Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfprosecute: 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,