Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdf--n. 2 quibbling, equivocation, hair-splitting, splitting hairs, evasion, paltering, sophistry, Colloq nit-picking:
Lawyers often become involved in a quibble over the mot juste and forget their clients. 3 cavil, sophism, subtlety, nicety:
It's a quibble whether you say 'either' and 'neither' to rhyme with 'peek' or 'pike'.
quick adj. 1 rapid, fast, speedy, swift, fleet; expeditious, express:
We made a quick descent to reach the camp before dark. The hand is quicker than the eye. Can you arrange the quick delivery of
this parcel to Aylesbury? 2 sudden, precipitate, hasty, brisk, short, abrupt, hurried, perfunctory, summary; immediate, prompt, timely, instantaneous: There is no quick answer to your question about the causes of World War II. Don't be so quick to criticize others. I had a quick response to my letter
complaining about service. 3 agile, lively, nimble, energetic, vigorous, alert, animated, keen, sharp, acute, spry, spirited, vivacious, rapid, swift: In three quick steps she was at my side. Antonia is known for her quick mind. 4 intelligent, bright, brilliant, facile, adept, adroit, dexterous, apt, able, expert, skilful, deft, astute, clever, shrewd, smart, ingenious, perceptive, perspicacious, discerning, far-sighted, responsive; nimble-witted, quick-witted: You can rely on Rob's quick thinking to come up with a solution to the problem. 5 excitable, touchy, testy, petulant, irascible, irritable, impatient: She
said that I have a quick temper because of my red hair.
quicken v. 1 accelerate, hasten, speed up: As we neared the house, our pace quickened. 2 expedite, hurry, accelerate, hasten, speed
(up): We did everything we could to quicken her departure. 3 stimulate, arouse, kindle, spark, invigorate, excite, animate, vitalize, vivify, galvanize, enliven, awaken, energize, revive, resuscitate, reinvigorate: Olivia's inspiring lectures quickened the imagination of everyone who heard them.
quickly adv. 1 rapidly, swiftly, speedily, fast: Although share prices dropped in the morning, they recovered quickly during afternoon trading. 2 rapidly, swiftly, speedily, fast, with dispatch or despatch, apace, post-haste, at or on the double, with all
speed, quick, Colloq US and Canadian lickety-split: Run quickly, and you'll get there before the shop closes. 3 instantly, promptly, hastily, at once, immediately, straight away, right away, shortly, without delay, (very) soon,
hurriedly, quick, Colloq pronto: You'll have to leave quickly to catch your train.
quick-tempered
adj. excitable, impulsive, temperamental, hot-tempered, waspish, choleric, splenetic, impatient, short-tempered, touchy, irascible, irritable, snappish, abrupt, short, short-spoken, quarrelsome, testy, volatile, hot-blooded, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, churlish, highly-strung, US high-keyed: Len is very quick-tempered these days and flies into a rage at the slightest provocation.
quick-witted
adj. acute, sharp, clever, smart, nimble-witted, alert, keen, astute, perceptive, perspicacious: Hallam is known for his quick-witted responses to hecklers in the audience.
quiet adj. 1 silent, soundless, noiseless, hushed, still: We have to be very quiet so as not to wake the children. 2 still, serene, silent, peaceful, unperturbed, calm, tranquil, placid, pacific, smooth, mild, restful, unagitated: The sea was very quiet as we rowed towards the beach. 3 dormant, quiescent, inactive, retired, withdrawn, unobtrusive: His last days were spent living a quiet life in the Outer Hebrides. 4 still, motionless, unmoving, fixed, stationary, at rest, inactive, composed, temperate, unexcited, calm: There was a knock at the door and everyone suddenly became quiet.
--n. 5 silence, stillness, soundlessness, noiselessness, hush, quietness, quietude, ease, rest, calmness, serenity, tranquillity, peace, peace of mind, repose: In the quiet of the cave I could hear my heart beating.
--v. 6 See quieten, below.
quieten |
v. Often, quieten down. quiet (down), still, silence, hush, |
calm, tranquillize, lull: He gradually quietened down the |
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audience, and the curtain rose. |
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quietly |
adv. 1 silently, soundlessly, noiselessly, inaudibly, in |
silence, softly: She tiptoed quietly out of the room. 2 in hushed tones, in whispers: In a corner of the room a young couple were quietly conversing. 3 peacefully, calmly, serenely,
to toe, from A to Z, fully, wholly, thoroughly, unequivocally, absolutely, perfectly, altogether, unreservedly: Her trouble is that she is quite certain of many things that are simply not the case. The last time I saw him, he was quite drunk. 2 rather, fairly, moderately, somewhat, relatively, to some or a certain extent or degree, noticeably: I thought that the paintings were quite well done. 3 rather: We had quite a good dinner last night. 4 very much, totally, entirely, wholly, altogether; really, actually, truly, definitely, positively, undoubtedly, indubitably, absolutely, unequivocally, certainly, surely, unreservedly, honestly: What you are talking about is quite
another matter. Your home-made chutney is quite the best I have ever tasted.
quiver v. 1 shake, tremble, vibrate, shiver, quaver; shudder, tremor, oscillate, fluctuate, wobble: He felt his lips quivering as he told her that he was dying. The outcome of the contest quivered in the balance.
--n. 2 tremble, quaver, shudder, spasm, shake, tremor, shiver: Pierced by the dart, the tiny bird fell to the earth, gave a
little quiver, and lay still.
quixotic adj. idealistic, impractical, impracticable, unrealistic, unrealizable, visionary, romantic, fantastic, chimerical, fanciful, dreamlike, dreamy, nephelococcygeal, starry-eyed, optimistic, rash, absurd, mad, foolhardy, reckless, wild,
preposterous, ridiculous: When he was young, he had a quixotic notion that he could improve the world.
quiz |
n. 1 examination, test, Colloq exam: We have a ten-minute quiz |
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every week on our reading assignment. |
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--v. 2 question, interrogate, ask, examine, Colloq grill, pump: |
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The police have quizzed everyone in the neighbourhood about what |
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they might have seen. |
quizzical adj. curious, queer, odd, inquiring or enquiring, questioning, puzzled: The interviewer had a quizzical expression, as if he didn't quite understand his own questions.
quota n. apportionment, portion, allotment, allocation, allowance, ration, share, part, proportion, percentage, equity, interest,
Colloq cut: Each shareholder is allowed a quota of the new shares based on the number now held.
quotation n. 1 quote, passage, citation, reference, allusion, extract, excerpt, selection: For many years Frances collected quotations from the speeches of politicians. 2 quote, (bid or asking or offer or market) price, charge, fixed price, rate, cost; value:
The quotation for Universal General International stood at 486 pence at the close of the market on Friday.
quote v. 1 cite, mention, recite, repeat, retell, reproduce, duplicate, call up, bring up, bring in, instance, exemplify, refer to, reference, extract, excerpt: Let me quote to you the relevant passage from Paradise Lost .
--n. 2 See quotation, above.
18.0 R =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
18.1 rabble...
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rabble n. 1 mob, crowd, horde, throng, swarm, gang: We narrowly escaped the wrath of the rabble fighting the police in the square. 2 the rabble. Derogatory masses, proletariat, hoi polloi, commoners, peasantry, ragtag and bobtail, vermin, outcasts, riff-raff, scum, dregs (of society), lower classes, canaille, commonalty, Colloq trash, the great unwashed: He always refers to blue-collar workers as 'the rabble'.
rabble-rouser
n. agitator, demagogue, instigator, inciter, firebrand, incendiary, radical, troublemaker, agent provocateur, revolutionary, insurrectionist, Colloq hell-raiser: The crowd was whipped into a frenzy by a rabble-rouser who was not identified.
rabid adj. 1 unreasonable, unreasoning, extreme, fanatical; raging, furious, violent, crazed, frenzied, maniacal, wild, mad,
luminosity, luminousness, dazzle, sparkle, coruscation, scintillation, twinkle, effulgence, refulgence, incandescence, glow, phosphorescence, gleam, lustre, shimmer, shine: As Aladdin rubbed the ring, it began to glow with an inner radiance and then - suddenly - a genie appeared. 2 warmth, gladness, joy, pleasure, happiness, cheeriness, delight: It was good to see again the radiance of the family at Christmas dinner.
radiant adj. 1 shining, bright, beaming, burning, ablaze, blazing, brilliant, luminous, resplendent, splendid, splendorous,
lustrous, gleaming, glowing, phosphorescent, shimmering, shiny, glossy, glistening, incandescent, alight, effulgent, refulgent, sparkling, dazzling, glittering, coruscating, scintillating, twinkling; aglow: In her hair she wore a diamond tiara, a
radiant crown whose glory was diminished only by her beauty. The room was radiant with sunshine. 2 happy, overjoyed, ecstatic, rapturous, delighted, joyful, blithe, blithesome, blissful,
beatific, glad, gleeful, joyous, gay, bubbling, bubbly, jubilant, elated, rhapsodic, exultant, exhilarated, in seventh heaven, in heaven, Colloq on cloud nine, Brit over the moon:
Carrie was absolutely radiant when she learned she was pregnant.
radiate v. 1 shine, beam, burn, blaze, gleam, glow, shimmer, glisten, sparkle, dazzle, glitter, coruscate, scintillate, twinkle: The jewel seemed to radiate with an inner light. 2 emanate, disseminate, disperse, spread, diffuse, shed, send out, emit, give off or out, Rare irradiate: He radiated goodwill the way a fire radiates heat and light.
radiation n. emission, emanation, diffusion, dispersal, shedding: Because the night was cloudless, unhindered radiation of the earth's heat rapidly cooled the air.
radical adj. 1 basic, fundamental, elementary, inherent, constitutional, elemental, essential, cardinal, principal, primary, deep, deep-seated, profound, underlying, organic, natural, rudimentary: There is a radical error in your approach to the problem. There are radical differences in the ways we regard the English language. 2 thorough, thoroughgoing, complete, entire, total, exhaustive, sweeping, (all-)inclusive, comprehensive, all-embracing, out-and-out, drastic, severe,
extreme, extremist, revolutionary: We have made radical changes in the way we live. Every political party that is not in power
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promises radical reform. 3 extremist, revolutionary, |
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fanatic(al), militant, anarchist(ic), immoderate: A staunch |
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conservative, Vincent regarded as radical anyone who disagreed |
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with him. |
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--n. 4 extremist, revolutionary, fanatic, zealot, immoderate, |
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anarchist, militant: The radicals favour reform, the |
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conservatives the status quo - but there is nothing new in that. |
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5 communist, leftist, left-winger, red, Bolshevik, Bolshevist, |
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pink, Slang US pinko: Carlo, recently arrested as a spy, had |
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been a radical since his days at university. |
radio |
n. 1 receiver, portable (radio), Old-fashioned crystal set, |
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Brit and US old-fashioned wireless, Colloq transistor, Slang |
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ghetto-blaster, Brit tranny or trannie, US boom box: He listens |
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to BBC World Service on his short-wave radio. |
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--v. 2 transmit, broadcast, air, disseminate, announce, |
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present: Weather reports are radioed continuously to ships at |
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sea and aircraft. |
raffle |
n. lottery, draw, sweepstake or US sweepstakes, sweep or US |
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sweeps: The church is holding a raffle for a new car next week. |
rag° |
n. 1 tatter, piece, shred, scrap, fragment, bit, Dialect clout: |
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Take a clean rag and dust the bookshelves when you get the |
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chance. 2 newspaper, periodical, magazine, publication, |
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journal: You can't believe anything you read in that rag. 3 |
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rags. Facetious clothes, clothing, attire, dress, garments, |
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Old-fashioned duds: I bought some new rags at the |
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post-Christmas sales. 4 rag trade. garment-industry, clothing |
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business, fashion industry: Peggy has been a model in the rag |
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trade for years. 5 chew the rag. a converse, talk, gossip, |
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chat: We bought a bottle of wine and just sat about chewing the |
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rag all evening. b Brit argue, wrangle: They are constantly |
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chewing the rag over trivial nonsense. |
ragý |
v. tease, taunt, belittle, twit, ridicule, mock, make fun of, |
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pull (someone's) leg, Brit rally, Colloq kid: The boys at |
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school were always ragging him about his lisp. |
ragamuffin
n. (street) urchin, (street) Arab, waif, mudlark, gamin, little
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lost lamb, babe in the wood, stray, guttersnipe, scarecrow: We |
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took in a poor little ragamuffin who was shaking from the cold. |
rage |
n. 1 anger, fury, wrath, ire, high dudgeon, exasperation, |
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vehemence, passion: Imagine her rage when Simon phoned to say |
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that he couldn't make it home for dinner! 2 fury, passion, |
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frenzy, hysterics, tantrum, fit, temper, Brit paddy or |
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paddywhack or paddywack, Colloq Brit wax: He flies into a rage |
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if Grace is as little as five minutes late for an appointment. 3 |
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fashion, craze, vogue, the (latest or newest) thing, last word, |
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dernier cri, mode, Colloq fad: Miniskirts were all the rage in |
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the 1960s. |
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--v. 4 rant, rave, storm, go mad or crazy or bonkers or wild or |
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out of one's mind, go berserk, run amok or amuck, behave or act |
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or be like one possessed, fret, be beside oneself (with anger or |
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fury), lose one's temper, go berserk, have a tantrum, fulminate, |
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explode; fume, foam at the mouth, stew, smoulder, boil, seethe, |
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simmer, Colloq have kittens, lose one's cool, fly off the |
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handle, go off the deep end, Slang get into or work oneself up |
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into a lather or stew or sweat, get all worked up, blow one's |
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top, blow a gasket, blow up, flip one's top or lid, hit the |
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ceiling or roof, freak out, be fit to be tied, be ready for a |
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strait-jacket, Brit throw a wobbly, US and Canadian blow one's |
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stack, flip one's wig, blow a fuse, have a haemorrhage, go ape, |
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do a slow burn, have a conniption fit: Father raged for hours |
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when he found that Donald had borrowed the car without |
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permission. |
ragged adj. 1 rough, shaggy, shabby, seedy, tattered, unkempt, scraggy, torn, rent, ripped, frayed, worn (out), threadbare, patched, patchy, ravelled, Chiefly Brit tatty, Brit down at heel, US down at the heel(s), Colloq US frazzled, beat-up: On
weekends, Charles put on his most ragged clothes to work in the garden. 2 rough, uneven, irregular, nicked, jagged; serrated, sawtooth(ed), zigzag, notched, toothed, denticulate(d), ridged: Every morning on his way to work, his first sight of the factory was the ragged edge of its roof. 3 worn out, tired, exhausted,
on one's last legs, the worse for wear, dead tired, overtired, fatigued, weary, fagged out, spent, Colloq all in, dog-tired, Slang dead (on one's feet), (dead) beat, Brit knackered, US and Canadian pooped (out): The emergency crew was run ragged by thirty hours on duty without rest. 4 bad, rough, patchy,