Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

straggle v. stray, ramble, loiter, rove, prowl, range, drift, wander, meander, (be) spread, Colloq mosey: Thousands of refugees straggled along the road away from the bombed village.

straight adj. 1 direct, unbending, undeviating, uncurved, regular, linear: The tracks are straight for as far as the eye can see. 2 erect, vertical, upright, upstanding, perpendicular; plumb: Stop slouching and stand up straight. He stood straight as a ramrod. 3 even, square, true, right, flat, smooth, horizontal, level: Are you sure that the billiard table is straight? 4 honest, frank, straightforward, direct, forthright, legitimate, (fair and) square, fair, equitable, just, above-board, upright, respectable, decent, trustworthy, honourable, dependable, reliable, Colloq upfront: Sternway seems to be perfectly

straight in his business dealings. 5 unequivocal, unambiguous, straightforward, candid, plain, simple, explicit, blunt, unembellished, unelaborated, unqualified, outright, accurate: The straight facts are given in this article. The police cannot get a straight story out of him as to his whereabouts last

night. 6 direct, point-blank, straightforward, straight from the shoulder, candid, outright, plain, frank, no-nonsense: Do you mind answering a straight question? 7 shipshape, orderly, neat, tidy, in order, arranged, organized, sorted out, spruce, straightened out: I wish Leonard would put his room straight before the guests arrive. 8 sober, staid, sedate, serious, unsmiling, unemotional, impassive, emotionless, taciturn, composed, mask-like: It was impossible to keep a straight face during the school play. 9 undiluted, neat, unmixed, pure,

unadulterated, uncut, unmodified, unaltered, unalloyed: He likes his whisky straight. 10 even, square, settled, straightened out, agreed: The account will be straight when Dick makes the last payment. 11 heterosexual, normal, Slang hetero: Till Evelyn came out of the closet, I thought he was straight.

--adv. 12 directly, right, undeviatingly, unswervingly; as the crow flies, in a beeline: I should have known she would go straight to the police. 13 (straight) ahead: Go straight for a mile and you'll see it on the right. 14 Sometimes, straight out. directly, unequivocally, unambiguously, forthrightly, straightforwardly, point-blank, candidly, plainly, simply, in plain or simple English, explicitly, outright, honestly, accurately: Just give me the story straight, without beating

about the bush. 15 Often, straight away or off. immediately, at once, without delay, instantly, summarily, directly, right (away or off), right off the bat, promptly, Colloq p.d.q. (= 'pretty damned quick'): She went back to work straight after having the baby. I told him straight off to leave town. 16 straight up. without ice: I like my gin straight up.

straighten

v. 1 Often, straighten out. uncurl, untangle, disentangle, unsnarl, unravel, unkink; clear (up), settle, resolve, sort out, set or put straight or right or to rights, correct, adjust, rectify: She decided to have her hair straightened. They are busy straightening out the matter of father's will. 2 Often, straighten out. reform, rehabilitate, organize, reorganize: Perhaps psychotherapy will straighten him out. 3 Often, straighten out or up. tidy (up), arrange, rearrange, neaten, spruce up, put in order, clean (up): Would you help me straighten up the place before you leave?

strain° v. 1 stretch, force, tax, overtax, burden, overburden, overwork, push; exceed, surpass: His story that a bushy-haired intruder had shot her strained the jury's credulity. 2 push,

pull, tug, heave, stretch, twist, wrench, struggle: As he strained at his bonds the rope cut more deeply into his wrists. 3 injure, hurt, harm, impair, damage, overwork, tax, pull, tear, twist, wrench: I strained my back lifting that box of books. 4 stretch, crane, twist; try (hard), struggle, strive, labour,

toil, push, make an effort, exert oneself: She strained to

catch a glimpse of the prince. They strained to hear every word. 5 filter, sift, drain, screen, sieve; winnow, draw off,

separate; purify, seep, percolate: Strain the soup to remove the bones. Strain the dregs from the wine. The water is then strained through sand.

--n. 6 sprain, injury, damage, harm, wrench: Strains often hurt more than broken bones. 7 anxiety, worry; effort, exertion, stress, tension, pressure, burden; tax, demand, obligation: The strain began to tell on all of us. Another rope was needed to relieve the strain on the first. This advertising budget will put a great strain on our resources. 8 Often, strains. air, melody, tune, song, sound, music: In the distance I made out the faint strains of skirling bagpipes. 9 tenor, tone, drift, inclination, tendency, quality, spirit, mood, humour, character, complexion, cast, impression, thread, vein, theme: I detected a mellowing strain in her letters.

strainý n. 1 family, stock, ancestry, roots, extraction, derivation, (family) background, heritage, descent, parentage, lineage, pedigree, bloodline, race, line, descendants: This sample of sweet pea came from an entirely different strain. 2 trace, hint, suggestion, suspicion, soup‡on, streak, trait, mark, indication, vestige, evidence, sign: There was a definite strain of ruthlessness in her character.

strained adj. laboured, forced, artificial, stiff, tense, awkward, uneasy, uncomfortable, difficult, tension-ridden, self-conscious, unnatural, insincere, put-on: His already strained relations with his wife scarcely improved when he met Lisa.

strait adj. 1 narrow, tight, constricted, constricting, confining, confined, restricting, restricted, limited, limiting, rigorous, demanding, exacting; difficult, straitened: Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

--n. 2 Usually (except in gazetteers), straits. narrows, channel: We coasted through the Straits of Magellan with all sails flying. 3 dire or desperate or sore straits. bad or poor

state or condition, trouble, predicament, plight, mess, dilemma, tight spot, hot water, US bind Colloq pickle, jam, scrape,

pretty or fine kettle of fish, US box: We shall be in dire straits if father's cheque doesn't come soon.

straitened

adj. inadequate, insufficient, reduced, oppressed, distressed, needy, necessitous, poor, poverty-stricken, indigent, impoverished, destitute, penniless, insolvent, Colloq hard up, US strapped: As a writer, he was accustomed to living in straitened circumstances between sales of his stories.

strait-laced

adj. priggish, prim, conservative, old-fashioned, Victorian, old-maidish, proper, prudish, puritanical, moralistic, strict, narrow-minded, (over-)scrupulous, fussy, Colloq pernickety or US also persnickety, stuffy, goody-goody: Her aunt has the strait-laced notion that girls ought to be home by ten o'clock.

strange adj. 1 odd, peculiar, bizarre, weird, curious, uncommon, unusual, rare, singular, exceptional, eccentric, weird, funny, quaint, fantastic, out of the ordinary, extraordinary, out-of-the-way, queer, outlandish, unheard-of, grotesque, abnormal, remarkable, surprising, inexplicable, unaccountable, uncanny, Colloq offbeat, far-out, Slang kinky, Brit rum, US kooky: I had a strange dream last night. 2 unfamiliar,

unknown, unaccustomed: The children were warned not to get into strange cars. She was overwhelmed by the strange culture of her husband's country.

stranger n. foreigner, outlander, alien, newcomer, visitor: The people in these parts don't take kindly to strangers.

stratagem n. trick, artifice, device, dodge, subterfuge, lure, wile, ruse, plan, scheme, plot, intrigue, manoeuvre, ploy, tactic: What stratagem did they use to tempt you to attend this boring affair?

strategic adj. tactical, key, crucial, principal, cardinal, critical, vital, key: That line of supply is of strategic importance. Sending in the landing force was a strategic manoeuvre.

strategy n. plan, tactic(s), design, policy, procedure, scheme, blueprint, Colloq game or master plan, scenario: The enemy's strategy calls for quick air strikes by low-flying bombers.

found the ponies straying up the valley and across the moor. 2 deviate, diverge, wander, digress, ramble, divagate, get or go off the track or subject, go off on or at a tangent, get sidetracked: She let her mind stray from the matter in hand.

--n. 3 straggler, vagrant, waif, US dogie: They have always taken in and cared for strays.

--adj. 4 vagrant, lost, roving, roaming, wandering, homeless, derelict, abandoned: The problem with stray pets increases when people abandon them on returning home after the summer. 5 random, casual, chance, accidental, haphazard, singular, freak, accidental, unexpected: A stray bullet caught him in the leg.

6 isolated, separate(d), lone, odd, single: She brushed a stray hair from her face.

streak n. 1 stripe, striation, strip, stroke, bar, band, line, mark, smear, slash, dash, touch, daub, fleck, trace; vein, layer,

seam, stratum: The male bird is marked with a streak of bright reddish-orange on its throat. A red streak marks the iron deposit. 2 flash, bolt: I saw the dark figure in the light from

a streak of lightning. 3 spell, spate, period, stretch, run: They were celebrating their streak of good luck at the roulette table.

--v. 4 stripe, striate, line, bar, mark, smear, daub, slash:

Dawn was beginning to streak the sky when she left the party. 5 race, run, rush, dash, sprint, dart, hurtle, fly, scoot, speed, hasten, hurry, tear, whistle, zip, zoom, Colloq whiz or whizz: The gang streaked through the village on their motor cycles and were gone.

stream n. 1 brook, brooklet, streamlet, rivulet, tributary, river, freshet, run, watercourse, waterway, channel, Chiefly literary rill, runnel, Literary or N Brit dialect beck, burn, Archaic NE

US except in placenames kill, US creek, branch: If the streams continue to swell, flooding can be expected in low-lying areas. 2 flow, current, outpouring, effluence or efflux, effusion,

rush, spurt, surge, fountain, geyser, torrent, flood, deluge, cataract, cascade: A stream of bubbles showed where the diver was swimming. A stream of obscenities poured from his lips. 3 flow, rush, swarm, tide, flood, deluge, succession, series, row, line, string, chain, barrage, Brit queue: Simon has had a constant stream of visitors all morning.

--v. 4 run, flow, course, glide, rush, slide, slip, surge; pour, issue, emanate, gush, flood, spout, well up or out or forth, squirt, spurt, shoot, jet; cascade: The rain streamed

down the windows. 5 issue, emanate; rush, surge, pour, flood, file, proceed, march, walk, move: People streamed in and out of the building all day long.

streamer n. pennant, banner, pennon, flag, bannerette or banneret, banderole or banderol or bannerol, gonfalon or gonfanon, jack, burgee: A long streamer fluttered from the mast.

streamlined

adj. 1 aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, curved, curvilinear; smooth, flowing: Streamlined design began to appear in cars and boats in the 1930s. 2 modern, ultra-modern, modernistic, modernized, up to date, time-saving, labour-saving, compact, (well-)organized, efficient, automated: Mother always dreamt about having a streamlined kitchen. 3 well-run, smooth, efficient, automated, labour-saving, time-saving, profitable, productive, simplified: He designed a fully streamlined manufacturing process for us.

street n. 1 thoroughfare, way, road, roadway, high road, avenue, concourse, boulevard, lane, drive, terrace, circle, row, passage, alley, byway: I don't know the name of the street where she lives. 2 up (someone's) Brit street or US alley. (someone's) cup of tea, in (someone's) bailiwick, suiting

(someone) to a T: Crossword puzzles are very much up Eugene's street.

strength n. 1 power, might, force, mightiness, robustness, toughness, stoutness, sturdiness, brawn, brawniness, muscle, sinew: Do you have the strength to lift that by yourself? 2 fortitude,

backbone, stamina, tenacity, tenaciousness, will-power, perseverance, persistence, resoluteness, resolution, pertinacity, nerve, grit, pluck, determination, gameness, intrepidity, firmness, stability, Colloq guts, gutsiness, spunk, US intestinal fortitude, stick-to-it-iveness: Sally was a tower of strength when I needed her the most. 3 talent, ability, aptitude, gift, strong point, asset: One of his strengths is being able to sight-read music. 4 concentration, concentratedness, intensity, potency: Coffee of that strength

would keep me awake all night. 5 vigour, force, energy, power, potency, intensity: The strength of the wind was great enough to pick up cars and toss them about. 6 durability, power, toughness, stability, reliability, resistance, solidity,

stamina, ruggedness, endurance, soundness: The manufacturer claims that his product has the strength to resist wear for a hundred years. 7 persuasiveness, cogency, weight, force, convincingness, incisiveness, soundness: There is no disputing the strength of the argument against smoking.

strengthen

v. 1 reinforce, renew, bolster, fortify, support, confirm, corroborate, substantiate, buttress, step up, boost: A thousand troops were sent to strengthen the garrison at Fort Old. 2 encourage, hearten, invigorate, fortify, rejuvenate, nourish, energize, vitalize, toughen, brace (up), steel, innervate, stiffen: Whatever she said seems to have strengthened his determination to succeed.

strenuous adj. 1 demanding, taxing, tough, arduous, laborious, toilsome, burdensome, tiring, exhausting, difficult, hard, uphill:

Hauling in the fishing nets was strenuous work. 2 energetic, active, vigorous, enthusiastic, zealous, earnest, dynamic, intense, indefatigable, tireless, persistent, dogged, determined, tenacious, pertinacious, resolute, sincere, eager: He has made a strenuous effort to be more accommodating.

stress n. 1 emphasis, force, pressure, forcefulness, accent, accentuation, prominence, Technical ictus: Many people place the stress on the first syllable of 'controversy'. 2 emphasis, significance, importance, weight, force, insistence, urgency: She lays too much stress on looks. 3 (stress and) strain, burden, anxiety, worry, distress, pain, grief, suffering, anguish, pressure, tenseness, tension: She has four elderly

constricting, constrictive, rigid, defined, precise, exact, exacting, stringent, meticulous, compulsive, punctilious, finicky or finical, scrupulous, attentive, conscientious, faithful, thorough, complete: The judge's strict interpretation of the law left no room for leniency or sympathy. 2 severe, austere, authoritarian, autocratic, stern, firm, hard, tough, uncompromising, inflexible, cold-blooded, iron-fisted, tyrannical, harsh, ruthless, pitiless, unsympathetic: Miss Wells is remembered by all her students as a strict disciplinarian.

stricture n. 1 interdiction, blockage, restriction, restraint, constraint, deterrent, impediment: The strictures imposed on credit have throttled trade. 2 criticism, censure: He deplored conservative strictures against anything new in the arts.

strident adj. shrill, raucous, harsh, loud, grating, stridulous, stridulant, scraping, scratching, scratchy, grinding, hoarse, rough, guttural, husky, gravelly, rasping, jarring, discordant, unharmonious, unmelodious, unmusical, cacophonous, croaking, creaking: Her strident voice could be heard all over the building.

haul down: Stage-hands struck the set. As the wind piped up we struck the mainsail. 5 Usually, strike off or from or out. obliterate, expunge, erase, eradicate, blot out, delete,

scratch, eliminate, rub out, cross (out), cancel, wipe out, US x out: After the scandal, his name was struck off the register. Strike out any references that might be thought libellous. 6 light, ignite: He struck a match to see where he was going. 7 affect, impress, influence, afflict, Colloq hit: The death of her kitten struck Mandy to the heart. 8 make, reach, attain, conclude; agree or settle (on), ratify, confirm: We struck a bargain on the sale of the car. 9 occur or come to, dawn on or upon, Colloq hit, register (with): It suddenly struck me that you are leaving tomorrow. 10 impress, print, stamp, punch, mint, make: They have struck a new gold coin for collectors. 11 instil, implant, induce: Horror films struck fear into our hearts when we were children. 12 assume, adopt, put on, display, affect, take on, feign: He struck a supercilious pose of insouciant hauteur that annoyed her intensely. 13 Often, strike down. afflict, affect, attack, indispose, incapacitate, disable, cripple, invalid: Polio struck her down in the prime

of life. 14 encounter, come or happen or hit upon, come across, chance upon, discover, stumble on, find: The news is that they've struck oil in the North Sea. 15 revolt, rebel, mutiny, walk out (of or off the job): The machinists struck at

midnight, bringing the industry to a halt. 16 strike on or upon. dream up, devise, conjure up, improvise, work out, invent, contrive, come up with, hit on or upon, arrive at: The alchemist never did strike upon a way to turn lead into gold. 17 strike out. a fail, get nowhere, Colloq US miss the boat, flop, come a cropper, Slang US blow it, blow the gaff, come to nothing or naught or nought: Tim always strikes out when it comes to girls. b See 5, above. 18 strike up. (cause to) begin or start or commence: The band struck up. We struck up an acquaintance aboard ship.

--n. 19 attack, assault: A dawn air strike is planned. 20 walk-out, sit-down (strike), job action, slow-down, go-slow, work-to-rule: They will call a strike if negotiations break down.

striking adj. remarkable, astounding, astonishing, amazing, wondrous, awe-inspiring, awesome, stunning, impressive, imposing, fabulous, out of the ordinary, unusual, rare, exceptional,