The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfpreacher n. minister, evangelist, clergyman, clergywoman, cleric, ecclesiastic, reverend, divine, Colloq tub-thumper: He studied for many years to become a preacher.
preamble n. introduction, foreword, prologue, preface, Formal proem, prolegomenon, exordium: As a preamble to today's proceedings, I should like to welcome our honoured guests.
precarious
adj. uncertain, unreliable, unsure, risky, hazardous, unpredictable, insecure, unstable, unsteady, unsettled, shaky, doubtful, dubious, questionable, tricky, delicate, ticklish, sensitive, slippery, touch-and-go, (hanging) in the balance, hanging by a thread, Damoclean, perilous, treacherous, dangerous, difficult, problematic, Colloq chancy, Brit dodgy, dicey, US iffy, Slang hairy: If sales continue to drop, the company will be in precarious condition. We followed a precarious trail down the mountainside.
precaution
n. 1 provision, preventive measure, safety measure, safeguard, insurance, protection, cover, escape: Unfortunately, he had failed to take any precautions against storm damage. 2 foresight, prudence, providence, forethought, caution, cautiousness, circumspection, care, attention, watchfulness, vigilance, alertness, wariness, chariness, apprehension, far-sightedness, anticipation: Precaution is wiser than hindsight.
precede v. come or go or proceed before or first, go ahead or in advance (of), lead (the way), pave the way (for), herald, usher in, introduce, antecede; foreshadow, antedate, predate: His wife preceded him into the room. The Decameron preceded The Canterbury Tales by about fifty years.
precedence
n. precedency, priority, pre-eminence, superiority, supremacy, preference, privilege, prerogative, importance, rank, position, primacy: Your school work must take precedence over football practice.
precedent n. prototype, model, example, exemplar, pattern, paradigm, yardstick, criterion, standard, lead: The French considered the
War of American Independence a precedent for their revolution.
preceding adj. foregoing, former, previous, above, prior, earlier, above-mentioned, aforementioned, above-stated, above-named: The defendant in the preceding action was remanded in custody for a week.
precept n. 1 rule, guide, principle, unwritten law, canon, guideline, dictate, code, injunction, law, commandment, instruction, injunction, directive, prescription, mandate, charge; statute, regulation, edict, ukase, decree, order, fiat, ordinance: The
Ten Commandments provide basic precepts of moral behaviour. 2 maxim, proverb, axiom, motto, slogan, saying, byword, aphorism, apophthegm or apothegm: Does anyone follow the precepts set forth in Scripture?
precinct n. 1 Usually, precincts. area, territory, region, province, environs, purlieus, borders, bounds, confines: Does he have any authority outside the precincts of the city? 2 sphere, neighbourhood, zone, sector, section, quarter, district, locale:
In some US cities, the area covered by a police station is called a precinct.
precious adj. 1 dear, dearest, costly, expensive, high-priced, valuable, invaluable, prized, priceless, irreplaceable, Colloq pricey:
The entire cabinet was filled with precious jewels. 2 esteemed, choice, cherished, beloved, idolized, adored, loved, valued, prized, revered, venerated, venerable, hallowed: The church keeps its most precious relics in a special vault. 3 precise, exquisite, overrefined, chichi, over-nice, studied, artificial, effete, affected, overdone, pretentious, euphuistic, alembicated, Colloq Brit twee, Slang US cutesy: His style is characterized by somewhat precious language.
precipice n. cliff, escarpment, bluff, crag: We looked nervously over the edge of the precipice at the raging sea below.
precipitate
v. 1 accelerate, hasten, speed (up), advance, hurry, quicken, expedite, bring on or about, trigger, provoke, instigate, incite, facilitate, further, press, push forward: The rise in interest rates precipitated many bankruptcies. 2 hurl, fling,
cast, launch, project: The force of the impact precipitated him
n. prerequisite, stipulation, condition, essential, must, sine qua non, imperative, requirement, proviso, provision, qualification, necessity: The release of the prisoners is a precondition for talks. Is great humanity a precondition of great music, or is it just a matter of the notes?
precursor n. 1 harbinger, herald, vanguard: The glow on the eastern horizon is the precursor of another day. 2 See predecessor, 1, below
predatory adj. 1 predacious or predaceous, carnivorous, preying, raptorial: Despite domestication, dogs and cats are predatory animals. 2 rapacious, ravenous, plundering, robbing, pillaging, marauding, despoiling, looting, piratical, vulturine,
avaricious, greedy, voracious, larcenous, thieving, extortionate, usurious: Predatory pirates once ravaged the
Mediterranean. Keep out of the hands of predatory money-lenders, my son.
predecessor
n. 1 forerunner, predecessor, antecedent: I could not match the accomplishments of my predecessor in this post. 2 forebear, forefather, ancestor, antecedent: Can you name the Tudor predecessors of Elizabeth I?
predestination
n. destiny, future, lot, fortune, kismet, karma; doom, fate; foreordainment, foreordination: Meeting like this must have been predestination.
predetermined
adj. 1 fixed, prearranged, pre-established, set (up), foregone, preplanned, pre-set: A predetermined amount of milk is automatically poured into each cup of coffee. 2 fated, doomed, destined, ordained, foreordained, Colloq cut and dried, Brit on the cards, US in the cards: One gets the feeling that the outcome was predetermined.
predicament
n. dilemma, quandary, difficulty, trial, situation, state, condition, imbroglio, emergency, crisis, impasse, Colloq pickle, jam, fix, pinch, scrape, spot, bind, corner, hole, mess, US box: I was hoping that you might help me out of a very awkward
predicament.
predict v. foretell, prophesy, forecast, foresee, augur, prognosticate, forewarn, presage, vaticinate; portend, foreshadow, foretoken, forebode; intimate, hint, suggest: My mother predicted that there would be moments like this. If only I could predict the winner of the 2.30!
predictable
adj. foreseeable, foreseen, probable, likely, liable, expected, anticipated, (reasonably) sure or certain, Colloq Brit on the cards, US in the cards: Her angry reaction at being dismissed was quite predictable.
prediction
n. forecast, prophecy, augury, prognosis; intimation, hint, suggestion: The weatherman's predictions are more accurate than one might think. The prediction that he might be released the next day did not come true.
predominance
n. predominancy, superiority, influence, dominance, pre-eminence, preponderance, ascendancy, precedence, power, supremacy, hold, sway, hegemony, leadership, mastery, control, dominion, sovereignty, transcendence or transcendency, authority, the upper hand, the whip hand, advantage, the edge: We must re-establish the predominance of intellectual vigour over crass commercialism.
predominant
adj. dominant, predominating, controlling, sovereign, ruling, pre-eminent, preponderant, ascendant, superior, supreme, leading, paramount, main, chief, transcendant, important, telling, influential, primary, prevailing, prevalent: England
was the predominant power in the world during the 19th century. The phlogiston theory was once predominant among scientists.
predominate
v. Often, predominate over. dominate, control, rule, reign, preponderate, outweigh, obtain, prevail, overshadow, get or have the upper hand, lord it over, hold sway, overrule: Though the American president is a Republican, the Democrats predominate in Congress.
pre-eminence
n. 1 See predominance, above. 2 peerlessness, magnificence, excellence, distinction, eminence, inimitability, superiority: There is no gainsaying the pre-eminence of Shakespeare as a poet and playwright.
pre-eminent
adj. 1 See predominant, above. 2 peerless, excellent, distinguished, eminent, inimitable, superb, unequalled, matchless, incomparable, outstanding, unique, unrivalled, unsurpassed, supreme, superior: In her opinion, Craig is the pre-eminent authority on the subject.
pre-eminently
adv. primarily, principally, by far, far and away, manifestly, eminently, notably, conspicuously, prominently, signally, uniquely, extraordinarily, supremely, superbly, matchlessly, incomparably, outstandingly: There is no doubt that Nathalie is pre-eminently qualified to direct the play.
pre-empt v. appropriate, usurp, arrogate, take over, assume, take possession of, seize, acquire, take, possess, expropriate: All the seats on the committee had been pre-empted by the ruling faction.
preen v. 1 trim, clean, plume, groom: The gliding swans stopped now and then to preen their feathers. 2 primp, dress up, titivate
or tittivate, prettify, beautify, prink, spruce up, deck (out), Colloq doll up, Brit tart up: He made Sonia wait while he preened himself before the mirror.
preface n. 1 introduction, foreword, prologue, preamble, Formal proem, prolegomenon, exordium: By way of preface, I should like to say how happy I am to be here. The preface to the book is far too long.
--v. 2 precede, introduce, prefix, begin, open: The speaker prefaced his acceptance speech with a tribute to his predecessor.
prefatory adj. opening, introductory, preliminary, preparatory: Would you like to make a few prefatory remarks introducing this
warp, twist, preconceived notion, predisposition, predilection, jaundiced eye, jaundice: The judge showed an unfortunate prejudice against my client. 2 bigotry, unfairness, bias, partisanship, favouritism, cronyism, discrimination, intolerance, inequality; racism, racialism, apartheid, Jim Crowism, sexism, (male) chauvinism: There is still prejudice against many minority groups in society.
--v. 3 bias, influence, warp, twist, distort, slant; colour, jaundice, poison: Stop trying to prejudice me against the book,
and let me form my own opinion. Are you prejudiced in favour of Anita's getting the job?
prejudiced
adj. 1 unfair, one-sided, biased, jaundiced, opinionated, predisposed, partial, partisan, non-objective, unobjective: The prosecution objected to him as a prejudiced witness. 2 bigoted, intolerant, narrow-minded, closed-minded, parochial, sexist, racist, chauvinistic: We have no room in our organization for people who are prejudiced.
prejudicial
adj. injurious, damaging, detrimental, harmful, unfavourable, inimical, deleterious, disadvantageous, counter-productive, pernicious: Such an investment decision might prove prejudicial to her financial security.
preliminary
adj. 1 advance, prior, introductory, beginning, initial, opening, preparatory, prefatory, preceding, antecedent, forerunning; premonitory; Formal or technical prodromal or prodromic: The preliminary design for the swimming-pool is
ready. After some preliminary remarks, the ceremonies got under way.
--n. 2 introduction, beginning, opening, preparation, groundwork, prelude, precedence; overture: We insist on rigorous training as a preliminary to working in the field. 3 prelims. Rarely, preliminaries. introduction, preface, foreword, preamble, prologue, front matter, Formal proem, exordium, prolegomenon, prodromus, prodrome: The manuscript is finished and we are waiting for the prelims.
premature adj. 1 immature, undeveloped, underdeveloped, unfledged, untimely, unready, early, unripe, green: Much premature fruit has been blown down in the winds. 2 hasty, untimely, ill-timed, too early, too soon, beforehand, unseasonable, overhasty, impulsive, inopportune: The post may be slow, but still I think September a bit premature to send Christmas cards. The discovery that money was missing accounts for his premature departure.
prematurely
adv. 1 untimely, too soon, too early: He died prematurely at the age of 46. 2 rashly, (over-)hastily, at half-cock, half-cocked: She dismissed him prematurely, before he had the time to prove himself. The gun went off prematurely, with no chance to aim it.
premeditated
adj. planned, conscious, intentional, intended, wilful, deliberate, studied, purposive; contrived, preplanned,
calculated, preconceived: The murder was coldly premeditated. I admit to being wrong, and I have no premeditated excuses.
premier n. 1 prime minister, PM, head of state, chief executive, president, chancellor: The premiers of the Commonwealth met at Kuala Lumpur in 1989.
--adj. 2 first, prime, primary, chief, principal, head, main, foremost, top-ranking, highest-ranking, ranking, leading, top, pre-eminent: He is the premier expert in his field.
premiŠre n. 1 premiere, first night, opening (night), debut: The premiŠre of A‹da was at the opening of the Suez Canal.
--v. 2 open, debut: The film will premiŠre at the Festival Cinema tomorrow.
--adj. 3 opening, debut, first, original, initial: The
premiŠre West-End performance is scheduled for May after a provincial tour.
premise n. 1 premiss, assumption, proposition, postulate, hypothesis, conjecture, assertion, supposition, thesis, presupposition, proposal, theorem, surmise, basis, ground: He started out with the premise that time had a beginning and will have an end.