The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

delusion, chimera or chimaera, hallucination, fancy, mirage: She was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight.

Pharisaic adj. Pharisaical, hypocritical, insincere, self-righteous, pretentious, holier-than-thou, sanctimonious, pietistic(al), formalistic, canting, unctuous, oily, slimy, Literary Tartuffian, Pecksniffian, Colloq goody-goody , Chiefly Brit smarmy: I cannot tolerate his Pharisaic preaching.

Pharisee n. hypocrite, pretender, dissembler, humbug, fraud, whited sepulchre, pietist, formalist, canter, Literary Tartuffe, Pecksniff, Colloq phoney or US also phony: She is such a Pharisee with her pious little anecdotes.

pharmacist

n. pharmacologist, Rather old-fashioned or formal apothecary, Brit (pharmaceutical) chemist, US and Canadian druggist, Formal posologist, Colloq pill pusher, US pill roller: The pharmacist said that those pills have bad side-effects.

pharmacy n. 1 dispensary, Rather formal or old-fashioned apothecary, Brit chemist's (shop), US and Canadian drugstore, druggist's: Stop off at the pharmacy and get me something for this headache, please. 2 pharmaceutics, pharmacopoeia: Research has vastly expanded modern pharmacy.

phase n. 1 stage, period, development, step: The boy is just going through a phase. 2 time, moment, juncture, occasion: At this phase of the discussion, I should like to introduce a new subject. 3 state, form, shape, configuration, aspect, appearance, look, condition, status: Here is a diagram of the phases of the moon at various points in its orbit. 4 facet,

side, angle, viewpoint, point of view, Colloq slant: Only one phase of the argument has so far been presented.

--v. 5 phase in. (gradually) introduce, usher in, work in, inject, insert, insinuate, include, incorporate: The new work schedules will be phased in over the next month. 6 phase out. ease out or off, taper off, wind up, put a stop to, (gradually) eliminate, remove, withdraw, discontinue, end: The use of

non-biodegradable and non-recyclable packaging is being phased out.

phenomenal

adj. outstanding, remarkable, exceptional, extraordinary, unusual, freakish, rare, uncommon, singular, unorthodox, unprecedented, unheard-of, unparalleled, unbelievable, incredible, marvellous, wonderful, amazing, astonishing, astounding, staggering, stunning, prodigious, miraculous, fantastic, Colloq mind-boggling, mind-blowing,: She made a phenomenal recovery and can walk again.

phenomenon

n. 1 event, happening, occurrence, incident, occasion, experience, fact: Everyone knows the phenomenon of the souring of milk. 2 wonder, curiosity, spectacle, sight, sensation,

marvel, rarity, exception, miracle, Slang stunner: An eight-year-old chess champion is truly a phenomenon, even in Russia.

philanderer

n. flirt, gallant, rou‚, rake, Casanova, Lothario, Don Juan, Romeo, lover, playboy, gay dog, Colloq lady-killer, womanizer, Old-fashioned wolf, Slang stud: In his memoirs it emerged what a philanderer he had been, often dallying with six women at once.

philanthropic

adj. charitable, eleemosynary, generous, magnanimous, munificent, benevolent, open-handed, ungrudging, unstinting, beneficent, humanitarian, altruistic, humane: Finlay was always philanthropic, and spent much of his fortune on worthy causes.

philanthropist

n. contributor, donor, benefactor or benefactress, patron or patroness, sponsor, Maecenas, Good Samaritan, humanitarian, altruist: Some anonymous philanthropist provided the funds for the new school swimming-pool.

philanthropy

n. 1 generosity, benevolence, charity, patronage, magnanimity, charitableness, public-spiritedness, big-heartedness, thoughtfulness, alms-giving, kind-heartedness, beneficence, benignity, liberality, open-handedness: Carnegie's philanthropy was focused on libraries and education. 2 donation,

contribution, largesse, aid, grant, assistance, help: Mrs Ander's recent philanthropy allows us to offer six new scholarships.

philistine

n. 1 boor, barbarian, yahoo, lowbrow, Boeotian, vulgarian, ignoramus, bourgeois, US Babbitt: Charlotte never could abide the philistines who put love of money above love of culture.

--adj. 2 uncultured, uncultivated, tasteless, commonplace, unenlightened, unrefined, unread, unlettered, uneducated, untutored, unlearned, narrow-minded, anti-intellectual, boorish, lowbrow, dull, prosaic, boring, bourgeois, crass, commercial, materialistic: The television companies were accused of pandering to the basest appetites of the philistine viewer.

philosophical

adj. 1 philosophic, abstract, esoteric, learned, scholarly, erudite, theoretical, rational, logical, impractical: The person who is out of a job cares nothing about philosophical

reasons for unemployment. 2 detached, unconcerned, unemotional, unimpassioned, composed, thoughtful, reflective, meditative, cogitative, contemplative, judicious, sober, level-headed,

realistic, practical, pragmatic(al), down-to-earth, cool, calm, serene, placid, stoical, patient, unruffled, cool-headed, tranquil, unperturbed, even-tempered, temperate, moderate,

equable, equanimous, imperturbable: Over the years, Evelyn had learned to take a philosophical attitude towards her husband's shortcomings.

philosophy

n. 1 metaphysics, epistemology, logic, natural or moral or metaphysical philosophy, rationalism, thinking, aesthetics: He views philosophy as the attempt to describe and codify universal truths. 2 viewpoint, (point of) view, outlook, opinion,

attitude, feeling, sentiment, idea, notion, ideology, (set of) beliefs or values, tenets, Weltanschauung, world-view: Harold's philosophy of life is 'Live and let live'. 3 stoicism,

sang-froid, control, self-control, restraint, coolness, composure, calmness, serenity, placidity, cool-headedness, equanimity, thoughtfulness, imperturbability, self-possession,

aplomb, dispassion, patience, resignation: You may be sure that Paul allows nothing to disturb his philosophy.

phlegmatic

adj. 1 phlegmatical, stoic(al), unemotional, unenthusiastic, unanimated, sluggish, apathetic, uninvolved, lethargic, unfeeling, uncaring, cold, unresponsive, stolid, unmoved, insensitive, unaffected, insensible, indifferent, unconcerned, uninterested, listless, torpid, indolent, inactive, passive,

Rare hebetudinous: Hutton is far too phlegmatic to be stirred by the fervour of the revolutionaries. 2 phlegmatical, self-possessed, self-controlled, controlled, restrained, composed, calm, serene, tranquil, placid, cool-headed, equanimous, cool, undisturbed, unperturbed, unruffled, imperturbable, even-tempered, philosophical, temperate, moderate: One has to learn to be phlegmatic about things going wrong at the office.

phobia n. fear, horror, terror, dread, hatred, detestation, abhorrence, loathing, execration, aversion, revulsion, repugnance, dislike, distaste, antipathy; disquiet, nervousness, qualm, distrust, suspicion, apprehension, worry: He suffers from claustrophobia, which means that he has a phobia for enclosed places, and he avoids lifts and telephone booths.

phoney adj. 1 unreal, fake, synthetic, artificial, factitious, false, fraudulent, imitation, bogus, spurious, counterfeit, mock, ersatz, paste, trumped up; sham, pretended, insincere, hypocritical, dissimulating, deceitful, dishonest; US also

phony, Colloq pseudo or Brit pseud: They were caught trying to collect insurance on the theft of a string of phoney pearls.

Every time she wanted something, she'd turn on the phoney charm.

--n. 2 fake, fraud, imitation, counterfeit, forgery, hoax,

sham, US also phony: The diamond she's wearing is a phoney. 3 trickster, faker, humbug, impostor, pretender, charlatan, mountebank, double-dealer, counterfeiter, quack, deceiver, US also phony, Colloq Brit pseud, Slang US paper-hanger: Madame Tatiana claims to be able to communicate with the dead, but I think she's a phoney.

photograph

n. 1 snapshot, print, picture, slide, transparency; negative, positive, Colloq photo, snap, shot, pic (pl. pix): Heinrich has taken some marvellous photographs of the children.

--v. 2 take a picture (of), shoot, film, take, Colloq snap: He photographed Jennifer holding her kitten.

photographer

n. lensman, lenswoman, cameraman, camerawoman, cinematographer, paparazzo (pl., paparazzi), Old-fashioned photographist: The photographers clustered round the prime minister.

photographic

adj. 1 vivid, natural, realistic, graphic, accurate, exact, precise, faithful, detailed, lifelike, true to life: Many such neo-realist paintings are virtually photographic. 2 cinematic,

filmic, pictorial: Uncannily, a photographic image appeared on the Shroud under certain light.

phrase n. 1 clause, noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, adjectival phrase: When asked for an example of a verb phrase, the student responded, 'Shut up'. 2

expression, word-group, collocation, locution, idiom, idiomatic expression, collocution, proverb, motto, slogan, saying, catch-phrase, adage, maxim, axiom, saw, colloquialism, clich‚, platitude, commonplace, Colloq chestnut: Do you know the source of Churchill's famous phrase, 'Blood, sweat, and tears'? 3 phraseology, phrasing, wording, language, usage, way or manner of speaking, diction, parlance, fa‡on de parler, modus loquendi, modus scribendi, speech habit, style, choice of words, word choice, syntax, vocabulary: He was to 'let slip', to use Shakespeare's phrase, 'the dogs of war'.

--v. 4 express, term, word, put, frame, formulate, couch, put into words, put or set forth, verbalize, articulate, voice,

utter, say, write; describe, delineate: I am pondering over the best way to phrase this example.

physical adj. bodily, corporeal, corporal, fleshly, incarnate, carnal, mortal, earthly, natural, somatic; material, tangible, palpable, real, actual, true, concrete, manifest, solid: Curtis doesn't have the physical strength to lift that weight. As a chemist, James deals with the physical, not the spiritual universe.

physician n. doctor, medical doctor, M.D., doctor of medicine, medical practitioner, general practitioner, G.P., medical man or woman,

specialist, diplomate, Brit navy surgeon, Colloq doc, medico, medic, US man, Slang sawbones, bones: You ought to see a physician if the pain persists.

physique n. build, figure, body, frame, shape, bodily structure, form, Slang chassis, US bod, built: She has the physique of an Amazon but the disposition of a lamb.

16.4 pick...

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move ahead, increase, Colloq make a comeback: Business usually picks up before Christmas. g accelerate, speed up: The pace picked up as they approached the finish line. h arrest,

apprehend, take into custody, Colloq pinch, collar, nab, bust, run in, pull in, Brit nick: Two men were picked up trying to break into the bank. i call for, give a lift or ride to,

collect, go for or US also after, go to get: I'll pick you up at the railway station at noon. j meet, introduce oneself to, strike up an acquaintance with, accost, make advances to: I

think she picked him up in a wine bar. k catch, come down with, contract, get: He picked up a mystery virus in the Tropics.

--n. 9 selection, choice, option, preference: She could have had the pick of any man in the place. Take your pick. 10 choicest, best, crŠme de la crŠme, cream: The early shoppers had already taken the pick of the crop.

picket n. 1 stake, pale, post, peg, stanchion, upright, vertical, palisade, paling: The walls of the fort were of strong pickets tapered to a point at the top. 2 demonstrator, protester, striker: The police prevented the pickets from attacking

workers who entered the factory. 3 picquet, sentinel, watchman, guard, observer, patrol, vedette or vidette or vedette boat:

The picket reported no unusual activity.

--v. 4 enclose, shut in, wall in, fence (in), hem in, box in: We picketed the camp for the night. 5 protest, demonstrate, blockade: Strikers picketed the factory 24 hours a day.

picnic n. 1 garden party, fˆte champˆtre, meal alfresco, barbecue, US clam-bake, US and Canadian cookout: The clouds had gone, and it was a great day for a picnic. 2 child's play, Colloq pushover,

snap, cinch, piece of cake, walk-over, US and Canadian breeze, lead-pipe cinch: Sailing home with a quartering wind - it was a picnic all the way. 3 no picnic. difficult, arduous, torture, torturous, agony, agonizing, painful, disagreeable,

discomfiting, misfortune, Colloq tough, tough luck, tough going, rough, a pain in the neck, US tough sledding, Taboo slang pain in the Brit arse or US ass: Being marooned on a desert island for a month was no picnic, I assure you.

pictorial adj. 1 graphic, picturesque, vivid, telling, striking, expressive, plain, explicit, clear, lucid: Many of the poet's

images are amazingly pictorial. 2 illustrated: They published a pictorial history of biblical lands just for children.

picture n. 1 drawing, painting, representation, portrait, depiction, artwork, illustration, sketch, photograph: Here is a picture of our cottage in the Cotswolds. 2 image, (perfect or exact) likeness, (carbon) copy, double, duplicate, twin, (exact) replica, look-alike, facsimile, Colloq spitting image or spit and image, Slang (dead) ringer: Isn't she just the picture of her mother? 3 impression, idea, notion, understanding, image: I think I have a pretty good picture of the situation. 4 model, prototype, epitome, essence, embodiment, incarnation,

personification, perfect example: From her autobiography, you might believe her to be the picture of sweet innocence. 5 put (someone) in or into the picture. inform or advise fully, Colloq fill (someone) in: Put me into the picture about what went on here last night.

--v. 6 envision, envisage, visualize, imagine, fancy, conceive of, see in the mind's eye: Picture yourself lying on a beach in the Bahamas. 7 depict, draw, portray, paint, represent, show, illustrate, display: In this fresco, Salome is pictured dancing before Herod Antipas.

picturesque

adj. 1 colourful, interesting, intriguing, unusual, unique, original, charming, idyllic, fetching, attractive, pretty, lovely, quaint, delightful, pleasing, scenic: We came upon a

picturesque village in which all the houses were half-timbered Tudor style with thatched roofs. 2 colourful, graphic, realistic, vivid, striking: Bernard has written a picturesque account of a walking trip through Bavaria.

piece n. 1 bit, morsel, scrap, chunk, hunk, sliver, lump, portion, particle, fragment, shred, shard or sherd, remnant, quantity:

All the beggar wanted was a piece of bread. A piece of shrapnel is still embedded in my arm. 2 wedge, slice, serving, helping, portion: You may not have a piece of pie till you've eaten your vegetables. 3 share, portion, fraction, part, division,

segment, section, interest, holding, percentage, proportion: It turned out that a piece of the company had been sold without shareholders' approval. 4 (short) story, article, essay, report, theme, draft; poem; music, opus, (musical) number, composition,

spear, spit, run through or into, skewer, impale, fix, transfix: The arrow pierced his heart and he dropped down dead. 2 bore into or through, penetrate, drill, perforate, riddle, punch through, hole, tunnel into: The wall is pierced to provide ventilation. 3 penetrate, fathom, see, understand, comprehend,, grasp, discover, realize: His keen analytical mind allowed him to pierce the mysteries of nature. 4 affect (keenly), touch, move, melt, stir, rouse, pain, cut to the quick, wound, strike:

It pierced my heart to hear the child weep.

piercing adj. 1 strident, shrill, harsh, ear-splitting, ear-shattering, high-pitched, screaming, shrieking, screeching, loud, blaring: The piercing sound of the police siren made me sit bolt-upright in bed. 2 probing, searching, penetrating, sharp, keen; arresting, gripping, spellbinding, enthralling, fascinating, entrancing: I was completely transfixed by her piercing green eyes. 3 penetrating, icy, frosty, frigid, chilling, freezing,

cold, numbing, keen, wintry, arctic, raw, bitter, fierce, biting, nipping, nippy: Shivering in that piercing wind I thought I'd never be warm again. 4 stabbing, shooting, excruciating, exquisite, acute, sharp, severe, agonizing, fierce, intense, painful, racking: I suddenly felt a piercing pain in my left ear.