. Moreover, while such formulae
are reflective of science, language offers its users the virtually
infinite variety available only in art, with each individual
speaker of any language being presented with the opportunity to
become an artist.
In the following example, nearly all terms can be substituted for
adjoining in the first illustrative sentence; to create idiomatic
parallels to the second sentence, the parenthetical prepositions
must be used:
adjoining adj. neighboring, contiguous (to), adjacent
(to), abutting, bordering, next (to): We have bought the
adjoining land and will build our new house there. The
land adjoining the supermarket is for sale.
Interpreting this, the following are all idiomatic: adjoining
land, neighbouring land, contiguous land, adjacent land, abutting
land, and bordering land. But if the context requires the
adjective to come after land (with a following noun), then the
parenthetical words must be added to yield constructions that are
idiomatic, like land adjoining the supermarket, land neighboring
the supermarket, land continuous to the supermarket, land adjacent

to the supermarket, land abutting the supermarket, land bordering
the supermarket, and land next to the supermarket.
As this is intended as a synonym book and not a work on English
collocations, the treatment of idiomaticity cannot be taken
further.
c. There are other reasons why direct substitutability is not always
possible within a single semantic concept. The following extract
demonstrates this:
possess v.... 3 dominate, control, govern, consume, take
control of, preoccupy, obsess; charm, captivate, enchant,
cast a spell on or over, bewitch, enthral: What possessed
her to think that I could help? He behaves as if he is
possessed by the devil.
Here, two aspects of the same sense have been divided by a
semicolon, with the synonyms preceding the semicolon illustrated
by the first contextual example and those following it by the
second. While it may be argued that in this instance the synonyms
following the semicolon, with their illustrative sentence, might
better have been listed in a separately numbered set, the close
semantic association of the two groups would thereby have been
lost.
d. Sometimes, where the sub-sense is familiar enough not to require
its own example yet needs to be set off from the other synonyms
because of a subtle or aspectual semantic distinction, a semicolon
is inserted among the synonyms and only one example is provided:
practice n.... 2 exercise, discipline, drill, practising,
repetition, rehearsal, training, preparation, workout,
warm-up; application, study: She needs more practice on
the beginner`s slope before going down the main piste.
the idiomatic usage of this sense of 'study' and 'application' is
sufficiently familiar not to require separate example.
On the other hand, a second example is needed for the next sense
of practice:
...3 pursuit, exercise, work, profession, career,

vocation, conduct; business, office: He genuinely enjoys
the practice of law. I heard of a veterinary practice for
sale in Yorkshire.
It would be difficult--perhaps impossible--to defend such fine
distinctions in every instance: indeed, as a comparison of the
different lengths of the entries in any dictionary will quickly
reveal, language does not provide the same levels of sense
discrimination for all words. The metaphorical focus and diversity
of a language provide for polysemy in some semantico-cultural
spheres but not in others. The classic observation often cited to
demonstrate this linkage is that of the Inuit language that has a
large number of distinguishing words for types of snow or of the
African language that has an extensive vocabulary to describe the
kinship among its speakers. On the grounds that the lexicon of a
language is moulded by speakers who, quite naturally, use it to
talk (and write) about things that are important to them, one
might be tempted to draw conclusions about the voracity of
English-speakers by reflecting that the entry for take has about
twice as many definitions in most dictionaries as that for give.
e. Often, the semicolon may be used to separate transitive uses of a
verb from intransitive:
preach v....2 moralize, sermonize, advise, counsel,
admonish, reprimand, lecture, harangue, pontificate; urge,
inculcate, advocate: Mother used to preach to us about
being charitable. Father preached restraint in all things.
Because of the behaviour of verbs in English, different synonyms
may be required depending on what the object of the verb is and,
often, whether the object is a word or phrase or a clause:
predict v. foretell, prophesy, forecast, foresee, augur,
prognosticate, forewarn, presage, vaticinate; portend,
foreshadow, foretoken, forebode; intimate, hint, suggest:
My mother predicted that there would be moments like this.
If only I could predict the winner of the 2.30!

f. Wherever possible, the proper prepositional or adverbial particle
normally accompanying a verb in a certain sense has been supplied,
though it must be emphasized that the one offered is the most

frequently used and not, necessarily, the only one acceptable in
standard usage. Particles used with some words may vary
considerably, owing not only to dialect variation but also to
whether the verb is used actively or passively as well as to which
nuance of meaning, sometimes far too subtle to be dealt with
adequately in a book of this kind, is to be expressed. The
following entry illustrates the full treatment that can be
accorded to words that occur in a wide variety of grammatical
environments:
persevere v. Often, persevere in or with or at: persist,
resolve, decide, endure, continue, carry on or through,
keep at or on or up, be steadfast or staunch or constant,
keep going, stand fast or firm, see through, be or remain
determined or resolved or resolute or stalwart or
purposeful or uncompromising, be tenacious or persistent
or constant or pertinacious or assiduous or sedulous, be
tireless or untiring or indefatigable, show determination
or pluck or grit, be plucky, be patient or diligent or
stubborn or inflexible or adamant or obstinate or
obdurate, show or exhibit or demonstrate patience or
diligence or stubbornness or inflexibility or obstinacy or
obduracy, remain dogged, pursue doggedly, be intransigent
or intractable, cling to, stick to, support, stop at
nothing, sustain, Colloq stick with, stick (it) out: We
must persevere to win. I shall persevere in my loyalty.

g. In some adjective senses, a split might occur between attributive
and predicative uses, though in most such cases, where the syntax
is open, only one, usually common, illustration is given. For
example, alone is used only predicatively or post-positively, not
attributively; that is, one cannot say *An alone woman...In this
particular case, the normal attributive form would be lone, but
lone is not listed as a synonym for alone because they are not
mutually substitutable. It is acknowledged that the detailed
description of the special syntactic ways in which certain words
(like alone, agog, galore) behave lies outside the province of
this book.
Although similar cautions must be observed and adjustments made
throughout, it is hoped that the illustrative sentences will
provide a substantial basis for the user to identify idiomatic

contexts and to discriminate senses that are not always carefully
distinguished in dictionaries.
CONTENTS Table of Contents
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Title Page

TITLE

Edition Notice
Introduction

EDITION
INTRO

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

A 1.0
abandon... 1.1
academic... 1.2
adapt... 1.3
aesthete... 1.4
affair... 1.5
age... 1.6
ahead 1.7
aid... 1.8
akin 1.9
alarm... 1.10
amalgam... 1.11
anachronism... 1.12
apart... 1.13
arbitrary... 1.14
ashamed... 1.15
atmosphere... 1.16
audacious... 1.17
available... 1.18
awake... 1.19
B 2.0
babble... 2.1
beach... 2.2
bias... 2.3
blab... 2.4
board... 2.5
brace... 2.6

bubble 2.7
by... 2.8
C 3.0
cab... 3.1
cease... 3.2
chafe... 3.3
circle... 3.4
claim... 3.5
coach... 3.6
crack... 3.7
cuddle... 3.8
cycle 3.9
D 4.0
dab... 4.1
dead... 4.2
diabolic... 4.3
dock... 4.4
drab... 4.5
duck... 4.6
dwarf... 4.7
dying... 4.8
E 5.0
eager... 5.1
ebb... 5.2
eccentric... 5.3
eddy... 5.4
eerie 5.5
effect... 5.6
egoistic... 5.7
eject... 5.8
elaborate... 5.9
emaciated... 5.10
enable... 5.11
epicure... 5.12
equable... 5.13
era... 5.14
escape... 5.15
etch... 5.16
eulogize... 5.17
evacuate... 5.18

exact... 5.19
eye... 5.20
F 6.0
fabric... 6.1
fear... 6.2
fianc‚(e)... 6.3
flabby... 6.4
foam... 6.5
fracas... 6.6
fuel 6.7
G 7.0
gab... 7.1
gear... 7.2
ghastly... 7.3
giant... 7.4
glad... 7.5
gnarled... 7.6
go... 7.7
grab... 7.8
guarantee 7.9
gyrate 7.10
H 8.0
habit... 8.1
head... 8.2
hidden 8.3
hoard... 8.4
hub... 8.5
hybrid... 8.6
I 9.0
icing... 9.1
idea... 9.2
ignorance... 9.3
ill... 9.4
image... 9.5
inability... 9.6
irk... 9.7
island... 9.8
itch... 9.9

J 10.0
jab... 10.1
jealous... 10.2
jiggle... 10.3
job... 10.4
judge... 10.5
K 11.0
keen... 11.1
kick... 11.2
knack... 11.3
kowtow 11.4
kudos 11.5
L 12.0
label... 12.1
lead... 12.2
liability... 12.3
load... 12.4
luck... 12.5
lying... 12.6
M 13.0
macabre... 13.1
meadow... 13.2
microbe... 13.3
moan... 13.4
muck... 13.5
mysterious... 13.6
N 14.0
nab... 14.1
near... 14.2
nice... 14.3
nobility... 14.4
nub... 14.5
O 15.0
oar... 15.1
obedience... 15.2
occasion... 15.3
odd... 15.4
off... 15.5

ogle... 15.6
oil... 15.7
OK 15.8
old... 15.9
omen... 15.10
once... 15.11
ooze 15.12
opacity... 15.13
oracle... 15.14
oscillate... 15.15
otherwise 15.16
out... 15.17
oval... 15.18
owe... 15.19
P 16.0
pace... 16.1
peace... 16.2
phantom... 16.3
pick... 16.4
place... 16.5
pocket... 16.6
practicable... 16.7
pseudonym... 16.8
pub... 16.9
Q 17.0
quack... 17.1
R 18.0
rabble... 18.1
reach... 18.2
rhapsodic... 18.3
ribaldry... 18.4
road... 18.5
rub... 18.6
S 19.0
sabotage... 19.1
scale... 19.2
sea... 19.3
shabby... 19.4
sick... 19.5

sketchily... 19.6
slab... 19.7
small... 19.8
snack... 19.9
soak... 19.10
space... 19.11
squad... 19.12
stab... 19.13
suave... 19.14
swagger... 19.15
sybarite... 19.16
T 20.0
tab... 20.1
teach... 20.2
thank... 20.3
tickle... 20.4
toast... 20.5
trace... 20.6
tug... 20.7
tweak... 20.8
tycoon... 20.9
U 21.0
ugly 21.1
ulcer... 21.2
umbrage... 21.3
unabashed... 21.4
upbeat... 21.5
urge... 21.6
usage... 21.7
Utopia... 21.8
V 22.0
vacancy... 22.1
vehicle... 22.2
viable... 22.3
vocalist... 22.4
vulgar... 22.5
W 23.0
wad... 23.1
weak... 23.2

wheedle... 23.3
wicked... 23.4
woe... 23.5
wrap... 23.6
Y 24.0
yank... 24.1
yearly... 24.2
yield... 24.3
young... 24.4
yucky... 24.5
Z 25.0
zany... 25.1
zealot... 25.2
zone... 25.3
1.0 A
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1.1 abandon...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

abandon v. 1 give up or over, yield, surrender, leave, cede, let go,
deliver (up), turn over, relinquish: I can see no reason why we
should abandon the house to thieves and vandals. 2 depart from,
leave, desert, quit, go away from: The order was given to
abandon ship. 3 desert, forsake, jilt, walk out on: He even
abandoned his fianc‚e. 4 give up, renounce; discontinue, forgo,
drop, desist, abstain from: She abandoned cigarettes and whisky
after the doctor's warning.
--n. 5 recklessness, intemperance, wantonness, lack of
restraint, unrestraint: He behaved with wild abandon after he
received the inheritance.
abandoned adj. 1 left alone, forlorn, forsaken, deserted, neglected;
rejected, shunned, cast off or aside, jilted, dropped, outcast:
An abandoned infant was found on the church steps. Totally
alone, she felt abandoned by her friends. 2 bad, immoral,

amoral, wicked, sinful, evil, corrupt, unprincipled,
unrestrained, uninhibited, reprobate; loose, wanton, debauched,
wild, dissolute, dissipated, profligate; depraved, lewd,
lascivious, flagitious: His abandoned behaviour soon landed him
in jail.
abbreviate
v. 1 shorten, compress, contract, truncate, trim, reduce,
curtail: We abbreviated some of the longer words to save space.
2 shorten, cut, condense, abridge, abstract, digest, epitomize,
summarize, US synopsize: The school presented an abbreviated
version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
abbreviated
adj. skimpy, brief, revealing: The dancers' abbreviated
costumes shocked some members of the audience.
abbreviation
n. initialism; acronym; shortening, contraction: UK is one
kind of abbreviation, or initialism; NATO, which is pronounced
as a word, is another, usually called an acronym.
abdicate v. give up, renounce, disclaim, waive, disown, surrender,
yield, relinquish, abandon, resign, quit: He abdicated all
responsibility for care of the children. She abdicated the
throne to marry a commoner.
abduct v. kidnap, carry off, make away or off with, seize, Slang US
snatch, grab: The child that was abducted is safe.
abet

v. 1 encourage, urge, instigate, incite, provoke, egg on, prod,
goad; aid, help, assist: The jury found that his wife had
abetted him in the murder. 2 countenance, approve (of),
support, endorse, second, sanction, condone; further, advance,
promote, uphold: By failing to inform on the terrorists, the
neighbours abetted the bombing.

abeyance n. in abeyance. pending, abeyant, reserved, in reserve,
shelved, pushed or shoved or shunted aside, postponed, put off,
suspended, US tabled; temporarily inactive, dormant; latent;
Colloq in a holding pattern, on the back burner; Slang on hold,
in the deep-freeze, on the shelf, on ice, hanging fire: Legal
proceedings were held in abeyance so that talks could take place

to reach an out-of-court settlement.
abhor

v. hate, loathe, detest, abominate, execrate; regard or view
with horror or dread or fright or repugnance or loathing or
disgust, shudder at, recoil or shrink from; be or stand aghast
at: He said that he abhorred any violation of human rights.

abhorrent adj. hateful, detestable, abhorred, abominable, contemptible,
odious, loathsome, horrid, heinous, execrable, repugnant;
repulsive, repellent, revolting, offensive, disgusting,
horrifying, obnoxious: The idea of war was totally abhorrent to
her.
abide

v. 1 stand, endure, suffer, submit to, bear, put up with,
accept, tolerate, brook: How can you abide the company of such
a fool? 2 live, stay, reside, dwell, sojourn: Local people
believe that the rain god abides in these mountains. 3 remain,
stay, continue, tarry; linger, rest: He'll abide in my care
till he can walk again. 4 abide by. consent to, agree to,
comply with, observe, acknowledge, obey, follow, submit to,
conform to, keep to, remain true to, stand firm by, adhere to,
hold to: You must abide by the rules of the club if you become
a member.

abiding adj. lasting, permanent, constant, steadfast, everlasting,
unending, eternal, enduring, indestructible; unchanging, fast,
hard and fast, fixed, firm, immutable, changeless: Her abiding
love is a solace to him.
ability n. 1 adeptness, aptitude, facility, faculty, capacity, power,
knack, proficiency, Colloq know-how: I have perceived your
ability to manipulate situations to your own advantage. 2
talent, skill, cleverness, capacity, wit, gift, genius,
capability: He has such extraordinary ability it is difficult
to see why he doesn't accomplish more. 3 abilities. faculty,
faculties, talent(s), gift(s), skill(s): Her abilities have
made her one of the finest cellists of our time.
ablaze adj. 1 aflame, afire, burning, on fire, alight, blazing: By
the time the firemen arrived, the roof was ablaze. 2 lit up,
alight, brilliantly or brightly-lit, sparkling, gleaming, aglow,
bright, brilliant, luminous, illuminated, radiant: The ballroom
was ablaze with the light from thousands of candles.

able

adj. 1 capable, qualified, competent, proficient: I feel quite
able to take care of myself, thank you. He is an able tennis
player. 2 talented, clever, skilled, masterful, masterly; adept,
skilful, gifted, superior, expert, accomplished: There is no
doubt that Wellington was a very able general.

abnormal adj. 1 deviant, deviating, irregular, unusual, unconventional,
aberrant, Psych jargon exceptional: The wing of a bat is an
abnormal structure. 2 peculiar, unusual, odd, strange, queer,
freakish, unnatural, extraordinary, weird, eccentric, bizarre,
anomalous, aberrant, perverse, deviant, irregular, Colloq
offbeat, Slang oddball, kinky, weirdo: They certainly make the
contestants on that TV show do some very abnormal things.
abnormality
n. 1 irregularity, unconformity, unusualness, singularity,
eccentricity, unconventionality, uncommonness, deviation,
aberration, idiosyncrasy: The desire in a man to wear women's
clothing is viewed as an abnormality. 2 distortion, anomaly,
malformation, deformity: The child was born with an abnormality
of the right foot.
abode

n. residence, dwelling, dwelling-place, house, home, domicile,
habitation, quarters, lodging, accommodation Military billet;
Colloq Brit digs, diggings: He was described as being of no
fixed abode.

abolish v. eliminate, end, put an end to, terminate, destroy,
annihilate, annul, void, make void, demolish, do away with,
nullify, repeal, cancel, obliterate, liquidate, destroy, stamp
out, quash, extinguish, erase, delete, expunge; eradicate,
extirpate, deracinate, uproot: The best way to abolish folly is
to spread wisdom. Prohibition in the US was abolished in 1933.
abolition n. elimination, end, termination, annulment, nullification,
repudiation, cancellation; destruction, annihilation: 1837
marks the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.
abominable
adj. 1 offensive, repugnant, repulsive, vile, monstrous,
loathsome, odious, execrable, detestable, despicable, base,
disgusting, nauseous, nauseating, foul, abhorrent, horrid,

deplorable: He was accused of crimes too abominable to detail
in open court. 2 terrible, unpleasant, disagreeable; awful,
distasteful, in bad taste, horrible, frightful , Colloq Brit
beastly: No one wants to go out in this abominable weather. The
d‚cor in this hotel is simply abominable.
aboriginal
n. native, indigene, autochthon; Colloq Australian Abo,
Offensive Australian aborigine , Slang Australian contemptuous
boong: Many aboriginals are not assimilated to modern life.
abound v. 1 prevail, thrive, flourish: Disease abounds among the
undernourished peoples of Africa. 2 abound in. be crowded or
packed or jammed with, be abundant or rich in, proliferate (in
or with): The ship abounds in conveniences. 3 abound with.
teem or swarm or throng with, be filled or infested with,
overflow with: The ship abounds with rats.
about

adv. 1 round, around, close by, nearby, on every side: Gather
about, for I have something to tell you. 2 approximately,
around, nearly, roughly, more or less, almost, close to or upon;
give or take: In 1685 London had been, for about half a
century, the most populous capital in Europe. Light travels at
about 186,000 miles a second. 3 to and fro, up and down, back
and forth, here and there, hither and yon, far and wide, hither
and thither: He wandered about aimlessly for several days. 4
here and there, far and wide, hither and yon, hither and
thither, helter-skelter: My papers were scattered about as if a
tornado had struck. 5 around, prevalent, in the air: There is
a lot of flu about this year. 6 approximately, nearly, close
to, not far from, almost, just about, around: It is about time
you telephoned your mother.
--prep. 7 around, surrounding, encircling: There is a railing
about the monument. 8 round, around, all round, everywhere, in
all directions, all over: Please look about the room for my
hat. 9 near, nearby, adjacent to, beside, alongside, close by,
nigh: There were a lot of trees about the garden. 10 with, at
hand, Colloq on: I am sorry, but I haven't my cheque-book about
me. 11 touching, concerning, connected with, involving, in or
with reference to, in or with regard to, regarding, in the
matter of, with respect to, respecting, relative to, relating
to, apropos, Formal anent: He wrote a book about the Spanish

Armada.
about-turn
n. reversal, reverse, turn-about, turn-round, U-turn,
volte-face, US about-face: There has been a complete about-turn
in the policy concerning immigration.
above

adv. 1 overhead, on high, aloft, in the sky or heavens: Far
above, the clouds scudded swiftly by. 2 upstairs: They lived
on the ground floor and the landlady lived above.
--prep. 3 on, on (the) top of, upon, over, atop: The plume of
smoke remained fixed above the volcano. He hasn't got a roof
above his head for the night. 4 over, more than, exceeding, in
excess of, beyond, greater than, surpassing: The operations are
controlled by gears, of which there are above fifty in number. 5
insusceptible to, unaffected by, out of reach of, not
susceptible or vulnerable or exposed to, superior to: The judge
is above bribery or other influence. 6 above all. before or
beyond everything, first of all, chiefly, primarily, in the
first place, mainly, essentially, at bottom: Above all, serve
God and country before you serve yourself.

above-board
adv. 1 openly, candidly, freely, publicly, frankly,
straightforwardly, plainly, for all to see, out in the open, in
the open: Donald has always dealt completely above-board with
everyone.
--adj. 2 open, candid, frank, straight, direct, honourable,
straightforward, forthright, guileless, undeceiving, artless,
ingenuous, undeceptive, undeceitful, straight from the shoulder;
honest, genuine: The company's dealings have always been
above-board.
abridge v. shorten, reduce, condense, cut, abbreviate, cut back, trim,
curtail, pare down, contract, compress, digest, summarize,
epitomize, abstract, US synopsize: We abridged the original
edition of 1000 pages to 480 pages.
abridgement
n. 1 shortening, reduction, abbreviation, condensation,
contraction, truncation, trimming: The abridgement took ten

years. 2 curtailment: We protested against the abridgement of
our right to picket. 3 digest, condensation, epitome,
compendium, concise edition or version, cut edition or version;
synopsis, abstract, summary, pr‚cis, outline, r‚sum‚: The
one-volume abridgement of the dictionary is easier to use.
abroad adv. 1 overseas, in foreign lands or parts: We were abroad on
assignment for a few years. 2 broadly, widely, at large, near
and far, far and wide, everywhere, extensively, publicly: Don't
spread rumours abroad. 3 outside, out of doors, away, out and
about: There are few people abroad this early in the morning.
abrupt adj. 1 sudden, hasty, quick, precipitate, snappy; unexpected,
unannounced, unplanned, unforeseen, unanticipated: The
general's abrupt departure has been linked with the
disappearance of a great deal of money. 2 precipitous, steep,
sheer, sudden: From the ridge there is an abrupt drop of 1000
metres into the valley. 3 curt, short, brusque, blunt, bluff,
gruff, uncivil, rude, discourteous, impolite, unceremonious,
snappish: My bank manager gave me an abrupt reply when I asked
for an increased overdraft.
absence n. 1 non-attendance, non-presence, non-appearance, truancy:
This is Jason's third absence from class in a week. She runs the
place in my absence. 2 lack, want, deficiency, non-existence;
insufficiency, scantiness, paucity, scarcity, dearth: In the
absence of new evidence, the matter must remain undecided.
absent adj. 1 away, out, off, elsewhere, not present, missing, gone:
Twenty people attended, but Harold was conspicuously absent. 2
missing, lacking, wanting, deficient: All warmth is absent from
her singing.
--v. 3 absent (oneself) from. keep or stay away from; withdraw
or retire from: He absented himself from the court during his
father's trial for murder. Absent thee from felicity awhile.
absent-minded
adj. preoccupied, inattentive, unattentive, absorbed,
unmindful, absent, off, withdrawn, unheeding, heedless,
unheedful, inadvertent; distracted, abstracted, day-dreaming, in
a brown study, in the clouds, unaware, oblivious, in a trance,
distrait(e), mooning, (far) away (somewhere), star-gazing,

wool-gathering: The absent-minded professor delivered his
lecture to an empty lecture hall.
absolute adj. 1 perfect, complete, total, finished, thorough,
through-and-through, consummate, flawless, faultless,
unadulterated, pure, unmixed, unalloyed, undiluted; rank: Alan
behaved like an absolute gentleman. 2 complete, outright,
downright, genuine, real, pure, out-and-out, transparent,
unmitigated, categorical, unqualified, unconditional, utter,
veritable, unconditioned: Peace is an absolute requirement for
prosperity. 3 unrestricted, unrestrained, unconstrained,
unlimited, unmitigated, arbitrary, despotic, dictatorial,
totalitarian, supreme, almighty, arbitrary, autocratic,
tyrannical: The days of absolute monarchy are numbered. 4
positive, certain, sure, unambiguous, unquestionable,
authoritative, verifiable, uncompromised: Few intelligent
people would claim absolute knowledge of anything.
absolutely
adv. 1 unqualifiedly, unconditionally, unreservedly,
unexceptionally, unequivocally, unquestionably, positively,
definitely, really, genuinely, decidedly, surely, truly,
certainly, categorically: She is absolutely the best dancer I
have ever seen. I absolutely refuse to go. 2 totally, utterly,
completely, entirely, fully, quite, altogether, wholly: It is
absolutely necessary that you undergo surgery.
--interj. 3 certainly, assuredly, positively, definitely, of
course, naturally, indubitably, yes, to be sure: 'Are you sure
you want to go?' 'Absolutely!'
absorbed adj. engrossed, lost, wrapped up, occupied, engaged, immersed,
buried, preoccupied, concentrating, rapt: He was absorbed in
his reading.
absorbing adj. engrossing, engaging, riveting, captivating, fascinating,
spellbinding, gripping: Maria was watching an absorbing
thriller on television.
abstract adj. 1 theoretical, unapplied, notional, ideational,
conceptual, metaphysical, unpractical, intellectual: It is
difficult to capture abstract ideas on paper. 2
non-representational, symbolic, non-realistic: Museums began

buying abstract art in the 1930s.
--n. 3 summary, epitome, synopsis, essence, digest,
condensation, survey, conspectus, extract; outline, pr‚cis,
r‚sum‚: By reading the abstracts, you can determine which
articles merit reading in full.
--v. 4 epitomize, abbreviate, digest, summarize, condense,
shorten, abridge, cut, cut down, US synopsize: The service
abstracts articles that appear in scientific journals.
absurd adj. 1 ridiculous, silly, nonsensical, senseless, outlandish,
preposterous, farcical, mad, stupid, foolish, idiotic, imbecilic
or imbecile, moronic, childish; laughable, ludicrous, risible,
inane, Colloq crazy, nutty, nuts , Chiefly Brit daft: The
notion that the moon is made of green cheese is absurd. 2
asinine, senseless, illogical, irrational, unreasoned,
unreasonable, incongruous, paradoxical, unsound, meaningless:
Today, most people view it absurd to believe that the earth is
flat.
absurdity n. 1 folly, silliness, ridiculousness, foolishness,
ludicrousness, nonsense, senselessness, meaninglessness,
illogicality, irrationality, unreasonableness, incongruity,
stupidity, Colloq craziness, nuttiness , Chiefly Brit daftness:
Many comics rely on absurdity rather than cleverness for humour.
2 paradox, self-contradiction, error, fallacy: No one can abide
the man's pretentiousness and other absurdities.
abundance n. overflow, superfluity, over-abundance, superabundance,
excess, surplus, oversupply, glut, satiety, over-sufficiency;
plenty, plenteousness, plentifulness, plenitude, copiousness,
profusion, Formal nimiety: The days when there was an abundance
of fresh drinking-water have come to an end.
abundant adj. 1 plentiful, overflowing, ample, copious, over-sufficient,
superabundant, plenteous, profuse, inexhaustible, replete,
bountiful, bounteous: The abundant rainfall fills the
reservoirs every day. 2 abounding (in), full (of), rich (in),
luxuriant, lavish: We know a stream that is abundant in trout.
The abundant vegetation of the rain forest is an ecological
wonder.

abuse

v. 1 misuse, misemploy, pervert, misapply, exploit: The
officer abused his authority in ordering the forced march at
midnight. 2 maltreat, ill-use, injure, wrong, hurt, mistreat,
manhandle, ill-treat; damage: I cannot stand by and watch that
drunk abuse his wife and family. 3 malign, revile, censure,
upbraid, assail, objurgate, lambaste, berate, rebuke, scold,
reproach, disparage, traduce, defame, insult, swear at, curse
(at), calumniate, slander, libel, decry, deprecate, vilify, rail
against: In the report the director was abused in the most
virulent terms.
--n. 4 misuse, misusage, misemployment, perversion,
misapplication, misappropriation, Rhetoric catachresis: Beware
of imitating his abuse of the language. 5 addiction,
dependence: They are being treated for drug abuse at the local
clinic. 6 maltreatment, ill-treatment, ill use, fault: It
seemed perfectly natural that he should defend abuses by which
he profited. 7 self-abuse, self-pollution, masturbation,
violation, defilement; corruption: The schoolmasters
consistently lectured the boys against any abuse of themselves.
8 revilement, reviling, execration, vituperation, malediction,
imprecation, tongue-lashing, calumny, calumniation,
vilification, obloquy, scurrility, invective, maligning,
upbraiding, berating, objurgation, scolding; billingsgate: The
two parties, after exchanging a good deal of abuse, came to
blows.

abused adj. 1 misused: Permission to use the office copying machine
has become an abused privilege. 2 maltreated, ill-treated,
mistreated, hurt: It was explained that he had been an abused
child.
abusive adj. 1 insulting, scurrilous, vituperative, calumnious,
offensive, slanderous, libellous, defamatory, censorious,
opprobrious, disparaging, deprecatory, depreciatory, derogatory,
derisory, derisive, reviling, vilifying, vituperative,
reproachful; profane; rude, filthy, dirty, foul, vulgar,
obscene, smutty, vile, thersitical: The Crown refuses to
tolerate abusive satire directed at the king. If I hear another
word of abusive language out of you, I'll wash out your mouth
with soap! 2 perverted, misapplied, improper, wrong, incorrect;
exploitive, exploitative, exploitatory; brutal, cruel,
injurious, hurtful, harmful, destructive: Despite the abusive

treatment of wives, married women commanded much respect. 3
corrupt, venal, dishonest, crooked: The politicians exercised
abusive power over the townspeople.
abysmal adj. 1 awful, appalling, dreadful, terrible, profound: The
government of Nero presented a spectacle of abysmal degradation.
2 abyssal, bottomless, profound, unfathomable, unfathomed: The
abysmal depths have been plumbed in the diving bell.
abyss

n. deep, abysm, bottomless gulf, yawning chasm, gaping void,
unfathomable cavity, impenetrable depth(s): The path led
straight down into the abyss. In the scandal the MP was plunged
into the abyss of disgrace.

1.2 academic...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

academic adj. 1 scholastic, collegiate; scholarly, learned, lettered,
erudite: Green's academic background qualifies him for the
professorship. The university began publishing academic
journals in the 19th century. 2 theoretical, hypothetical,
conjectural, speculative, abstract; ivory-tower, visionary,
idealistic; impractical, unrealistic, unpractical: The car
doesn't run, so the question of miles per gallon is purely
academic.
accent n. 1 emphasis, stress, force, prominence, accentuation;
intensity, inflection; cadence, beat: The accent is on the
second syllable in 'reward'. 2 diacritic, diacritical mark,
mark, accent mark: There is an acute accent on the 'e' in
'clich‚'. 3 pronunciation, articulation, intonation, speech
pattern, inflection: Even after forty years in the country, he
still speaks English with an Italian accent.
--v. 4 accentuate, emphasize, stress, give prominence to, mark,
underline, underscore, distinguish, highlight, set off or apart:
In her speech, the psychologist accented the 'id' in 'idiot'.
Why must he always accent the negative aspect of everything?
accept v. 1 receive, take, allow, permit: Sorry, but we cannot accept
any more applications. 2 accede (to), agree (to), assent (to),
consent (to), acknowledge, admit, allow, recognize: We accept

your request for a hearing. 3 assume, undertake, take on or up,
agree to bear: I'll accept the responsibility for replying. 4
reconcile oneself to, suffer, undergo, experience, stand,
withstand, stomach, endure, bear, resign oneself to, brook,
allow, tolerate, take: I think I have accepted enough criticism
for one day.
acceptable
adj. 1 satisfactory, adequate, tolerable, all right,
sufficient, admissible, passable, Colloq OK, okay: The bread
and meat were acceptable, but the beer was awful. 2 agreeable,
pleasing, welcome, satisfying, delightful, pleasant, pleasing:
Most people find her compliments quite acceptable.
accessible
adj. approachable, open, available, attainable, obtainable,
reachable, ready, at hand, Colloq get-at-able: The president is
always accessible to those seeking help. The mechanism is
accessible if the cover is removed.
accessory n. 1 extra, addition, adjunct, attachment, component, frill,
Slang bells and whistles, doodah, US and Canadian doodad: My
food processor has more accessories than I could ever need. 2
accessary, accomplice, helper, assistant, confederate,
colleague, abettor, aide, collaborator, co-conspirator,
conspirator, fellow-criminal, associate or partner in crime:
Although he did not rob the bank, he drove the getaway car,
which legally makes him an accessory before the fact. A seller
of stolen goods is an accessory after the fact.
--adj. 3 extra, subordinate, auxiliary, additional, ancillary,
supplemental, supplementary, secondary, adventitious, Formal
adscititious: For no apparent reason, the salamander grew an
accessory limb near its hind leg.
accident n. 1 mishap, misfortune, mischance, misadventure, blunder,
mistake; casualty, disaster, catastrophe, calamity: A high
percentage of the road accidents were caused by drunken drivers.
2 chance, fortune, luck, fortuity, fluke; serendipity: I came
across the gold ring by accident, when cleaning out a disused
cupboard. 3 non-essential, accessory or accessary, extra,
addition: Melancholy is an almost inseparable accident of old
age.

accidental
adj. chance, fortuitous, lucky, unlucky, serendipitous;
undesigned, unpremeditated, uncalculated, unintended,
unintentional, unwitting, inadvertent; unexpected, unplanned,
unforeseen, unanticipated, adventitious; casual, random: Our
meeting was entirely accidental.
accommodate
v. 1 fit, suit, adapt, adjust, modify; customize: I shall do
my best to accommodate the equipment to your needs. 2
harmonize, make consistent, reconcile, adapt: It is uncertain
whether his version of the incident can be accommodated to ours.
3 equip, supply, provide, furnish: Can you accommodate me with
five pounds till tomorrow? 4 put up, house, lodge, shelter,
quarter, Military billet: The innkeeper is unable to
accommodate us tonight. 5 suit, oblige, convenience, serve: I
was willing to accommodate you by selling your old car.
accommodating
adj. 1 obliging, cooperative, helpful, hospitable; considerate,
conciliatory, easy to deal with, pliant, yielding, compliant,
polite, friendly, complaisant, kind, kindly: The lady at the
complaints desk in the store was most accommodating. 2 pliable,
accessible, corruptible, subornable, get-at-able; bribable: If
you want to get off scot-free, we'll have to find an
accommodating judge.
accommodation
n. 1 adaptation, adjustment, modification, change, alteration,
conformation, conformity: Her skilful accommodation to her
boss's demands kept the peace in the office. 2 settlement,
treaty, compromise: Negotiations were now opened for an
accommodation between the belligerents. 3 convenience, favour:
Would you take the mail to the post office as an accommodation
to me? 4 lodging(s), room(s), quarters, shelter, housing;
facility, premises, Brit digs, US accommodations: We were able
to arrange for accommodation at the hotel. Have you seen our new
office accommodation? 5 loan, (financial) assistance or aid;
grant, grant-in-aid: The man was able to obtain an
accommodation from his brother-in-law.
accompany v. 1 convoy, escort, chaperon or chaperone, go along with;

attend; usher, squire: Allow me to accompany you to your taxi.
2 go (along) with, come with, be associated with, belong with,
go together with, be linked with: The roast was accompanied by
a bottle of claret.
accomplice
n. accessory or accessary, partner in crime, confederate, ally,
associate, colleague, fellow, henchman, collaborator,
conspirator, co-conspirator, abettor, assistant,
fellow-criminal, Colloq US cohort: The police arrested the
safe-cracker and three accomplices within hours of the robbery.
accomplish
v. fulfil, perform, achieve, carry out, execute, carry off, do,
complete, carry through, finish, effect, bring to an end,
conclude, wind up, end; attain, reach, gain; Colloq bring off,
knock off, polish off, Slang pull off, US swing, hack, cut: I
don't know how she accomplished it, but she sailed around the
world single-handed. Has he accomplished his goal yet?
accomplished
adj. consummate, perfect, expert, adept, skilful, proficient,
practised, gifted, talented, skilled, professional: Did you
know that she is also an accomplished flautist?
accomplishment
n. 1 fulfilment, consummation, completion, realization,
attainment, achievement, conclusion, culmination, realization:
After the accomplishment of the task they were all taken out to
celebrate. 2 coup, feat, exploit, triumph, tour de force: Among
her many accomplishments was climbing Mount Everest. 3 skill,
skilfulness, talent, gift, ability: Playing the violin is
another of his accomplishments.
accord v. 1 agree, harmonize, concur, be at one, correspond, agree, be
in harmony, be consistent, go (together), coincide, conform:
His principles and practices do not accord with one another.
--n. 2 agreement, unanimity, concord, reconciliation, harmony,
mutual understanding, conformity, accordance, rapport, concert:
The countries are in accord on a beneficial trade balance. 3
agreement, treaty, pact, contract: The accords will be signed
at the summit meeting in May. 4 agreement, harmony, congruence;

correspondence: The colours of the curtains are in perfect
accord with those of the carpet.
accordingly
adv. 1 hence, therefore, consequently, thus, in consequence
(where)of, (and) so: Smoking was forbidden; accordingly, we put
out our cigars. 2 suitably, in conformity, in compliance;
conformably, appropriately, compliantly: Dinner-jackets were
required, and the men dressed accordingly.
according to
adv.phr. 1 on the authority of, consistent with, in conformity
or agreement with, as said or believed or maintained etc. by:
We are going to play this game according to Hoyle. According to
his lawyer, he should never have been acquitted. 2 conformable
to, consistent with, in conformity with, commensurate with: The
queen greeted them in order, according to rank.
account v. 1 account for. explain, give a reason for, give or render a
reckoning for, answer for, justify, reckon for: The treasurer
has been able to account for every penny of expense. His desire
to conceal his background accounts for his secrecy.
--n. 2 calculation, accounting, reckoning, computation,
(financial) statement; enumeration: The accounts show that the
company has ample funds in reserve. Williams hasn't submitted
his expense account for the trip. 3 interest, profit, advantage,
benefit, favour; sake: Nigel turned his convalescence to good
account by writing a best seller. Don't read the book on my
account. 4 explanation, statement, description, report, recital,
narrative, history, chronicle: The defendant gave a credible
account of his whereabouts at the time of the crime. 5
consideration, use, worth, importance, consequence, note, value,
merit; standing, significance, estimation, esteem: The
committee decided that length of service is of some account in
determining retirement pensions. 6 story, narration, narrative,
report, tale, relation, description: Alice's account of the
rabbit wearing a waistcoat is unbelievable. 7 take into account
or take account of. notice, take note of, consider, take into
consideration, allow for: In passing sentence, the judge took
into account the child's poverty and the fact that it was
Christmas time.

accountability
n. answerability, responsibility, liability, culpability,
accountableness: In a democracy, there can be no reducing the
accountability of the government to the citizens.
accountable
adj. answerable, responsible, liable, obliged, obligated: I am
accountable to no man, but the greatest man in England is
accountable to me.
accumulate
v. collect, gather, amass, mass, pile or heap up, aggregate,
cumulate; assemble, store, stock, hoard, stockpile, put or lay
away: Overnight, the snow accumulated in six-foot drifts about
the house. Ill fares the land, to hast'ning ills a prey,/Where
wealth accumulates, and men decay.
accumulation
n. 1 collecting, amassing, gathering, piling or aggregation,
heaping up: One effect of the strike was the accumulation of
rubbish in the streets. 2 growth, increase, build-up: The
accumulation of wealth has never proved a valid purpose in life.
3 heap, pile, mass, collection, hoard, store, stockpile, stock,
aggregation; assemblage: Our gardener made sure that there was
an ample accumulation of compost.
accuracy n. exactness, correctness, Loosely precision, preciseness: The
translation from the Greek has been accomplished with great
accuracy. Rifling the inside of the barrel of a firearm
increases its accuracy.
accurate adj. 1 exact, correct, error-free, precise: She gave an
accurate description of the events. There is a nice distinction
between 'accurate' and 'precise'. 2 careful, meticulous, nice,
with an eye to or for detail, scrupulous, conscientious: Marvin
is a very accurate typist. 3 unerring, on target, Colloq on the
mark, spot on (target): This rifle is accurate if you allow for
the wind.
accusation
n. charge, allegation, indictment, charge, citation,
arraignment, complaint; imputation, incrimination, denunciation,
impeachment: The politician denied the accusation of having

accepted a bribe.
accuse v. 1 accuse (of or with). blame, censure, hold responsible
(for), charge (with), denounce (for), point the finger (at),
cite, call to account: She accused the Knave of Hearts of
lying. 2 accuse (of or with). charge, indict, impeach, arraign,
incriminate; attribute, impute: The prisoner is accused of
assault, criminal damage, and disorderly conduct.
accustom v. familiarize, acquaint, habituate, train, season; acclimatize
or acclimate: Start off by wearing your contact lenses for an
hour at a time in order to accustom your eyes to them. She soon
accustomed herself to the new surroundings.
accustomed
adj. 1 customary, habitual, usual, traditional, normal,
regular, set, routine, ordinary, familiar, wonted, common,
habituated: The old man took his accustomed place near the
fire. 2 used: I've grown accustomed to her face.
ache

v. 1 pain, hurt, smart, throb, pound; sting: My jaw has been
aching since that tooth was extracted. 2 yearn, long, hunger,
hanker, pine; crave: A hostage for a year, he was aching to see
his wife and children.
--n. 3 pain, pang, throbbing, pounding, smarting, soreness: I
have had this ache in my back, Doctor, and I can't stand up
straight. 4 pang, pain; distress; longing: There's been an ache
in my heart, my darling, ever since you went away.

achieve v. 1 accomplish, carry out, execute, succeed in, complete,
fulfil, bring off or about; realize, effect: When the fund
reaches its goal, we shall have achieved our purpose. 2
accomplish, attain, reach, gain, get, acquire, win, obtain: She
achieved her ends by cheating and conniving.
achievement
n. 1 attainment, accomplishment, acquisition, acquirement: As
he was still in his thirties, the achievement of great fame
still lay ahead for him. 2 accomplishment, attainment, feat,
deed, exploit, victory: The winning of the Nobel prize was her
greatest achievement. 3 fulfilment, realization,
accomplishment, attainment, completion: What virtue lies more

in achievement than in the desire for it?
acknowledge
v. 1 admit, confess, allow, concede, own, recognize, accept,
accede, acquiesce; own up to: We acknowledge that we might have
been mistaken. She finally acknowledged my presence by looking
up. 2 answer, reply to, respond to, react to: She couldn't
possibly acknowledge personally every letter she receives.
acknowledgement
n. 1 acknowledging, confessing, admitting, owning, admission,
confession, avowal, affirmation: His acknowledgement of his
involvement in the crime saved the police a great deal of time.
2 approval, acceptance, recognition, allowance: By
acknowledgement of the parliament, the king was the commander of
the army and navy. 3 reply, response, answer, recognition: Our
acknowledgement will be in tomorrow's post.
acme

n. peak, apex, top, summit, pinnacle, zenith; climax,
culmination: Roger has reached the acme of perfection as a
diamond-cutter.

acquaint n. acquaint with. familiarize with, inform of or about, make
aware of, apprise of, advise of: The management requires
employees to acquaint themselves with the safety rules.
acquaintance
n. 1 familiarity, knowledge, acquaintanceship, understanding,
awareness; experience: His acquaintance with the works of
Coleridge is sparse at best. 2 associate, fellow, colleague:
She's not a friend of mine, only an acquaintance.
acquainted
adj. 1 known to each other or one another, familiar with each
other or one another, on speaking terms: I have known Rory for
years, but his wife and I are not acquainted. 2 acquainted
with. familiar with, known to, aware of, informed of,
knowledgeable of, conversant with: I have studied trigonometry,
but I am not acquainted with calculus.
acquire v. get, obtain, gain, win, earn, procure, secure, come by or
into; receive, come into possession of; buy, purchase: He
acquired great wealth by marrying rich old dying widows.

acquisition
n. 1 obtaining, getting, acquiring, acquirement, gain,
procurement: The acquisition of property entails many
obligations. 2 possession(s), property, purchase; object: This
first edition is a recent acquisition.
act

n. 1 deed, action, undertaking, operation, step, move; feat,
exploit; accomplishment, achievement: The first act of the new
commission was to ban smoking in public places. 2 performance,
show, bit, skit, stand, routine, turn, sketch, Colloq thing,
Slang US shtick: Stand-up comedians do their acts in
nightclubs. 3 performance, pretence, posture, stance, feigning,
front, fake, dissimulation, show, deception, hoax, affectation:
She didn't mean what she said - it was just an act. 4 bill,
law, decree, edict, statute, order, ordinance, command, mandate,
resolution, measure, enactment: Are the opening hours of public
houses in England regulated by act of Parliament?
--v. 5 behave (oneself), carry on, deport oneself, comport
oneself, conduct oneself: I don't know how she'll act when
we're in public. 6 perform, play, do: She is acting in the
West End. 7 portray, represent, impersonate, act out,
personify, take or play the part or role of, personate:
Reginald acts the fool whenever he has had too much to drink. 8
feign, pretend, counterfeit, fake, dissemble, make believe,
sham, simulate, dissimulate, posture: You may think him
sincere, but I know he is just acting. 9 take effect, work,
operate, function, perform: This drug will act only if taken
with meals.

action

n. 1 activity, performance, movement, motion, energy,
liveliness, vim, vigour, spirit, vitality; enterprise,
initiative: Being a man of action, he hates just sitting and
reading. 2 influence, effect, power, force, strength: The
action of the moon's gravitational pull causes tides on earth.
3 deed, act, undertaking, exertion, exercise: The very action
of breathing caused me pain. 4 remedy, proceeding, process: If
they don't stop beating their dog we shall take action against
them. 5 fighting, combat: We saw action in the Far East. 6
fight, battle, engagement, encounter, clash, fray, sortie,
skirmish, affray: How many men were lost in last night's
action? 7 effect, effectiveness, activity, function,

performance, functioning, reaction: What is the action of
steroids on the lymph system? 8 actions. behaviour, conduct,
deportment, demeanour, ways, manner, manners: She must be held
responsible for her actions.
activate v. move, actuate, set in motion, get started, energize, get or
set going, start, initiate, switch or turn on, trigger;
motivate, rouse, arouse, prompt, stimulate, stir, mobilize,
animate, impel, galvanize, Colloq US light a fire under: The
sensor in the pavement activates the traffic signal. Her
enthusiasm activated him to go into business for himself.
active

adj. 1 strenuous, vigorous, full, dynamic, physical; energetic,
lively, busy, brisk, bustling, occupied, on the move, Colloq on
the go, running: She is healthier for having led a very active
life. He always seems to be active. 2 acting, effective,
efficacious, effectual, working, functioning, operative, potent,
influential; powerful: The active ingredient in her medicine is
an antihistamine. 3 energetic, lively, hyperactive, animated,
spry, nimble, quick, agile, sprightly: There is no keeping up
with an active child.

activity n. 1 action, movement, motion, vigour, vim, energy, liveliness,
bustle: Last week there wasn't much activity in the stock
market. 2 pursuit, occupation, vocation, work, function,
operation, job, labour, endeavour, enterprise, project,
undertaking, venture, interest: What sort of business activity
are you engaged in?
actual

adj. 1 existing, existent, real, genuine, factual, true,
authentic, verified, verifiable, true to life, manifest,
realized, realistic, Colloq solid: The actual cost of the
project turned out to be double the estimate. 2 present,
current, existent, real, genuine, physical, tangible: No
telescope has detected any actual volcanic eruption on the moon.

actually adv. really, in reality, in fact, in actuality, in point of
fact, in truth, absolutely, as a matter of fact, indeed, truly,
literally: The interest rates actually charged by banks may
vary from those quoted publicly.
acute

adj. 1 sharp, pointed, narrow: The two roads meet at an acute
angle. 2 severe, intense, critical, crucial, dangerous, grave,

serious, severe: This is the ward for patients with acute
illnesses. 3 sharp, cutting, intense, severe, violent,
penetrating, exquisite, excruciating, fierce, shooting,
stabbing, piercing, sudden: The onset of the disease is marked
by acute pains in the abdomen. 4 keen, sharp, sensitive: The
bloodhound is known for its acute sense of smell. 5 keen,
sharp-witted, shrewd, clever, ingenious, astute, sharp, canny,
incisive, discerning, perceptive, perspicacious, intelligent,
penetrating, insightful, percipient, wise, sensitive,
discriminating; alert, aware, on the qui vive: Such a
circumstance could not be lost upon so acute an observer.
1.3 adapt...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

adapt

v. 1 suit, fit, make suitable, qualify: The structure of the
outer ear is adapted to collect and concentrate the vibrations.
2 alter, modify, change, remodel, tailor, reshape, shape,
fashion; adjust, accommodate, accustom, acclimatize or
acclimate, habituate: He adapted the play from an old French
comedy. The whale adapts itself to great changes in pressure
when it dives thousands of feet.

adaptable adj. flexible, pliable, pliant, compliant, accommodative,
tractable, malleable, ductile, versatile; alterable, changeable:
Men, in general, are not as adaptable as women.
adaptation
n. 1 fitting, suiting, modifying, adjusting, conversion: In
1831 electricity was ripe for adaptation to practical purposes.
2 modification, change, adjustment, accommodation, reworking,
customization, alteration: She was responsible for the
adaptation of her short story to a television play.
add

v. 1 join, unite, combine, annex: 5 + 3 denotes that 3 is to
be added to 5. 2 total, sum, sum up, combine, count up, reckon,
Brit tot (up), US tote (up): The computer can add all those
figures in a few seconds. 3 continue, go on: 'And I won't take
no for an answer', she added. 4 add to. increase, enlarge,
amplify, augment, supplement: His articles have added greatly
to his reputation as a financial analyst.

addict

n. 1 (habitual) user, Slang junkie, dope-fiend, doper, head,
pot-head, acid-head, pill popper, tripper, Chiefly US hophead:
His contributions helped set up the halfway houses for addicts.
2 devotee, aficionado, fan, admirer, follower, adherent,
supporter, enthusiast, Colloq buff, hound, fiend, groupie, Slang
freak, bug, nut, teeny-bopper: She became a rock 'n' roll
addict in the '60s.

addition n. 1 adding, joining, putting together, uniting, combining:
The addition of this paragraph is uncalled for. 2 totalling,
adding up, summing-up, summation, counting up, reckoning,
totting up: You have made an error in addition. 3 addendum,
appendix, appendage, supplement, increment, augmentation,
extension: This addition contributes nothing to the manuscript.
4 extension, ell, Brit annexe, US annex, wing: We used our
lottery winnings to pay for an addition to the house.
--prep. 5 in addition to. as well as, besides, beyond, over and
above: In addition to books, the shop sold greetings cards.
---adv.phr. 6 in addition. moreover, furthermore, additionally,
besides, withal, to boot, in or into the bargain, too, also, as
well: We were compelled to exercise every morning and in
addition we went for a ten-mile run each Saturday.
address n. 1 speech, talk, discourse, oration, lecture; sermon: The
Prime Minister's address to the nation was broadcast last night.
2 location, whereabouts: She couldn't write to me because she
didn't have my address.
--v. 3 speak or talk to; deliver or give a speech to; lecture:
After the coup, the general addressed the crowd in the square.
4 greet, hail, accost, approach: She was addressing strangers
in the street to ask their views on women's rights. 5 address
oneself to. devote or direct or apply oneself to: After the
holidays, I again addressed myself to studying for examinations.
adept

adj. 1 versed, proficient, skilled, well-skilled, expert,
accomplished, skilful or US skillful, adroit, dexterous or
dextrous, able, masterful, masterly, polished: She is an adept
pianist, and her husband is adept at carpentry.
--n. 2 expert, master, specialist, authority , Colloq dab hand,

old hand: He is an adept at anything that one does with one's
hands.
adequate adj. 1 sufficient, enough, ample; satisfactory, fitting, equal,
suitable: Is there language adequate to describe my feelings?
2 passable, fair, fair to middling, middling, average,
tolerable, (barely) acceptable, (barely) satisfactory, all
right, competent, not (at all) bad, so so , Colloq OK or okay,
up to snuff, not that or too bad, no great shakes: The music
was good, the band only adequate. 3 equal, suitable, suited,
fitted, up, proper, qualified, competent, good enough: Johnson
was unsure that he was adequate to the task at hand.
adjoining adj. neighbouring, contiguous (to), adjacent (to), abutting,
bordering, next (to): We have bought the adjoining house. The
land adjoining the supermarket is for sale.
adjust

v. 1 set right, arrange, settle, harmonize, reconcile, resolve,
set or put to rights; arbitrate, mediate; redress, rectify,
correct, patch up: Four were named on each side to adjust their
differences. 2 change, alter, modify, regulate, set: After he
adjusted the pendulum, the clock kept good time. 3 adapt (to),
accommodate (oneself) (to), accustom (oneself) (to); get used
(to), acclimatize or acclimate (to), reconcile (oneself) (to):
If she travels a distance east or west, it takes her a few days
to adjust to the local time. Army life was very different, but I
was able to adjust quickly. 4 put in order, arrange, rearrange,
close or fasten or zip or button (up): She adjusted the
children's coats and did up their shoes.

adjustment
n. 1 adjusting, altering, alteration, setting, regulating,
regulation, setting or putting right or aright or to rights,
correcting, correction, calibrating, calibration; tuning: The
adjustment of the clocks is my responsibility. 2 arrangement,
balance, coordination, order, alignment, harmony, harmonization:
The inspector requires everything to be in perfect adjustment.
administer
v. 1 administrate, manage, control, run, direct, conduct,
superintend, supervise, oversee: The president said that she
had administered the department well during her year as its
head. 2 execute, carry on, carry out; apply, implement,

prosecute: It is the responsibility of the police to administer
the law, not to make it. 3 dispense, supply, furnish, give
(out), provide (with), mete out, distribute, deliver, deal, hand
out: Doctors sometimes administer drugs that have side effects.
administration
n. 1 management, direction, conduct, supervision, oversight,
superintendence, regulation, charge: Lord Hampden was given
administration of her affairs till she came of age. 2 authority,
management, US government: The current administration is in
favour of a better health programme. 3 dispensation,
administering, supplying, furnishing, provision, delivery,
distribution, application: The judge is charged with the
administration of justice.
admirable adj. wonderful, awe-inspiring, excellent, estimable, splendid,
marvellous, superior, first-rate, first-class, of the first
water, great, fine, Colloq top-drawer, ripsnorting, A-1, Brit
smashing, magic: His performance in Harper's new play is
admirable.
admiration
n. wonder, awe; delight, pleasure; esteem, regard,
appreciation, respect: She is lost in admiration of her
mother's latest painting. Randolph was presented with a gold
medal as a token of his colleagues' admiration.
admire v. 1 wonder or marvel (at), delight in: Typically, he most
admires people who are wealthy. 2 esteem, regard or respect
highly, look up to, revere, idolize, venerate, worship: The
queen is one of the most admired people in the country.
admirer n. 1 devotee, aficionado, fan, supporter, enthusiast, adherent,
follower Slang groupie: Rock stars always seem to be
accompanied by a retinue of admirers. 2 beau, suitor; lover,
sweetheart, darling: Scarlett was always surrounded by many
admirers.
admission n. 1 access, admittance, entr‚e, entry: The special card gives
me admission to the rare book room of the library. 2 reception,
acceptance, appointment, institution, induction, installation,
investiture: The committee has at last approved the admission
of women into the society. 3 acknowledging, acknowledgement or

acknowledgment, allowing, allowance, admitting, admittance,
conceding, concession: The court refuses to consider the
admission of testimony taken under duress. 4 acknowledgement,
confession, concession, profession, declaration, disclosure,
affirmation, concession, divulgence or divulgement, revelation:
The police were able to extract an admission of guilt from the
suspect. 5 ticket, (entry or entrance) fee, tariff: Admission
is free for senior citizens.
admit

v. 1 let in, allow to enter, take or allow in; accept, receive:
I opened the window to admit some air. The harbour is too small
to admit even one more ship. 2 allow, permit, grant, brook,
tolerate: The governor will admit no delay in the execution of
the sentence, and the prisoner will be hanged at dawn. 3 accept,
concede, acquiesce, allow, grant, accept, recognize, take
cognizance of: Descartes' principle admitted nothing but what
his own consciousness obliged him to admit. 4 confess, own,
concede, divulge, reveal, acknowledge, declare: She readily
admitted to having incited the riot.

admittance
n. leave or permission to enter, entry, entering, entrance,
access, entr‚e: Admittance to the club is restricted to
members.
adolescent
n. 1 teenager, youth, juvenile, minor, stripling, youngster, US
teen, Colloq kid; Slang teeny-bopper: A group of adolescents
volunteered to work at the home for the elderly.
--adj. 2 teenaged, young, youthful, maturing, pubescent;
immature, puerile, juvenile: Adolescent growth is often
dramatic, a gain of two inches in height being not unusual.
adopt

v. 1 take (in), accept, take or accept as one's own: Carol and
her husband have adopted two children. 2 take, take up or on or
over, embrace, espouse; arrogate, appropriate: All Hugh's ideas
are adopted from others - he's never had one of his own.

adorable adj. lovable, beloved, loved, darling, sweet, dear; delightful,
appealing, attractive, charming, captivating, fetching: To look
at him now, it is hard to imagine what an adorable child he once
was.

adore

v. 1 esteem, honour, respect, admire; idolize, dote on: An
entire generation adored the Beatles. 2 worship, venerate,
reverence, revere, exalt; hallow: O! Come let us adore him Christ, the Lord! 3 love, be in love with, cherish, fancy,
revere, adulate, Colloq have a crush on, carry the or a torch
for: Katie just adores the captain of the football team at
school.

adult

adj. 1 mature, grown (up), full-grown, matured, of age: Now
that you are adult, you come into a large inheritance.
--n. 2 grown-up: Tiger cubs are cute, but the adults are very
dangerous.

adulterate
v. falsify, corrupt, alloy, debase, water (down), weaken,
dilute, bastardize, contaminate, pollute, taint, Colloq doctor;
Slang US cut: Adulterated rape seed oil was found to have
caused the deaths of more than 600 people.
advance v. 1 move or put or push or go forward; approach: Man has
advanced the frontier of physical science. The battalion
advanced towards the fort with guns blazing. 2 further, promote,
forward, help, aid, abet, assist, benefit, improve; contribute
to: The terrorists' dynamiting of the school has done nothing
to advance their cause. 3 go or move forward, move (onward), go
on, proceed, get ahead: As people advance in life, they acquire
what is better than admiration - judgement. 4 hasten,
accelerate, speed: We have advanced the date of our departure
from December to October. 5 move up, promote: In less than a
year, Mrs Leland has been advanced from supervisor to manager of
the production department. 6 prepay, lend: Could you advance me
some money till pay-day?
--n. 7 progress, development, progress, forward movement;
improvement, betterment; headway: Who has done more for the
advance of knowledge? 8 rise, increase, appreciation: Any
advance in prices at this time would reduce our sales. 9
prepayment, deposit; loan: I cannot understand why George is
always asking for an advance on his allowance. 10 in advance. a
beforehand, ahead (of time), before: You will have to make
reservations well in advance. b before, in front (of), ahead

(of), beyond: The colonel rode in advance of the cavalry.
advantage n. 1 superiority, upper hand, dominance, edge, head start;
sway; Colloq US and New Zealand drop: After a year, the
advantage was with the Royalists. His height gives him an
advantage at basketball. 2 gain, profit, benefit, interest;
asset, betterment, improvement, advancement; use, usefulness,
utility, help, service: I have information that will be of
advantage to her. 3 to advantage. better, (more) favourably,
advantageously: The dress sets off her figure to advantage.
advantageous
adj. profitable, worthwhile, gainful, opportune, beneficial,
favourable, useful, valuable: The minister signed an
advantageous treaty of commerce with Russia.
adventure n. 1 exploit, escapade, danger, peril; affair, undertaking,
feat, deed; experience, incident, event, occurrence, happening,
episode: We shared many wartime adventures. 2 speculation,
hazard, chance, risk, venture, enterprise: I lost a fortune in
some of his financial adventures.
--v. 3 venture, hazard, risk, imperil, endanger, jeopardize,
threaten: Would you adventure your pension money in such a
scheme? 4 dare, wager, bet, gamble, stake, try one's luck, Brit
punt: She adventured a whole week's salary on the pools.
adventurer
n. 1 adventuress, soldier of fortune, swashbuckler, hero,
heroine, daredevil; mercenary: Errol Flynn often played the
role of the adventurer. 2 adventuress, cheat, swindler,
charlatan, trickster, rogue, scoundrel, knave; cad, bounder,
philanderer, fortune-hunter, opportunist: That adventuress is
just after Nelson's money.
adventurous
adj. daring, rash, brash, reckless, devil-may-care, bold,
foolhardy, hazardous, risky, daredevil, venturesome,
adventuresome, temerarious, audacious, bold, intrepid, brave,
courageous: She was adventurous enough to sail round the world
single-handed.
adversary n. 1 foe, enemy, opponent, antagonist, competitor, rival:

Before beginning to fight, each adversary sized up the other.
--adj. 2 opposed, hostile, antagonistic, competitive: Why does
she always take the adversary position in every argument?
advertisement
n. 1 notice, handbill, blurb, broadside, bill, circular,
brochure, poster, placard, classified, commercial, spot
(announcement), US car-card, Colloq ad, plug, Brit advert: The
company has placed advertisements in all major media. 2
advertising, promotion; publicity; propaganda, ballyhoo,
hoop-la, Colloq hype, beating the drum, US puffery:
Advertisement on TV may be very effective, but it is very
expensive.
advice n. 1 counsel, guidance, recommendation, suggestion, opinion,
view; warning, admonition, Technical par‘nesis: His solicitor's
advice is to say nothing. 2 information, news, intelligence,
notice, notification; communication: Advice has reached the
police that a shipment of arms will leave Dover tonight.
advisable adj. recommendable, expedient, prudent, practical, sensible,
sound, seemly, judicious, wise, intelligent, smart, proper,
politic: It would be advisable for you to keep out of sight for
a few days.
advise v. 1 counsel, guide, recommend, suggest, commend; caution,
admonish, warn; urge, encourage: I advised him to be careful
driving at night in that area. 2 tell, announce (to), inform,
apprise, register, make known (to), intimate (to), notify: We
advised her of our disapproval. The police have advised the
defendants of their rights.
adviser n. counsellor, mentor, guide, cicerone, counsel, consultant,
confidant(e): The chairman always consults his advisers before
making a decision.
advisory adj. 1 consultive, consultative, counselling, hortatory,
monitory, admonitory, Technical par‘netic(al): Our firm has
been engaged in an advisory capacity on the privatization of the
utility companies.
--n. 2 bulletin, notice, warning, admonition, prediction: The

Weather Office has issued a storm advisory for the weekend.
advocate v. 1 support, champion, back, endorse, uphold, recommend, stand
behind, second, favour, speak or plead or argue for or in favour
of: Don't you advocate the policies of the Party?
--n. 2 supporter, champion, backer, upholder, second, exponent,
proponent, patron, defender, apologist: She is an enthusiastic
advocate of free speech. 3 lawyer, counsel; intercessor; Brit
barrister, solicitor, US attorney, counselor-at-law: The
advocate for the opposition is not in court.
1.4 aesthete...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

aesthete n. connoisseur, art-lover, lover of beauty, aesthetician or
esthetician, US tastemaker: It was the aesthetes who set the
standard for the art purchased by the museum.
aesthetic adj. 1 artistic, tasteful, beautiful; in good, excellent, etc.
taste: Daphne always does such aesthetic flower arrangements.
2 sensitive, artistic, refined, discriminating, cultivated:
These paintings might be realistic, but they are an aesthetic
disaster.
1.5 affair...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

affair

n. 1 matter, topic, issue; business, concern, interest,
undertaking, activity: These are affairs of state and require
the approval of a minister. 2 concern, business, Slang US
beeswax: Who wiped the fingerprints off the weapon is none of
your affair. 3 event, business, occurrence, happening,
proceeding, incident, operation: Last night's farewell party
was truly a dull affair. 4 Also, affaire. love affair, amour,
romance, intrigue, fling, liaison, relationship, affaire
d'amour, affaire de coeur: Lady Constance is having an affair
with the gamekeeper.

affect° v. 1 attack, act upon, lay hold of, strike: Arthritis has
affected his hands and he can no longer play the piano. 2 move,

stir, impress, touch, strike; perturb, upset, trouble, agitate:
The sportsman was not affected by all the taunts and jeers. 3
influence, sway, change, transform, modify, alter: Her sudden
fame has affected her view of herself.
affectý v. 1 assume, adopt, put on, pretend (to), feign, sham, fake,
counterfeit: Charles affects a knowledge of high finance. 2
choose, select; use, wear, adopt: He affected a striped blazer
and a boater which he wore at a jaunty angle.
affectation
n. 1 affectedness, pretentiousness, artificiality, insincerity,
posturing: She behaves with so much affectation that I never
can be sure of her real feelings. 2 pretence, simulation, false
display, show, front, pose, pretension, fa‡ade; act, airs: Some
people's charitable concern for others is mere affectation.
Using a long cigarette-holder is one of her many affectations.
affected adj. 1 unnatural, artificial, specious, stilted, stiff,
studied, awkward, non-natural, contrived, mannered: Dryden
found Shakespeare's style stiff and affected. 2 pretended,
simulated, hollow, assumed, feigned, fake, faked, false,
counterfeit, insincere, spurious, sham, bogus, Colloq phoney or
US also phony: The heir's affected grief concealed his secret
exultation. 3 pretentious, pompous, high-sounding, mincing,
niminy-piminy, Colloq la-di-da orlah-di-dah or la-de-da:
Oliver's affected airs were enough to make his classmates detest
him. 4 attacked, seized, afflicted, stricken, gripped, touched;
diseased, laid hold of: Her affected lungs never quite
recovered. 5 afflicted, moved, touched, stirred, distressed,
troubled, upset, hurt; influenced, swayed, impressed, struck,
played or worked or acted upon: Many affected theatre-goers
enjoyed her performances.
affection n. goodwill, (high) regard, liking, fondness, attachment,
loving attachment, tenderness, warmth, love: The affection she
felt towards her stepchildren was returned many times over.
affectionate
adj. fond, loving, tender, caring, devoted, doting, warm: She
gave her mother an affectionate embrace and boarded the train.
affiliated

adj. associated; attached, connected, combined, united, joined:
For our members' convenience, the club is now affiliated with
one that serves meals.
affinity n. 1 relationship, kinship, closeness, alliance, connection or
Brit connexion; sympathy, rapport: He felt an affinity with
other redheaded people. 2 friendliness, fondness, liking,
leaning, bent, inclination, taste, partiality, attractiveness,
attraction: I have an affinity for the sea.
afflict v. affect, bother, distress, oppress, trouble, torment: Last
winter's intense cold afflicted everyone, but those in the north
especially.
affliction
n. 1 hardship, misery, misfortune, distress, ordeal, trial,
tribulation, adversity, suffering, woe, pain, grief, distress,
torment, wretchedness: Moses saw the affliction of his people
in Egypt. 2 curse, disease, calamity, catastrophe, disaster,
plague, scourge, tribulation, trouble: He often observed that
greed was the affliction of the middle class.
afford

v. 1 have the means, be able or rich enough, manage, bear the
expense, pay, provide: We cannot afford to send the children to
better schools. 2 give, spare, give up, contribute, donate;
sacrifice: The loss of a single day's work was more than I
could afford. 3 yield, give, supply, produce, provide, furnish,
grant, offer; give forth: May kind heaven afford him
everlasting rest. The poems afford no explanation.

afoul

adv. afoul of. entangled with, in trouble with, in conflict
with, at odds with: Barbara fell afoul of the new tax
regulations.

afraid

adj. 1 fearful, frightened, scared, intimidated, apprehensive,
lily-livered, white-livered, terrified, panic-stricken,
faint-hearted, weak-kneed, timid, timorous, nervous, anxious,
jittery, on edge, edgy, jumpy; cowardly, pusillanimous, craven,
Colloq yellow: Don't be afraid, the dog won't bite you. 2
sorry, unhappy, regretful, apologetic, rueful: I'm afraid I
cannot help you find a cheap flat in London.

1.6 age...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

age

n. 1 lifetime, duration, length of existence; life-span: The
age of a stag is judged chiefly by its antlers. She was sixteen
years of age. 2 maturity, discretion; majority, adulthood,
seniority: When he comes of age he will inherit millions. 3
period, stage, time: Among these people, both boys and girls
undergo rites of passage at the age of puberty. He is a man of
middle age. 4 long time, aeon or esp. US eon; years: I haven't
seen you for an age! The noise went on for ages. 5 era, epoch,
period, time: The 18th century was known as the Augustan Age in
England.
--v. 6 grow old(er), mature, ripen: O, Matilda, I age too fast
for my years! You must first age the whisky in the barrel, then
bottle it.

aged

adj. old, elderly, superannuated, ancient, age-old, grey,
venerable: The three aged women crouched in their chairs, each
with her own memories.

agency n. means, medium, instrumentality; intervention, intercession,
action, intermediation; operation, mechanism, force, power,
activity, working(s), energy: Pollen is carried from flower to
flower by the agency of certain insects.
agent

n. 1 representative, intermediary, go-between, proxy, emissary,
delegate, spokesman, spokeswoman, spokesperson, deputy,
substitute, surrogate, advocate, emissary, legate, envoy,
factor: Our agent in Tokyo will look after the matter for you.
2 factor, agency, cause, means, force, instrument, power,
vehicle, ingredient: The active agent in this cleaner is
ammonia.

aggravate v. 1 worsen, intensify, exacerbate, heighten, magnify,
increase; inflame: They introduce new problems and aggravate
the old ones. 2 exasperate, frustrate; anger, incense,
infuriate; provoke, irritate, nettle, rile, vex, annoy, harass,
hector, bother; embitter, rankle, Colloq peeve, needle, get on
one's nerves; Slang Brit give (someone) aggro: Threats only
serve to aggravate people.

aggression
n. 1 aggressiveness, hostility, belligerence, combativeness,
Slang Brit aggro: The mere crossing of the river is an act of
aggression. 2 attack, assault, onslaught, invasion,
encroachment: The conflict had become a war of aggression.
aggressive
adj. 1 combative, warlike, martial, belligerent, bellicose,
pugnacious, quarrelsome, disputatious, litigious; hostile,
unfriendly: The Germanic tribes were known to the Romans as
aggressive and hardened warriors. 2 forward, assertive,
forceful, bold, Colloq pushy: Dennis's aggressive nature may
yet make him a good salesman.
aggressor n. assailant, attacker, instigator, initiator, provoker;
belligerent: You will find that the Nazis were the aggressors
in Poland in 1939.
agile

adj. 1 nimble, quick, brisk, swift, active, lively, lithe,
limber, spry, sprightly: Sofia is an agile dancer. 2 keen,
sharp, alert, dexterous or dextrous, resourceful, acute: With
his agile mind Richard was able to solve the problems in no time
at all.

agitate v. 1 excite, arouse, rouse, move, perturb, stir up, disquiet,
fluster, ruffle, rattle, disconcert, discomfit, unsettle, upset,
rock, unnerve, shake (up), Colloq discombobulate: Rachel was
agitated to learn of the bank's threat to foreclose on the
mortgage. 2 push, press, campaign; promote: The miners have
been agitating for better safety measures. 3 stir (up), churn,
disturb, shake, roil: The calm lake was agitated by the motor
boats.
agitated adj. moved, stirred (up), shaken (up), rattled, disturbed,
upset, nervous, perturbed, jittery, jumpy, uneasy, ill at ease,
fidgety, disquieted, discomfited, ruffled, flustered, unsettled,
unnerved, wrought up, discomposed, disconcerted, aroused,
roused, excited, Colloq discombobulated: The sheriff was in a
very agitated state about the mob forming outside the jail.
agitation n. 1 shaking, disturbance, churning, stirring, turbulence: The
agitation made the solution become cloudy. 2 excitement,
arousal, rabble-rousing, provocation, stirring up, incitement,

ferment, stimulation, over-stimulation, commotion: The
organized agitation of the crowds continued for weeks after the
coup.
agitator n. activist, rabble-rouser, incendiary, agent provocateur,
insurrectionist, troublemaker, demagogue, firebrand: The
opposition party hires professional agitators to incite the
people to riot.
agog

adj. eager, avid, keen, enthusiastic, expectant, impatient,
breathless: The children were all agog waiting for Santa Claus
to come.

agonizing adj. painful, distressful, distressing, harrowing, torturous,
racking, excruciating, tortured, tormented: We went through an
agonizing reappraisal of our policy on immigration.
agony

n. anguish, trouble, distress, suffering, misery, wretchedness,
pain, pangs, woe, torment, throes, torture, affliction: For two
days his parents experienced the agony of not knowing whether he
was dead or alive.

agree

v. 1 concur, conform, come or go together, coincide,
correspond, harmonize, reconcile; accord, tally, Colloq jibe:
At last my cheque-book agrees with my bank statement! 2 Often,
agree to. consent to, favour, acquiesce in or to, approve of,
accede to, assent to: They finally agreed to our offer. We
agreed terms with respect to the contract. 3 concede, grant,
consent, admit, approve, allow, accept, concur; accede (to),
acquiesce (in or to), assent (to), see eye to eye: The
committee agreed that she should be given time to comply with
the request. I objected and they agreed with me. 4 agree with.
suit: The climate in England agrees with me, strange to say.

agreeable adj. 1 pleasing, pleasant, enjoyable, pleasurable, favourable,
delightful, satisfying, satisfactory, good, nice, acceptable; to
one's liking or taste: He found the Caribbean an agreeable
place for a holiday. 2 in favour, approving, willing,
consenting, acquiescent, complying, compliant, in agreement or
accord, concurring, amenable, sympathetic, well-disposed;
accommodating, accommodative: If Anne's agreeable, we can leave
tomorrow.

agreement n. 1 understanding, covenant, treaty, pact, accord, compact,
settlement, concordat; contract, bargain, Colloq deal: They
drew up a ten-year agreement to be signed at the summit in
Geneva. 2 concord, harmony, compatibility, unity, concurrence,
unanimity: Agreement in error is far worse than division for
the sake of truth.
1.7 ahead
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

ahead

adv. 1 at the or in front, in advance, in the lead or vanguard,
up ahead, before, to the fore: The general rode ahead. 2
winning: At half time, our team was ahead by two points. 3
onward(s), forward(s), on: Please move ahead if you can.

1.8 aid...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

aid

v. 1 help, support, assist, facilitate, back, abet, uphold,
promote; succour, relieve, subsidize: The invasion was aided by
Richard's subjects. He salved his conscience by aiding a local
charity.
--n. 2 help, support, assistance, backing, relief, benefit,
service, succour, comfort: He was convicted of giving aid to
the enemy in time of war. 3 funding, subsidy, subvention;
grant-money, grant, grant-in-aid, scholarship: He could never
have gone to university without aid from the endowment.

aide

n. aide-de-camp, assistant, helper, coadjutor; good or strong
right arm, right hand, right-hand man; colleague, partner, ally,
comrade, comrade-in-arms, US cohort , Colloq man Friday, girl
Friday, US gal Friday: The general's aides are always at his
side.

ail

v. 1 trouble, afflict, affect, bother, distress, upset, worry,
make ill or sick, pain, hurt: I cannot imagine what ails him,
and the doctor can find nothing wrong. 2 suffer, be or feel ill
or poorly or unwell or indisposed, US be sick: Granny has been
ailing lately.

ailment n. illness, sickness, affliction, disease, disorder,
indisposition, malady; disability, infirmity; malaise,
queasiness: Granny's ailment has been diagnosed as influenza.
aim

v. 1 direct, point, focus, train, level: The guns of the fort
are aimed at the narrow pass. 2 aim at. focus on, have designs
on, aspire to, plan for or on, set one's sights on, seek, strive
for, try for, wish, want: Edward aimed at absolute dominion
over that kingdom. 3 seek, intend, plan: I aim to retire at
fifty, if not before.
--n. 4 direction, pointing, focus, focusing or focussing,
sighting: His aim is so bad that he can't hit the side of a
barn with a shotgun. 5 purpose, goal, ambition, desire,
aspiration, object, end, objective, target, intent, intention,
plan: It was never her aim in life to be rich. The aim of the
book is set forth in the Foreword.

aimless adj. 1 purposeless, pointless, frivolous: After receiving the
inheritance she led an aimless life of ease and luxury. 2
undirected, erratic, chance, haphazard, random, vagrant,
wayward; wanton: We were annoyed by the tourists' aimless
meandering round the village.
air

n. 1 atmosphere, ambience, aura, climate, feeling, sense, mood,
quality: This restaurant has a delightful air about it. 2
breeze, zephyr, current, draught; breath, puff, wind: Light
airs sprang up from the south. 3 manner, style, appearance,
aura, feeling, bearing, quality, flavour: Louis has a
lugubrious air about him. 4 melody, tune, song, music: She was
humming airs from some Italian opera. 5 airs. pretension,
pretence, show, affectedness; haughtiness, hauteur, arrogance,
superiority, superciliousness: He puts on such airs since he
got his knighthood.
--v. 6 ventilate, freshen, refresh, aerate: The chambermaid is
airing the room, so you can't go in now. 7 show off, parade,
display, exhibit; publish, broadcast, circulate, publicize, make
public or known, reveal, expose, disclose, divulge, tell,
express, declare: Once again Andrew is airing his views on
modern art.

1.9 akin

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

akin

adj. Usually, akin to. related (to), allied or connected or
affiliated (to or with), associated (with), germane (to), like,
alike, similar (to): Desultoriness is akin to indolence. Their
decision not to show the film smacks of something akin to
censorship.

1.10 alarm...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

alarm

n. 1 warning, alert, danger- or distress-signal; tocsin, bell,
gong, siren, whistle, horn: At the approach of the storm, the
lookouts gave the alarm. The alarm is set to wake me at four
o'clock. 2 fear, fright, apprehension, dismay, trepidation,
terror, dread, anxiety, excitement, panic, consternation,
distress, nervousness, uneasiness, discomfort: He viewed with
alarm the arrest of his next-door neighbours.
--v. 3 frighten, scare, daunt, startle, terrify, panic;
unnerve, dismay, disturb, upset: She was alarmed at the news of
the car crash. Don't be alarmed - such delays are quite normal.

alcohol n. spirits, liquor, the bottle, the cup that cheers, demon rum,
John Barleycorn, Colloq booze, hard stuff, juice, moonshine,
fire-water, Slang rot-gut, US and Canadian hooch: Alcohol and
driving do not mix.
alcoholic adj. 1 intoxicating, inebriating: His doctor has forbidden him
any alcoholic beverage.
--n. 2 drunkard, drunk, dipsomaniac, sot, toper, drinker,
winebibber, serious or problem drinker, tippler, Colloq barfly,
soak, Slang boozer, alchy or alkie or alky, dipso, stew, rummy,
US and Canadian lush, booze-hound, wino: The community runs a
centre for rehabilitating alcoholics.
alert

adj. 1 awake, wide awake, watchful, vigilant, attentive,
heedful, wary, cautious, on the qui vive, aware, on guard, on
the lookout, observant, Colloq on the ball, on one's toes: The
sentinels must remain alert throughout the night. Kenneth is

alert to the perils of smoking cigarettes. 2 active, nimble,
lively, agile, active, quick, spry, sprightly, vivacious: He is
an alert and joyous old soul.
--n. 3 lookout: She is always on the alert for new ways of
saving money. 4 alarm, warning, signal, siren: Sound the
air-raid alert!
--v. 5 warn, caution, advise, alarm, forewarn, signal, notify:
We must alert him to the fact that the man is a vicious killer.
alibi

n. 1 excuse, explanation: Your alibi places you very close to
the scene of the crime.
--v. 2 excuse, explain: Caught red-handed, she couldn't alibi
her way out of it.

alien

adj. 1 foreign, strange, exotic, outlandish, unfamiliar: The
customs of the country were alien to me.
--n. 2 foreigner, stranger, outlander, outsider, non-native,
immigrant, newcomer: Aliens are required to register during
January.

alienate v. Usually, alienate from. disabuse (of or from), wean away
(from), detach (from), distance (from): Gradually the villagers
were alienated from their old animistic beliefs.
alike

adj. 1 similar, akin, resembling or like one another, akin to
or similar to one another, showing or exhibiting a resemblance:
They began to think all religions were alike.
--adv. 2 in like manner, in the same manner or way, similarly,
equally, uniformly, identically: She believes that all people
should be treated alike.

alive

adj. 1 living, live, breathing, among the living, in the land
of the living: My great-grandfather is still alive, in spite of
years of defying medical advice. 2 alive to. sensitive or alert
to, aware or conscious of, aware or cognizant of: She is alive
to every slight nuance in the poem. 3 alert, active, lively,
vivacious, quick, spirited, animated, brisk, spry, sprightly,
vigorous, energetic: Look alive, my lads, and hoist away! 4

astir, teeming, swarming, thronging, crowded, packed, buzzing,
crawling, jumping, bustling, humming, Colloq lousy: In a few
minutes the water around the corpse was alive with deadly
piranha.
allegation
n. charge, accusation, complaint; assertion, avowal,
asseveration, claim, declaration, statement, deposition: I
resent the allegation that I don't bath often enough.
allege

v. declare, aver, state, assert, charge, affirm, avow,
asseverate, depose, say: The guard alleged that he had caught
the boy climbing in a basement window.

alleged adj. described, designated; claimed, avowed, stated; purported,
so-called, suspected, supposed, assumed, presumed; hypothetical,
conjectural: The press reported that the alleged assailant had
confessed. He is awaiting trial for his alleged involvement in
the bombing.
alliance n. 1 union, confederation, combination, federation, pact,
league, association, coalition, affiliation, connection, bond;
unity, affinity: The alliance between the two empires has been
faithfully maintained. 2 marriage, affinity: The alliance
between the two families was welded by the children born of it.
allot

v. distribute, apportion, allocate, earmark, assign, parcel or
dole out, deal (out), divide, share (out), dispense: The
millionaire allotted an equal share of his fortune to each of
his children.

allotment n. 1 share, apportionment, ration, portion, quota, allowance,
measure: Each prisoner was given a daily allotment of four
ounces of black bread and a cup of water. 2 garden plot, kitchen
garden, patch, tract, plot, Brit market garden, US truck garden:
If I don't answer the phone, it's because I am dig