The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

denominate, pinpoint, specify: She has been named 'Woman of the Year'. I asked her to name our wedding day. She refuses to name her attacker. 6 name names. identify, specify, mention, cite:

In exchange for a lighter sentence, the witness agreed to name names.

nameless adj. 1 unnamed, innominate, unidentified, anonymous, pseudonymous, incognito, unknown, unheard-of, unsung: How much we owe the nameless inventor of the wheel! 2 inexpressible, indefinable, unidentifiable, unspecified, unspecifiable: A

nameless dread seized him as he entered the cave. 3 ineffable, unutterable, unspeakable, unmentionable, abominable, horrible, indescribable, repulsive: Paganism allowed man to sink beneath a flood of nameless sensualities.

off (to sleep), get some shut-eye, snooze, zizz, US catch or log a few zees (Z's): I nap every afternoon.

narcotic adj. 1 soporific, stuporific, hypnotic, sedative, somnolent, sleep-inducing, opiate, dulling, numbing, anaesthetic, stupefacient, stupefying, stupefactive, tranquillizing, Lethean: Most narcotic drugs may be sold only with a doctor's prescription.

--n. 2 drug, soporific, stuporific, hypnotic, sedative, opiate, anaesthetic, stupefacient, tranquillizer: Many doctors are reluctant to prescribe narcotics.

narrate v. relate, tell, recount, report, give an account (of), recite, rehearse, repeat, review, unfold, chronicle, describe, detail, reveal, retail: She narrated a bone-chilling story of intrigue

and murder. Please narrate the events leading up to your finding the body, Mrs Easton.

narration n. 1 telling, relating, unfolding, recounting, chronicling, recording, describing; report, recital, recitation, rehearsal, relation, chronicle, description, portrayal, detailing, revelation, story, tale, narrative: His narration was

accompanied by nervous gestures. Her narration disagrees with her husband's in certain essential respects. 2 reading, voice-over: The narration did not seem to be coordinated with the pictures on the screen.

narrative n. 1 story, tale, chronicle, description, revelation, portrayal, account, report, record, history, recital, statement: The characterizations were poor, but the narrative was fascinating.

--adj. 2 storytelling, chronicling, anecdotal: One of her long, narrative poems has been published in a collection.

narrator n. reporter, storyteller, raconteur, taleteller, teller of tales, anecdotist or anecdotalist, relator, annalist,

chronicler, describer, author; voice-over: We sat spellbound waiting for the narrator to continue.

narrow adj. 1 constricted, slender, slim, thin, restricted, straitened, attenuated, narrowed; narrowing, tapering: We squeezed through the narrow passage to freedom. 2 confined, confining, limited, cramped, close, meagre, pinched, tight, incommodious: I awoke in a cell so narrow I could scarcely move. 3 strict, careful, close, precise, exact, exacting, demanding, finicky, finical, sharp, meticulous, scrupulous, fussy, rigid, searching, critical: The suspected forgeries were submitted to the narrow scrutiny of several experts. 4 restricted, limited, circumscribed, proscribed, denotative: I learnt the meaning of charity in its narrowest sense. 5 See narrow-minded, below. 6 close, hairbreadth, lucky: I'd had a very narrow escape, for the bullet just grazed my scalp. 7 stingy, niggardly, parsimonious, miserly, tight, sparing,

tight-fisted, mean, mercenary Brit mingy, Dialectal near, Colloq close: He was so narrow he barely allowed himself the essentials.

--v. 8 constrict, limit, qualify, reduce, lessen, diminish, decrease: She narrowed her chances of winning by buying only one lottery ticket. 9 limit, restrict, focus, confine,

concentrate, narrow down: They have narrowed the search for the boy to the area near Chester.

--n. 10 narrows. strait(s), channel, passage: The vessel approached the narrows at dead slow speed.

narrowly adv. 1 barely, (only) just, scarcely, hardly, by a hair's breadth; by the skin of one's teeth, Colloq by a whisker: The speeding lorry narrowly missed those children. 2 closely, carefully, meticulously, scrupulously, searchingly, critically: She regarded him narrowly before speaking.

narrow-minded

adj. bigoted, prejudiced, illiberal, narrow, biased, opinionated, one-sided, intolerant, non-objective, conservative, reactionary, parochial, ultra-conservative, stiff-necked, conventional, hidebound, fundamentalist, literal-minded, narrow-spirited, mean-minded, mean-spirited, petty, pettifogging, small-minded, puritanical, unprogressive, old-fashioned, old-fogyish or old-fogeyish, strait-laced, Colloq

stuffy, US close-minded, square, screed-bound, red-necked: The vote reflected a reasonable balance between broad-minded and narrow-minded factions.

nasty adj. 1 foul, filthy, dirty, unclean, offensive, disgusting, nauseating, revolting, horrible, loathsome, repugnant, repellent, vile, odious, obnoxious, objectionable, nauseous, sickening, vomit-provoking, fetid or foetid, noisome, mephitic, rank, malodorous, rancid, noxious: The nasty stench of rotting vegetation assailed our nostrils. 2 unpleasant, disagreeable,

unsavoury, painful, objectionable, annoying, untoward, awkward, difficult, bad, serious: Lord Petherbridge had some very nasty experiences in the war. 3 obscene, dirty, pornographic, blue, smutty, lewd, vulgar, sordid, indecent, licentious, gross,

coarse, crude, rude, ribald, bawdy, risqu‚, off colour,

suggestive, Colloq X-rated, raunchy: The shops are selling some

rather nasty videos that I don't want the children to watch. 4 unpleasant, disagreeable, ugly, bad-tempered, vicious, currish, surly, abusive, spiteful, irascible, ill-natured, ill-tempered, cruel, inconsiderate, rude, churlish, obnoxious, crotchety,

curmudgeonly, cantankerous, crabbed, cranky, US and Canadian mean: Why is your father so nasty to everyone who wants to go out with you? 5 bad, severe, acute, painful, serious; dangerous, critical: I got a nasty shock when I opened the cupboard door. That's a nasty wound you have there.

nation n. country, state, land, political entity, polity, domain, realm: The countries of Europe are unlikely to become one nation.

national adj. 1 nationwide, country-wide, state, governmental, civil; public, popular, US federal: It took years to enact national clean-air laws. 2 nationalistic, nationalist, patriotic,

jingoistic, chauvinistic: During the war, national feelings ran high.

--n. 3 citizen, subject, inhabitant, resident; native: Stephenson left England years ago and is now an Australian national.

nationalistic

adj. nationalist, patriotic, jingoist(ic), chauvinist(ic), xenophobic, isolationist: As communications improved, nationalistic feelings were eroded.

nationality

n. 1 citizenship: Some countries allow their citizens dual nationality. 2 race, nation, ethnic group, ethnos, clan, tribe; strain, stock, pedigree, heritage, roots, extraction, bloodline, breed: The country became a melting-pot of myriad nationalities.

native adj. 1 innate, natal, inborn, natural, inherent, congenital, indwelling, inherited, hereditary, in the blood, intrinsic, constitutional: Early in life, Carla demonstrated a native ability for music. 2 domestic, local, home-grown; indigenous, autochthonous, aboriginal: The native oysters in this area are superb. 3 basic, first, best, original, exclusive: Can you

tell that my native language is Hungarian? 4 national, ethnic,

clan, tribal: We visited a Dutch town where the people wear traditional native dress. 5 aboriginal, provincial, local: We soon fell in with the native custom of taking a siesta. 6 born; by birth: Are you a native Glaswegian?

--n. 7 aborigine, indigene, autochthon; national, citizen, resident, inhabitant: It is not difficult to distinguish the natives from the tourists in London.

natural adj. 1 ordinary, common, commonplace, normal, standard, regular, usual, customary, unexceptional, routine, habitual, typical, everyday; reasonable, logical, reasonable, sensible, accepted: They say that Count Dracula could not die a natural death. The natural thing to do in case of attack is to defend oneself. 2 normal, ordinary, regular, expected; spontaneous: The natural motion of the waves carried the bottle out to sea. 3 simple, basic, fundamental, real, unartificial, genuine,

unembellished, unadorned, unpretentious: She has great natural beauty and needs no cosmetics. 4 unstudied, unconstrained, candid, frank, spontaneous, unaffected, easy, honest, straight, straightforward, artless, guileless, impulsive, unpremeditated, unaffected, ingenuous, unsophisticated, unsophistic(al): His kindness is quite natural. 5 See native, 1, above: She has a natural gift for painting. 6 true, real, genuine, actual,

authentic, bona fide: That, believe it or not, is his natural hair. 7 lifelike, true to life, realistic: Note the natural colours of the sea in this painting by Whistler. 8

illegitimate, bastard: He was the duke's natural son and had no claim on the estate. 9 consistent, consonant, consequent, logical, reasonable, fitting, appropriate, proper, expected, not incongruous, understandable: In the circumstances, it would have been natural for her to despise Jonathan. 10 organic, organically grown, non-chemical, health: They eat only natural foods, which they grow themselves.

--n. 11 genius, artist, talent: When it comes to chess, Boris is a natural. 12 Archaic idiot, imbecile, simpleton, fool, halfwit: One would have to be a natural to give money to that crook.

naturally adv. 1 (as a matter) of course, needless to say, to be sure, certainly, surely, not unexpectedly, as expected or anticipated, obviously, clearly, logically, consequently, as a consequence or

(to one's stomach), queasy, squeamish; seasick, carsick, airsick: They were nauseated when they saw the cadavers. I became nauseated by the rocking of the boat.

nauseous adj. nauseating, loathsome, sickening, disgusting, repellent, vomit-provoking, offensive, revolting, repugnant, repulsive, abhorrent, nasty, foul, unpleasant, stomach-turning, Technical emetic: A nauseous odour emanated from the crypt.

nautical adj. maritime, marine, seafaring, seagoing; naval; boating, yachting, sailing; navigational: Britain has always been a nautical nation. One must observe the nautical rules of the road.

navel n. Technical umbilicus, omphalos, Colloq belly button: The dancer wore a ruby in her navel.

navigable adj. 1 passable, traversable, negotiable, unblocked, unobstructed, clear: The Thames is not navigable above Lechlade. 2 manoeuvrable, sailable, controllable, steerable, yare: My boat is navigable when under way at about four knots.

navigate v. 1 sail, voyage, cruise, journey; cross, traverse: After navigating the Indian Ocean for a month, we reached the Seychelles. 2 manoeuvre, handle, sail, guide, pilot, steer, direct, skipper, captain, Nautical con: It was tricky

navigating through the shoals. Richard has navigated the company through rough waters over the years.

navigation

n. pilotage, helmsmanship, seamanship, steersmanship, steering, sailing: The navigation of a small vessel in such a storm is no mean task.

navigator n. pilot, helmsman, seaman, tillerman, wheelman, steersman, skipper: The navigator without knowledge of local waterways must engage a pilot.

naysayer n. denier, refuser, disdainer, rejecter or rejector; prophet of doom, pessimist, sceptic, dissenter, defeatist: Don't expect

any encouragement from a naysayer like Raymond.

14.2 near...

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nearby adv. 1 close by, close at hand, not far-off or -away, in the vicinity or neighbourhood, within (easy) reach, about, around: Hyenas loitered nearby waiting for the lions to leave the kill.

--adj. 2 close, within reach, handy, accessible, at or to hand, adjacent: Nearby villagers helped put out the fire. We always kept a gun nearby because of pirates.

nearly adv. 1 almost, not quite, about, approximately, all but, just about, virtually, wellnigh, practically, as good as, more or less; around, approaching, nearing, barely, hardly, scarcely, close to: We were nearly there but couldn't make it. She was nearly ninety when her first book was published. 2 closely, identically, exactly, precisely: Her opinions agree most nearly with his. His painting most nearly resembles Picasso's.

near-sighted

adj. 1 myopic, short-sighted: Being near-sighted, I must wear spectacles for driving. 2 Chiefly US short-sighted, narrow-minded, blinkered, narrow, close-minded, illiberal, unthinking, heedless, insular, partial, one-sided, parochial, unsophisticated, unimaginative, biased, unobjective, opinionated, dogmatic, prejudiced, intolerant, bigoted: They maintain a near-sighted attitude towards associating with anyone outside their immediate clique.

dialect trig, Colloq neat as a pin, Brit dinky: His room was always neat - very odd for a teenager. 2 straight, unadulterated, unmixed, undiluted, uncut, unblended, pure; on the rocks: He drinks his whisky neat. 3 unembellished, unadorned, unornamented, simple, elegant, graceful, smart, uncomplicated, regular, precise, copperplate; calligraphic: An invitation in her neat handwriting awaited my return from abroad. 4 deft, adroit, clever, efficient, ingenious, expert, practised, skilful, dexterous: He contrived a neat plan to avoid paying taxes. 5 fine, wonderful, marvellous, great, splendid, excellent, exceptional, capital, grand, first-class, Colloq cool, smashing, keen, nifty, top-notch, A1 or A-1 or

A-one, Brit top-hole, Chiefly US A-OK or A-okay, Slang swell, far-out, boss, Brit topping, US and Canadian spiffy: She found a really neat way to get boys to ask her out. Gordon has a neat new car.

neaten v. Often, neaten up. tidy (up), straighten (up or out), clean (up), spruce up, (put in) order, Brit dialect trig: If you

don't neaten up your room, Mandy, you may not borrow the car.

nebulous adj. vague, hazy, clouded, unclear, obscure, indistinct, fuzzy, muddy, ill-defined, shapeless, amorphous, blurred, indeterminate, murky, opaque, turbid, dim, foggy, faint, pale:

He has only the most nebulous idea of what the lecture was about.

necessarily

adv. inevitably, unavoidably, inescapably, axiomatically, inexorably, ineluctably, irresistibly, incontrovertibly, automatically, naturally, (as a matter) of course, as a result, certainly, surely, to be sure, like it or not, willy-nilly, perforce, of necessity, by definition: If you accept his

premise, then you must, necessarily, accept his conclusion. You don't necessarily need to be rich to be happy.

necessary adj. 1 indispensable, essential, required, needed, compulsory, requisite, vital, demanded, imperative, obligatory, needful, of

the essence, important, of the utmost importance, top-priority, high-priority, urgent, exigent, compelling, life-and-death or life-or-death: A good diet is necessary for good health. It is necessary that you come at once. Take the necessary steps to get the job done. 2 inevitable, unavoidable, inescapable, ineluctable: In the circumstances, we find it necessary to ask for your resignation. 3 sure, certain, predetermined, predestined, fated, inexorable; resulting, resultant: The necessary outcome of the affair was that the child was returned to her natural parents.

--n. 4 See necessity, 1, below.

necessity n. 1 requirement, essential, necessary, requisite, need, prerequisite, basic, fundamental, sine qua non, desideratum, constraint: I was marooned for a year with only the bare necessities of life. We regard honesty as a necessity in a bank manager. 2 indispensability, unavoidability, needfulness, inexorability: The necessity for exercise is often met by private health clubs. 3 poverty, want, indigence, need, destitution, penury, straits, difficulty, difficulties,

pauperism, neediness: The extreme necessity of the unemployed demands that the government act quickly. 4 urgency, emergency, crisis, misfortune, exigency, pinch, extreme, matter of life and death: She has made a virtue of necessity. Electric power is no longer a matter of choice but of necessity.