Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

police delivered an ultimatum to the terrorists. 5 give, administer, inflict, deal, direct, send, launch, impart, throw; cast, hurl, shoot, discharge, fire: He delivered a blow on the chin that knocked me out. The ball was delivered with enormous speed. 6 bring forth, bear, give birth to, bring into the world:

In the next three years, she delivered three more girls. 7 produce, perform, put one's money where one's mouth is: Roger had better deliver, or we shall have to take drastic measures.

delivery n. 1 distribution, delivering, deliverance, conveyance, transportation, transport: The strikers have caused delivery of newspapers to stop. 2 liberation, release, deliverance, emancipation: His delivery from poverty was still a few years away. 3 childbirth, parturition; confinement: Many women find that their second child is an easier delivery. 4 presentation, performance; utterance, enunciation, articulation,

pronunciation, expression, execution: He is an accomplished orator, with a spellbinding delivery.

delusion n. 1 deception, trick, stratagem, artifice, ruse, pretence: It was a snare and a delusion to represent the painting as genuine. 2 false or mistaken impression, fallacy, illusion, mistake, error, misconception, misbelief, hallucination: He suffers under the delusion that he is a great pianist.

demand v. 1 require, order, bid, call (for); insist, command: I

demand that you retract that remark! She demanded to know where he was going. 2 claim, ask (for), require, insist on; exact:

They had paid for tickets and demanded entrance. 3 require, call for, need, want, necessitate, cry out for: This superb dish demands an excellent claret. 4 ask (for), inquire or enquire, request; requisition: We demanded help from the police.

--n. 5 request, bid, behest, requisition, order, insistence; outcry: Our demand for service went unheeded. 6 want, need,

requirement, desire; market (demand), marketability; consumer or customer acceptance: The demand for our products is low at the moment. 7 in demand. wanted, needed, requested, coveted, popular, sought after, desired, desirable, Brit in request, US

on request: Bright graduates are always in demand. 8 on demand. on call, on request, on presentation, when requested or required; at once, immediately, without delay: These notes are

payable on demand.

demanding adj. 1 difficult, hard, exigent, tough, exacting, trying, taxing: Edwards is a demanding boss. Diamond cutting is demanding work. 2 insistent, clamorous, urgent, nagging, persistent: Your demanding fans want another encore.

democratic

adj. egalitarian, classless; republican, representative,

popular, self-governing, autonomous: The colonists voted for a democratic form of government.

demolish v. 1 tear or pull down, dismantle, reduce to ruin(s), smash, pull to pieces, knock down, raze, topple, destroy, level: This building will have to be demolished to make room for the new shopping mall. 2 destroy, end, bring to an end, make an end of, put an end to, devastate, terminate, annihilate, overturn, overthrow, crush, defeat, refute, disprove, dispose of, suppress, squelch, quash: With just one phrase he demolished their entire argument.

demon n. 1 devil, evil spirit, fiend, cacodemon or cacodaemon; monster, ghoul, ogre, harpy, vampire: Medieval demons are generally depicted as having horns, hoofs, and tails. 2 fanatic, fiend, enthusiast, addict, Colloq freak: He's a real speed demon when he gets onto the motorway.

demonstrable

adj. provable, confirmable, attestable, verifiable; evident, self-evident, obvious, undeniable, apparent, manifest, indisputable, unquestionable, positive, certain, conclusive: The judge showed a demonstrable bias against my client.

demonstrate

v. 1 show, prove, make evident, establish, evince, evidence, exhibit, manifest: The increase in arrests demonstrates the efficiency of the police. 2 display, explain, expose, describe, present; illustrate: The salesman demonstrated the new camera for us. 3 picket, march, parade, rally, protest: More than

5000 people demonstrated against the fraudulent election.

demonstration

n. 1 proof, evidence, testimony, confirmation, verification,

substantiation; manifestation, exhibition, display, illustration, indication: I have seen sufficient demonstration of her ineptitude. 2 presentation, display, show, explanation, description, clarification, elucidation, exposition, Colloq demo: The student gave an excellent demonstration of how a computer works. 3 picketing, march, parade, protest, rally, sit-in, Colloq Brit demo: There have been numerous demonstrations against the government's policies.

demonstrative

adj. 1 open, unrestrained, unconstrained, unreserved, expansive, effusive, emotional, warm, tender, affectionate, loving: Pat is quite demonstrative, often causing me to blush. 2 illustrative, indicative, representative, probative,

evidential; provable, evident: Her point was proved by several demonstrative arguments. The hostility of these few is demonstrative of what to expect of the entire group.

demoralize

v. 1 dispirit, daunt, dishearten, discourage, defeat; weaken, cripple, enervate, devitalize, depress, subdue, crush: The party's crushing defeat in the election thoroughly demoralized its supporters. 2 corrupt, pervert, deprave, vitiate, debase, debauch: The committee consider him a demoralizing influence and insist he should resign. 3 bewilder, discomfit, unnerve, shake (up), confuse, fluster, disconcert, unnerve, perturb, disturb, upset, Colloq rattle: The demonstrators were completely demoralized when arrested for loitering.

denial n. 1 contradiction, negation, repudiation, refutation, disavowal, disclaimer, disaffirmation: Her denials notwithstanding, she was found guilty. 2 retraction, recantation, renunciation, withdrawal: The arbitrary denial of civil rights to some is unconscionable. 3 refusal, rejection, negation; veto: The boy's persistent denial of authority went into his record.

denizen n. inhabitant, dweller, occupant, frequenter, resident; citizen: The depths of the seas harbour some strange denizens. Carl is a denizen of The Bottle and Glass.

denomination

n. 1 sect, persuasion, school, church, order: He is a member

of the Mormon denomination. 2 sort, kind, type, nature, variety, unit, size, value; grade, class, genus, species, order, classification: The kidnappers demanded the ransom money in used notes of small denomination. 3 designation, appellation, name, identification, style, title, tag, term; designating, naming, identifying, styling, classifying, titling, entitling,

tagging, terming, denominating: The denomination of people by race, creed, colour, or sex is discriminatory.

denote v. 1 indicate, specify, designate, distinguish, signify, mark, note: Hypothetical linguistic forms are denoted by an asterisk. 2 mean, name, symbolize, represent, betoken: The word mother denotes 'female parent', but its connotations are far more extensive.

denounce v. 1 accuse, brand, stigmatize, charge, blame, incriminate,

off or away or out, take to the road, take one's leave, check out, disappear, vanish, evaporate, Jocular toddle off, Imperative Begone!, Colloq beat it, scram, shove off, make oneself scarce, Brit scarper, US hit the road, be out of (someplace), Slang split, Imperative get lost, US cut (on) out, vamoose, take a (run-out) powder, lam (on) out, take it on the lam, Brit do a moonlight flit, Usually imperative bugger off,

buzz off , Taboo, imperative fuck off: Our bags are packed and we depart at noon. 2 Often, depart from. deviate (from), change, diverge (from), turn (aside or away) (from), differ (from), vary (from), break away (from), leave, abandon, stray (from), veer (from): She refused to depart from established practices.

department

n. 1 division, subdivision, branch, office, bureau, section, segment, unit, part: Some departments are in another building. 2 responsibility, concern, worry, sphere, bailiwick, jurisdiction, domain, control, area or sphere of influence or activity: He was only responsible for the launch of the missiles - where they came down was not his department.

depend v. 1 depend (on or upon). be contingent or dependent or conditional on, turn on, hinge on, pivot on, hang on, be subject to, rest on, be influenced or determined or conditioned by: The plans for our picnic depend on the weather. 2 depend on or upon. trust (in), rely on, count on, reckon on, bank on, be sure of, put one's faith or trust in: I knew we could depend on you, Giles, to do the right thing.

deplorable

adj. 1 lamentable, regrettable, sad, woeful, grievous, wretched, miserable, unfortunate, awful, distressing, disturbing, troubling, upsetting, grave, serious, oppressive, difficult, desperate, hopeless, tragic, disastrous: Orphaned at six, he had a deplorable childhood. 2 shameful, disgraceful, scandalous, disreputable, awful, bad, appalling, dreadful, abominable, execrable, terrible, reprehensible: What did you think of Annie's deplorable behaviour at last week's dance? That's a deplorable painting.

deposit v. 1 place, leave, set or put or lay (down), drop, Colloq US plunk down: You are requested to deposit litter in the bin. 2

entrust, leave, lodge, consign, keep, place, put; store, save, set aside, bank, lay or put away, Brit pay in, Colloq stash

away: Each morning she deposits the children at the day nursery and goes to work. He deposits money every week in a pension fund.

--n. 3 down payment, part or partial payment, advance payment: A small deposit will hold your purchase until you are ready to pay for it in full. 4 precipitate, sediment, silt, alluvium,

dregs, lees, accumulation, deposition: There is a dark deposit at the bottom of the coffee-pot.

depreciate

v. 1 devalue, devaluate, decrease, diminish, lessen, reduce, lower, depress, cheapen, mark down: The abundant harvest has depreciated the price of commodities. 2 disparage, diminish, deride, decry, underrate, undervalue, underestimate, minimize, belittle, slight, derogate, deprecate, discredit, denigrate, run down, vilipend, Colloq play down, US talk down: When he depreciates another's work he adds nothing to the value of his own.

depredation

n. plunder, plundering, pillage, pillaging, despoliation, despoiling, ravaging, sacking, laying waste, devastation, destruction; ransacking, robbery, looting; ravages: The depredation caused by ten years of war is unimaginable.

depress v. 1 deject, dispirit, oppress, sadden, grieve, cast down, dishearten, discourage, dampen, cast a gloom or pall over, burden, weigh down: He's very depressed right now because he failed to get a promotion. 2 weaken, dull, debilitate,

enervate, sap; depreciate, cheapen, devalue, devaluate; diminish, lower, bring down, reduce: The news about a new oil field depressed the market today. 3 press (down), push (down) (on), lower: If the pressure gets too high, just depress this lever.

depression

n. 1 indentation, dent, dimple, impression, pit, hollow, recess, cavity, concavity, dip: When the box fell, its corner left a small depression in the top of the metal cabinet. 2

dejection, despair, gloom, downheartedness, sadness, melancholy,

discouragement, despondency, gloominess, glumness, the blues, unhappiness; Colloq the dumps: A general feeling of depression came over us at the doctor's words. 3 recession, slump, (economic) decline, downturn, US and Canadian bust: The analysts are unable to predict accurately either booms or depressions.

deprive v. withhold, deny, refuse; withdraw, remove, strip, dispossess, take away, expropriate, divest; mulct: They deprived him of the right to have visitors.

deprived adj. needy, in want, in need, impoverished, badly off, destitute, poor, poverty-stricken, Euphemistic underprivileged, disadvantaged: As a deprived family, they are entitled to a number of benefits.

depth n. 1 deepness, extent, measure, profundity, profoundness: The depth of the cavern was at least three miles. 2 profundity, profoundness, abstruseness, obscurity, reconditeness, complexity, intricacy: There is great depth of meaning in many proverbs. 3 profundity, wisdom, sagacity, sageness, understanding, perception, astuteness, perspicacity, perspicaciousness, insight, intuition, acumen, penetration: One would scarcely characterize Mickey Mouse as possessed of great depth. 4 intensity, profundity, strength; vividness, brilliance, brilliancy, brightness, richness: It is hard for me to express

the depth of my feeling for you. The depth of colour is much better in this picture. 5 depths. deep(s), abyss, abysm, chasm, bowels of the earth, (bottomless) pit, nethermost reaches or regions, nadir: As we descended into the depths the temperature increased. She is in the depths of despair and needs your moral support. 6 in depth. thoroughly, comprehensively, in detail, profoundly, deeply, extensively, intensively, concentratedly, probingly: The specialists have looked into the problem in depth and have no answer yet.

deputy n. substitute, replacement, surrogate, stand-in, reserve, proxy; agent, operative, representative, go-between, intermediary, spokesperson, spokesman, spokeswoman, delegate, ambassador, minister, emissary, envoy, legate, (papal) nuncio; Chiefly US alternate: She excused herself from the meeting, leaving her deputy in charge.

deranged adj. mad, insane, demented, lunatic, unhinged, unbalanced, berserk, crazy, crazed, psychotic, irrational, non compos mentis, out of one's mind or senses or head, not all there, of unsound mind, crack-brained, mad as a hatter or March hare, off the rails, Colloq touched, dotty, daft, cracked, bats, cuckoo,

Brit potty, US have nobody home (upstairs), out to lunch, off-the-wall; Slang bonkers, dippy, barmy or balmy, batty, screwy, loony, nuts, nutty, wacky, bananas, off one's rocker, off one's trolley, mental, missing a few marbles, not having all one's marbles, kooky, with a screw loose, Chiefly Brit off one's chump, Chiefly US (plumb) loco, meshuga: Police said that the killer was completely deranged and should be approached with caution.

derelict adj. 1 deserted, abandoned, forsaken, neglected; ruined, dilapidated, run-down, tumbledown: The council has a scheme for the renovation of derelict buildings in the inner city. 2

negligent, remiss, neglectful, delinquent, dilatory, careless, heedless, lax, slack, irresponsible, slipshod, slovenly, Colloq sloppy: He was accused of having been derelict in his duty.

--n. 3 vagrant, tramp, outcast, pariah, loafer, wastrel, good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well, malingerer, vagabond, slacker, down-and-out, US and Canadian hobo, Colloq US bum: Because of alcohol, he ended up as a derelict.

deride v. mock, ridicule, scoff (at), jeer (at), laugh (at), make fun or sport (of), tease, taunt, twit, poke fun (at), make a laughing-stock (of), sneer (at), scorn, flout, disdain, pooh-pooh, belittle, diminish, disparage, laugh off, Brit rally, Colloq knock, Brit take the mickey or micky out of: His classmates had always derided his attempts at getting anywhere with the girls.

derision n. ridicule, mockery, raillery, laughter, sarcasm, scoffing, contempt, scorn, contumely, disrespect; satire, lampoon, pasquinade, burlesque, caricature, travesty: Her suggestion was greeted with derision.

derisory adj. mocking, ridiculing, scornful, derisive, disdainful, contemptuous, taunting, insulting, contumelious, jeering; sardonic, sarcastic, ironic(al), satirical: He felt crushed by their derisory laughter.

derivation

n. origin, descent, extraction, source, beginning, foundation, ancestry, genealogy, etymology, root: The derivations of many words are unknown.

derivative

adj. 1 derived, borrowed, procured, obtained, acquired; unoriginal, second-hand, copied, imitative, plagiarized, plagiaristic: He created nothing of his own - all his compositions were highly derivative.

--n. 2 derivation, offshoot, development, spin-off, by-product: French, Italian, and other Romance languages are derivatives from Latin.

derive v. 1 draw, extract, get, obtain, acquire, procure, receive, secure, gain, elicit, deduce, educe, infer, gather, collect, harvest, glean, cull, winnow: I derive no pleasure from punishing you. I derived from her remark that she didn't like the play. 2 derive from. arise from or out of, originate in or with or from, emerge from or out of, come (forth) from or out of, arrive from, issue from, proceed from, develop from, spring

from, flow from, emanate from, stem from, be traceable or traced to: The word delicate derives from Latin. All our knowledge is derived from experience.

derogatory

adj. depreciatory, depreciating, depreciative, disparaging, abasing, debasing, lowering, denigrating, belittling, diminishing, demeaning, detracting, deflating, minimizing, mitigating; uncomplimentary, offensive, insulting: The family

took a somewhat derogatory attitude towards commerce. He said something derogatory about my wife, so I punched him.

descend v. 1 come or go down, move down, climb down, get down: The sun was setting as he descended from the mountain. 2 decline,

incline (downwards), slope, slant, dip, drop, fall, plunge, plummet: Beyond the curve, the road descends suddenly for a mile. 3 stoop, condescend, sink, lower oneself: If you start shouting, you're just descending to Basil's level. 4 descend

on. attack, assault, invade, pounce on or upon, swoop down on or upon: Fighter planes descended in droves and destroyed the base

entirely.

descendant

n. offspring, progeny, issue, heir, posterity, family; child, son, daughter, grandchild, scion; offshoot: They claim to be descendants of Tsar Nicholas.

describe v. 1 tell (of), recount, relate, give an account (of), narrate, recite, report, chronicle; retail: He described his adventures in Rio. 2 detail, define, explain, specify, delineate: Please describe exactly where you found the body. 3 characterize, portray, paint, depict, identify, label, style; represent: I would describe her as careless rather than uncaring. 4 trace, mark out, outline, traverse, draw: The trail of the comet described a perfect arc in the black sky.

description

n. 1 portrayal, characterization, depiction, (thumbnail) sketch, portrait: Her description of her boss was far from flattering. 2 account, narrative, story, report,

representation, statement, definition; explanation, commentary; chronicle, history, record, narration; memoir: I want your detailed description of what led up to the argument. 3 sort, kind, nature, character, type, variety, brand, breed, species, category, genus, ilk, genre, class; stripe, kidney, feather: Carstairs is a rou‚ of the worst description.

desecrate v. profane, defile, blaspheme (against), dishonour, degrade, debase, befoul, contaminate, pollute, corrupt, violate, pervert, vitiate: Vandals desecrated the temple of Minerva.

desert° n. 1 waste, wilderness, wasteland, dust bowl: The nearest oasis was fifty miles away across the desert.

--adj. 2 barren, desolate, uninhabited, unpeopled, lonely, deserted; arid, bare, vacant, empty, wild, uncultivated: I was marooned on a desert island.

--v. 3 forsake, leave, abandon; jilt, throw over; maroon, strand, leave to twist (slowly) in the wind; Colloq run or walk out on, leave flat or in the lurch, leave high and dry: His courage deserted him when he saw the child's eyes. He has deserted his wife for some floozie. 4 abscond, quit, run away