Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

suspicious about his behaviour. 2 mistrustful, distrustful, doubtful, in doubt, sceptical, suspecting, disbelieving, unbelieving, leery, apprehensive, wary, uncertain, uneasy: I was suspicious of Douglas from the very beginning.

sustain v. 1 uphold, support, keep up, maintain, continue, keep (someone or something) going, keep alive, preserve; prolong, persist in: He has been sustained on a life-support system for weeks. If Georgette can sustain the pretence of loving him, he won't change his will. 2 support, carry, bear, bolster, buoy (up), reinforce, keep (someone) going, strengthen, shore up, underpin, prop up, buttress: During those long months as a hostage, only prayer sustained him. 3 endure, stand, withstand, bear up under, put up with, suffer, undergo, experience,

tolerate, weather, brave: It is amazing how much punishment the human body can sustain. 4 bear, carry, support: This column is supposed to sustain the weight of half the building. 5 uphold, recognize, allow, admit, approve, ratify, sanction, authorize, endorse, validate: The judge sustained the objection by the defence.

sustained adj. continued, continuous, continual, prolonged, unremitting, steady, ceaseless, unceasing, incessant, interminable; uniform, even, level, unchanged, unchanging: The neighbours keep up that sustained caterwauling every night. The audience was thrilled

by her sustained top C.

sustenance

n. 1 nutriment, nourishment, food (and drink), daily bread, rations, victuals, provisions, provender, groceries, aliment, edibles, eatables, foodstuff(s), viands, meat, Colloq grub, eats, chow, nosh, Slang Brit prog, scoff: My first concern is sustenance for my family. 2 livelihood, support, maintenance, upkeep, keep, subsistence, living: The fur trade provided the sustenance of early Canadian settlers.

19.15 swagger...

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swagger v. 1 strut, prance, parade, Archaic swash, Colloq US sashay, cut a swath: Look at that Charlie swaggering down the street in his new suit! 2 boast, brag, show off, vaunt, crow, Colloq Brit

swank: He is always swaggering on about his war experiences.

--n. 3 strut, prance, strutting, swaggering, show, display, showing off, ostentation, braggadocio, arrogance, boastfulness: Paul's outrageous swagger developed only after he was promoted.

swallow v. 1 eat, consume, devour, ingest, dispatch or despatch; drink, gulp, guzzle, down, Colloq put or pack away, swig, swill:

Snakes swallow their prey whole. The amount that man can swallow at one meal is incredible. 2 accept, allow, credit, believe,

take, Colloq buy, fall for: She swallowed that tale about an aeroplane hook, line, and sinker. 3 Often, swallow up. absorb, make disappear, engulf, consume, assimilate: The fugitive was swallowed up by the crowd. 4 Sometimes, swallow back. keep or choke back or down, repress, suppress, control, stifle, smother, overcome, conquer: Harriet swallowed back the tears. Try swallowing your pride just this once.

--n. 5 bite, nibble, morsel, mouthful; drink, gulp, guzzle, Colloq swig: Have a swallow of this to warm you up a little.

swamp n. 1 bog, fen, marsh, quagmire, morass, moor, Chiefly literary slough, Scots and No. Eng. dialect moss, So. US everglade: The draining of swamps destroys the breeding places of mosquitoes.

--v. 2 overwhelm, overcome, flood, inundate, submerge, immerse, deluge, overload, overtax, overburden, Colloq snow under: I'm

so swamped with work I'm sleeping at the office. 3 scuttle, sink, founder: A huge wave swamped the boat and she sank quickly.

mass, drove, flood, stream, cloud, flock, pack, shoal, bunch: Swarms of people showed up for our garden party.

--v. 2 throng, mass, crowd, congregate, flock, gather, flood, stream, flow: The fans swarmed round the rock group. 3 swarm with. Often, be swarming with. crawl with, abound in or with,

throng with, teem with, burst with, bristle with, be overrun with: In two minutes the place was swarming with police.

swarthy adj. swart, black, ebon, ebony, sable, pitch-black, jet-black, coal-black, raven, dark: His swarthy complexion contrasted with her china-like pallor.

swashbuckling

adj. adventurous, daring, daredevil, swaggering, roisterous, bold, dashing, flamboyant: Those old swashbuckling films with Errol Flynn, Richard Green, and Douglas Fairbanks, formed a genre all their own.

totter, swing or move to and fro or back and forth or from side to side or backwards and forwards, rock, fluctuate; bend, lean: The reeds swayed in the breeze. 2 move, incline, divert, tend, veer, tilt, lean, slant, bias; influence, persuade, impress, win over, bring round, convince, talk into: The wind is causing the trees to sway towards the east. We tried to sway him to our way of thinking.

--n. 3 sweep, wave, swing, (period of) oscillation, libration: There must be a sway of twenty feet in the top of that skyscraper. 4 influence, control, power, command, authority, dominion, rule, sovereignty, leadership, mastery; grip, clutches, grasp: His ambition was to get the mountain people under his sway.

swear v. 1 depose, aver, asseverate, declare, insist, assert, solemnly affirm or state, testify, promise, take an oath, undertake, vow, avow, vouchsafe, warrant, pledge, give one's

word, agree: He swore he had not done any such thing. 2 curse, blaspheme, imprecate, use profanity, utter profanities,

execrate, Colloq cuss: Priscilla stopped her ears at the men's swearing. 3 swear by. trust (in), believe in, rely on, have

confidence in, count on: The colonel swears by the same old fountain-pen he has used for years and will use no other. 4 swear off. forswear, renounce, abjure, go off, forgo, shun, avoid, give up, eschew, forsake, throw over: Brian tells me he's sworn off alcohol for a while.

sweat v. 1 perspire, glow: That workout made me sweat. 2 Often, sweat out. worry, be anxious, agonize, anguish, bite (one's) nails, be on pins and needles, fret, fuss, stew, torture or torment oneself, lose sleep (over), Colloq sweat blood, be in a tizzy, US sweat bullets: The professors really like to make students sweat, don't they? Fiona is sweating it out till the results are posted. 3 slave (away), labour, drudge, grind, toil and moil, slog, work like a Trojan or a horse, Slang Brit swot or swat: I sweat over a hot stove all day while you're out and

about town. 4 ooze, exude, squeeze out, transude: When a boy, he believed that dew came from flowers sweating water.

--n. 5 perspiration, Technical diaphoresis, sudor: In addition to body moisture, salt and other minerals are lost in sweat. 6 (hard) work, labour, laboriousness, grind, toil, drudgery, slogging, sweating, Slang Brit swotting or swatting: Nothing worthwhile is gained without some sweat. 7 state of confusion or upset or excitement or distraction or agitation or anxiety or distress or worry; pother, Colloq dither, tizzy, lather: Henry has really worked himself up into a sweat over this problem. 8 No sweat! No problem!, Don't worry!, Everything is taken care of!, All is well!, That presents no difficulty!: When asked to change a flat tyre, the stranger's response was, 'No sweat!'

sweep v. 1 brush, whisk, clean, clear, tidy up: This weekend I have to sweep out the basement. 2 Often, sweep away. carry or take (away or off), destroy, wipe out, demolish, remove, wash (away); blow (away): The raging torrent swept away the bridge. The wind swept the debris before it. 3 swoop, flounce, glide, sail,

march, parade, skim, tear, dash, zoom: Hattie swept into the room majestically. 4 curve, arc, arch, bend, bow, circle, turn: The long drive to the house sweeps round the pond and gardens.

--n. 5 pass, clearance, stroke; purge: In one clean sweep the police rounded up all the suspects. 6 curve, arc, arch, bow, bend, curvature, flexure: Note the sweep of those main arches holding up the dome. 7 range, extent, compass, reach, stretch,

scope, swing, span: The Hubbell space telescope has a farther sweep than any on earth.

sweeping adj. 1 comprehensive, (all-)inclusive, general, extensive, universal, all-embracing, broad, widespread, wide(-ranging), far-ranging, blanket, umbrella, catholic, exhaustive, radical, thorough(-going), out-and-out, across the board, wholesale, Colloq wall-to-wall: We must institute sweeping reforms of the party before the election. 2 complete, total, overwhelming, decisive: The first team enjoyed a sweeping victory in track and field events.

sweet adj. 1 sugary, honey-like, honeyed, sweetened: Sweet breakfast cereals are bad for your teeth. 2 fragrant, perfumed, scented, aromatic, ambrosial, sweet-smelling, sweet-scented, balmy, redolent: The night air was sweet with jasmine. 3 harmonious, melodious, sweet-sounding, euphonious, dulcet, musical, tuneful, euphonic, mellifluous, mellow, lyric, silvery, bell-like,

golden: I could hear McCormick's sweet voice singing 'Danny Boy'. 4 gentle, amiable, agreeable, genial, warm, friendly, kind, nice, unassuming, easygoing; attractive, appealing, charming, winning, pleasant, pleasing, lovely; cute, pretty:

Jane normally has such a sweet disposition. Old Mrs Hughes was always sweet to me when I was little. Amy looks so sweet in her new dress. What a sweet little kitten! 5 dear, beloved,

precious, prized, treasured, wonderful, marvellous, splendid, Colloq great: How sweet life can be! 6 considerate, attentive, solicitous, thoughtful, sympathetic, compassionate, kind, kind-hearted, generous, gracious, accommodating: How sweet it was of you to bring flowers! 7 cloying, sentimental, syrupy, saccharine, treacly, precious, honeyed, sickening, Colloq gushing, gushy, sloppy, soppy, maudlin, sticky, Brit twee, Colloq icky: Claire is so sweet that she really overdoes it sometimes. 8 sweet on. fond of, taken with, keen on, devoted to, enamoured of, infatuated with, (head over heels) in love with, Colloq wild or mad or crazy about, nuts about or over, Slang gone on, stuck on, batty about: We were teasing Rick about being sweet on Anne.

--n. 9 Often, sweets. bon-bon, chocolate, confection,

sweetmeat, Old-fashioned comfit, US candy: Harry always brings a box of sweets for my mother when he comes to see me. 10 dessert, Brit pudding, afters: For a sweet we can offer you a

prominence, bulge, lump, excrescence, protrusion, tumour, node, nodule: It is a good idea to have any unexplained swelling examined by the doctor.

sweltering

adj. hot, torrid, steaming, sultry, steamy, muggy, sticky, oppressive, stifling, stuffy, suffocating, clammy, humid, wet, broiling, boiling, scorching, roasting, baking, wilting, melting, tropical, Colloq close: I cannot live through another sweltering summer in the Amazon jungle.

expeditious; quick, brisk, sudden, abrupt: The postman was bent on the swift completion of his rounds. What Bill needs is a

swift kick to jolt him out of his lethargy.

swiftly adv. fast, quickly, speedily, rapidly, expeditiously; briskly, hurriedly, hastily, suddenly, abruptly, in a flash, in a trice,

in the wink of an eye, before you can say 'Jack Robinson', before you can say 'knife', like a shot, in an instant, in (less than) no time, precipitately, unexpectedly, Colloq like greased lightning, US lickety-split, in a jiffy, Slang pronto, like a

bat out of hell: The assembly is done much more swiftly by machine. Swiftly, I ducked into a doorway to avoid being seen.

swill n. 1 hogwash, pigswill, refuse, pigwash, slop(s), garbage, waste: If you saw the swill that pigs eat, you might not eat pork. 2 nonsense, rot, rubbish, Slang crap: That novel of hers was the worst swill I've read in a long time.

--v. 3 drink, guzzle, quaff, swallow, Colloq swig, toss off or down, throw down, polish off, knock back or off, US chug-a-lug: They waste every evening swilling beer.

swimmingly

adv. smoothly, easily, effortlessly, well, successfully, without a hitch or a problem, like a dream, cosily, like clockwork, without difficulty, handily, readily: The plan has gone swimmingly thus far.

swindle v. 1 cheat, cozen, bilk, defraud, deceive, hoodwink, take in, fleece, dupe, fool, mulct, gull, make a fool or sucker (out) of, victimize, exploit, trick, Old-fashioned or literary euchre, Archaic chouse, Colloq bamboozle, chisel, diddle, pull a fast one on, flimflam, pluck, burn, take (someone) for a ride, Brit fiddle, US buffalo, Slang con, sting, screw, rook, gyp, rip (someone) off: The gang has swindled several elderly people out of their life savings.

--n. 2 fraud, confidence game or trick, cheating, swindling, defrauding, deception, racket, trickery, sharp practice, thimblerigging, chicanery, knavery, Colloq Brit fiddle, swizzle or swizz, Slang rip-off, scam, con (game), gyp, US bunco: Those old-time swindles are nothing compared with the activities of unscrupulous stock brokers.

swindler n. cheat, confidence man or woman, hoaxer, mountebank, charlatan, knave, scoundrel, sharper, fraud, trickster, thimblerigger, villain, Technical defalcator, Colloq flimflam man, Slang con man or woman, US bunco-artist, four-flusher: Swindlers tricked them out of all their cash and traveller's cheques.

swing v. 1 sway, move or go to and fro or back and forth or backwards and forwards, come and go, wave, fluctuate, flap, oscillate,

vibrate, librate, waver, wobble, waggle, zigzag, wigwag,

flourish: The branches swung in the wind. They swung their arms in time to the music. 2 hang, dangle; be hanged, be suspended: They watched the monkeys swinging from tree to tree. He will swing for his crime.

--n. 3 swinging, sway, swaying, toing and froing, coming and going, waving, fluctuation, fluctuating, flapping, flap, oscillation, oscillating, vibration, vibrating, libration,

waver, wavering, wobble, wobbling, waggle, waggling, zigzag, zigzagging, wigwag, wigwagging, flourish, flourishing, stroke: Catch the rope on its next swing. He was caught on the shoulder by a wild swing of the bat. 4 sweep, scope, range, trend, limit(s); change, switch, shift: The swing of public opinion is unpredictable in these matters. There has been a small percentage swing to the Conservatives. 5 pace, routine, groove, pattern: Don't you find it hard to get into the normal swing of

things after a long holiday? 6 in full swing. in (full) operation, under way, in business, animated, lively, on the

move, moving, going, Colloq on the hop, cooking: The party was in full swing when we arrived.

swingeing adj. huge, immense, enormous, considerable, drastic, severe, harsh, stringent, punishing, devastating, painful, excruciating, major, daunting, Draconian, oppressive, exorbitant, excessive, violent, Colloq thumping: They have instituted a truly swingeing increase in commuter fares. She gives me a swingeing headache.

swinging adj. fashionable, chic, up to date, modern, Colloq …-go-go, in the swim, with it, Chiefly Brit trendy, Slang hip, groovy, in

the groove: That's what the swinging '60s were like in London.

camp(y), US fruity, limp-wristed, Colloq queer, gay, Chiefly Brit bent, US faggy, Slang kinky: He used to bring his swish friends here, but not lately.

switch n. 1 twitch, lash, rod, whip, birch (rod), scourge: He picked up the switch as if to hit me with it. 2 change, alteration, exchange, shift, change-over, reversal, deflection, trade, swap or swop: A switch of costume was done swiftly backstage, yielding the expression 'quick-change artist'.

--v. 3 twitch, lash, whip, birch, beat, strike, thrash, scourge, flog: The headmaster switched the boys for the slightest misdemeanour. 4 change, shift, exchange, divert,

deviate: The colonel switched to another subject. They switched the two stones, leaving the fake emerald. 5 divert, turn, rechannel, redirect, direct: They switched the funds to another project.

swivel v. 1 pivot, turn, rotate, spin, revolve, pirouette, move freely: This joint allows the arm to swivel in all directions.

--n. 2 pivot, elbow-joint, gimbal, ball-and-socket joint: The stern-chaser is fitted with a swivel, allowing it to be fired at any angle.

swollen adj. enlarged, distended, inflated, bloated, bulging, puffed up or out, tumid, tumescent, expanded, turgid, puffy, oversized, outsized, Technical dropsical, hypertrophied, proud: My knee was swollen for three days after that knock.

swoop v. 1 descend, dive, sweep down, pounce, stoop: The eagle swooped down across the stream, catching a salmon in its talons.

--n. 2 descent, dive, sweep, pounce, stoop, stroke, blow, rush: The police raid caught several drug dealers in one fell swoop.

19.16 sybarite...

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sybarite n. epicure, epicurean, hedonist, voluptuary, sensualist, aesthete, gastronome, gourmet, bon vivant, bon viveur, pleasure-seeker, playboy, jet-setter: These sybarites spend all