The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfhis argument were considerably weakened by her disarming candour.
sinewy |
adj. strong, powerful, muscular, mighty, stout, wiry, robust, |
tough; strapping, brawny, burly: She looked so tiny and fragile |
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cradled in his huge sinewy arms. |
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sinful |
adj. corrupt, evil, wicked, bad, wrong, wrongful, iniquitous, |
vile, base, profane, immoral, profligate, depraved, criminal, |
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sacrilegious, ungodly, unholy, demonic, irreligious, impious, |
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irreverent: Anything that you like as much as you like |
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chocolate must be sinful. They would never condone such sinful |
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behaviour in our church. |
sing |
v. 1 chant, intone, carol, vocalize, trill, croon, pipe, chirp, |
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warble; chorus; yodel: It was a wonderful spring day and |
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Barbara felt like singing. Can you sing On the Road to Mandalay |
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? 2 whistle, pipe, peep: I have just bought a singing kettle. |
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3 tell, tattle, name names, Slang rat, snitch, squeal, blow the |
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whistle, peach, spill the beans: They found out that Johnny had |
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been singing to the cops about the bank job. |
singe |
v. char, blacken, sear, scorch, burn: Unfortunately, I singed |
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the tail of my shirt while ironing it. |
singer |
n. vocalist, soloist, songster, crooner, chanteuse, |
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nightingale, minstrel, troubadour, balladeer, caroller, |
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chorister, choirboy, choir girl, choir member, chorus-boy, |
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chorus girl, chorus-member, Colloq songbird, canary, thrush: |
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She used to be a professional singer. |
single |
adj. 1 unmarried, unwed, unattached, free; celibate: She |
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remained single till she was twenty-two. 2 singular, |
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individual, distinct, solitary; one, only, sole, lone, unique, |
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isolated: There wasn't a single person there who could think |
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for himself. A single shot rang out. 3 separate, distinct, |
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individual, solitary: Every single hair is rooted in its |
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follicle. |
--v. 4 single out. select, choose, pick, separate, take or put or set aside or apart, distinguish, cull, segregate, fix or fasten on: Why was she singled out for special treatment?
single-handed
adj. 1 solo, lone, solitary, independent, unaided, unassisted: Chichester was the first winner of the single-handed transatlantic sailing race.
--adv. 2 single-handedly, by oneself, alone, solo, on one's own, independently: He sailed round the world single-handed.
single-minded
adj. dedicated, devoted, resolute, steadfast, persevering, firm, determined, dogged, unswerving, unwavering, tireless, purposeful: Single-minded perseverance saw him through the completion of the work in eight years.
singly adv. one at a time, separately, individually, one by one, successively, one after the other, seriatim: Taken singly, the facts are not hard to assimilate.
singular adj. 1 unusual, different, atypical, eccentric, extraordinary, remarkable, special, uncommon, strange, odd, peculiar, bizarre, outlandish, curious, queer, outr‚, offbeat, Slang far-out:
Ideas that yesterday were considered singular have today become quite commonplace. 2 outstanding, prominent, eminent, pre-eminent, noteworthy, significant, important, conspicuous, particular, notable, signal, exceptional, superior: Stempel
made a singular contribution to the development of microscopy. 3 lone, isolated, single, separate, uncommon, rare, unique, distinct, one of a kind: Some medieval philosophers denied the existence of general realities, and claimed that all things that exist were particular and singular.
singularity
n. 1 individuality, distinctiveness, uniqueness, idiosyncrasy: Personality demonstrates its singularity even in handwriting. 2 eccentricity, peculiarity, strangeness, oddness, queerness, outlandishness, uncommonness: The singularity of the marriage ceremony among these tribes was often remarked on by anthropologists. 3 Technical black hole: The ultimate collapse of the star results, theoretically, in a singularity.
sinister adj. 1 fateful, inauspicious, unfavourable, foreboding, threatening, menacing, minacious, minatory or minatorial, portentous, ominous, unpropitious, disastrous, dark, gloomy:
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There was a sinister meaning in the look he gave her. 2 evil, |
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bad, corrupt, base, malevolent, malignant, malign, harmful, |
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pernicious, treacherous, nefarious, wicked, diabolic(al), |
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baleful, villainous, insidious, sneaky, furtive, underhand(ed): |
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The poor girl fell under the sinister influence of a real-life |
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Svengali. |
sink |
v. 1 founder, submerge, go down, go under, plunge, descend, be |
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engulfed: The ship was struck below the water-line and sank in |
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minutes. 2 subside, cave in, collapse, subside, settle, drop, |
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fall in, go down, slip away: The earth suddenly sank beneath |
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our feet. 3 descend, go down, drop, fall, move down or |
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downward(s), go down to or on: The parachute slowly sank to the |
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ground. When he saw the statue move, he sank to his knees, |
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terrified. 4 decline, weaken, worsen, degenerate, subside, |
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deteriorate, flag, fail, diminish, die, expire; languish; Colloq |
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go downhill: Grandfather, sinking fast, summoned the family to |
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his bedside. 5 disappear, vanish, fade away, evaporate; set, go |
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down, descend, drop: After a meteoric rise, many rock stars |
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sink into oblivion. As the sun sank slowly in the west, we |
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returned to our hotel to reminisce about our day at the |
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pyramids. 6 settle, precipitate, descend, drop: After a few |
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minutes, the sand sinks to the bottom. 7 bore, put down, drill, |
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dig, excavate, drive: A special shaft will be sunk just for |
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ventilating the mine. 8 submerge, immerse, plunge: He sank his |
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hand deep into the mud and came up with a small box. 9 stoop, |
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bend, get, go, lower or humble oneself: I never dreamt that he |
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would sink so low as to beg in the streets. 10 invest, venture, |
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risk, put: He sank his life's savings into his son's business, |
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only to see it go bankrupt. 11 sink in. be understood, |
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penetrate, register, make an impression on, get through to: How |
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many times do I have to tell you in order for it to sink in? |
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--n. 12 basin, wash-basin, wash-bowl, lavabo; Church font, |
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stoup, piscina: The kitchen has a large double sink. 13 |
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cesspool, cesspit, pit, hell-hole, den of iniquity, sink-hole, |
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Colloq dive: We found him playing piano in some sink frequented |
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by the worst element of society. |
sinking adj. 1 queasy, nervous, uneasy, tense, apprehensive, unquiet, fretful, shaky, jittery, jumpy, anxious: Just thinking about
the way they treat hostages gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. 2 depressed, dejected, miserable, dolorous,
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doleful, mournful, forlorn, woeful, desolate, despairing, |
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stricken, heavy-laden: I had a sudden sinking feeling when she |
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announced that she had something important to tell me. |
sinner |
n. transgressor, wrongdoer, miscreant, offender, evil-doer, |
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malefactor, reprobate, Biblical or archaic trespasser: Few |
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people nowadays believe that sinners are punished in hell for |
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all eternity. |
sip |
v. 1 taste, sample, sup: She was sitting on a bar stool, |
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sipping a cocktail. |
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--n. 2 taste, sample, soup‡on, drop, bit, swallow, mouthful, |
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spoonful, thimbleful, nip, dram, Colloq swig: She took a sip, |
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savoured it, then turned to me with a smile. |
siren |
n. 1 whistle, warble, wailer, horn, foghorn; signal, alarm, |
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warning, alert, tocsin: The air raid siren sounded and everyone |
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ran for shelter. 2 temptress, seductress, enchantress, charmer, |
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sorceress, femme fatale, Circe, Lorelei, Colloq vamp, US |
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mantrap: Have you seen the latest siren to whom John has fallen |
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prey? |
sissy |
n. milksop, mama's boy, mummy's boy, namby-pamby, weakling, |
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baby, cry-baby, mollycoddle, US milquetoast, Colloq softie or |
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softy, Brit wet: The boy you remember from school as a sissy is |
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now a football star. |
sit |
v. 1 be seated, settle, sit down, take a seat, rest, Colloq |
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take the weight or a load off one's feet: Come in and sit with |
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me for a while. If you sit on that chair it will break. 2 hold a |
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session, be in session, assemble, meet, convene; gather, get |
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together: The Supreme Court of the United States will be |
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sitting next week. 3 Often, sit on. have or hold or occupy a |
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seat (on), participate (in), be a member (of): Kathy sits on |
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the board of directors. 4 remain, stay, lie, rest; relax, mark |
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time, abide, dwell: Let the dough sit a while to rise. Anita |
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sat in Vienna awaiting her instructions. 5 seat, contain, hold, |
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accommodate, have seats or seating for, have room or space or |
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capacity for seating: The auditorium sits only 600. 6 sit in. |
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a Often, sit in on. play, join (in), participate (in), take part |
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(in); observe, watch: Mind if I sit in on your poker game? We |
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invited Mary Lou to sit in during our discussion. b substitute, |
fill in, stand in, double, Colloq cover, sub, US pinch-hit: Mary Lou often sat in for our pianist if he had another gig. 7 sit out. wait out, outwait, outstay, outlast, outlive, last through, live through: Will sat out endless dances. He sat out
the whole evening merely waiting to walk home with Lily. 8 sit tight. wait, hang back, hold back, be patient, bide (one's)
time, play a waiting game, take no action, delay, temporize, Colloq hold (one's) horses: Just sit tight till you hear from them - don't jump the gun. 9 sit up. awaken, pay attention, notice, become alert or interested or concerned: Jennie's performance in the hurdles made many track coaches sit up. 10 sit (with). Often, sit well or right (with). agree with, be agreeable to; seem, appear, look: The way Ashton handled the matter did not sit well with the directors.
site n. 1 location, place, plot, plat, spot, locale, area, milieu, neighbourhood, locality, purlieus, placement, position; situation, orientation: A site near that of ancient Pergamum has been acquired for the building. The site alongside the river has much to recommend it.
--v. 2 locate, position, place, put, situate, install or
instal: The building has been sited to take maximum advantage of the sun.
situate v. place in a position or situation or location, place, position, locate, set, spot, put, install or instal: Harwood is very well situated to learn what the high command is planning. The greenhouse should be situated on the south side of the house.
situation n. 1 place, position, location, spot, site, locale, setting:
The situation of the monastery, high on the mountain, makes it almost inaccessible. 2 state (of affairs), condition, circumstances, case, status (quo), lay of the land, picture; plight, predicament; Colloq ball game; kettle of fish: The present situation calls for careful planning. The chancellor's policies have done little to improve the economic situation. 3 position, place, job, employment, post, Colloq berth: Jenkins likes his new situation as Lord Fortescue's valet.
size |
n. 1 magnitude, largeness, bigness, bulk, extent, scope, range, |
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dimensions, proportions, measurement(s), expanse, area, square |
footage, volume, mass, weight; hugeness, immensity, greatness, vastness, enormousness: How do astronomers determine the distance and size of stellar objects? A shape of extraordinary size suddenly loomed up in the darkness.
--v. 2 dimension, measure: The furnishings are sized in proportion to these miniature room displays. 3 size up. assess, judge, evaluate, measure, take the measure of, appraise, assay, make an estimate of, estimate, value, gauge, rate: She looked him up and down, sizing him up as a prospective husband.
19.6 sketchily...
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sketchily adv. cursorily, superficially, incompletely, patchily, roughly, perfunctorily, skimpily, vaguely, imperfectly, crudely, hastily, hurriedly: His account of the event was sketchily written.
sketchy adj. cursory, superficial, incomplete, patchy, rough, perfunctory, skimpy, imperfect, crude, hasty, hurried, vague, ill-defined, fuzzy, indistinct, inexact, imprecise, unrefined, unpolished, rough-hewn, unfinished: We received only sketchy reports of what was going on in the capital. This will do as a sketchy outline, but eventually the details will need to be
filled in.
skilful adj. skilled, accomplished, adept, adroit, dexterous, expert, proficient, masterly, masterful, gifted, apt, able, clever, talented, capable, professional, trained, qualified, experienced, practised: Julio is a skilful enough driver to race tomorrow. I have to admire the skilful way he handles people.
skill n. 1 talent, ability, aptitude, expertness, expertise, facility, skilfulness, art, artistry, cleverness, adeptness, adroitness, mastery, dexterity, handiness, ingenuity, experience, proficiency, finesse, knack, quickness, deftness, technique: It requires great skill to operate this machine. 2 accomplishment, forte, strength, gift, capability, know-how, faculty: Her skill is in teaching others how to be skilful sales people.
skim |
v. 1 Often, skim off. separate, cream, scoop or ladle off, take |
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off, remove: After the water has come to a boil, skim off the |
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scum that has collected on top. 2 Often, skim through or over. |
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scan, flip or thumb or leaf through, skip through, glance at or |
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through, dip into: I only had time to skim through your report, |
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but at a glance it looks good. 3 soar, glide, skate, slide, |
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sail, fly: Along came Calabro on his sailboard, skimming along |
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the tops of the waves. |
skin |
n. 1 epidermis, derma, integument, hide, pelt, fleece, fell: |
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Her skin reddens in the sun. How many skins are needed to make a |
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coat? 2 coat, film, coating, crust, incrustation, husk, peel, |
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rind, outside, shell, pellicle, veneer, outer layer, lamina, |
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overlay: The frame is first covered with a tough plastic skin |
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to make it waterproof. |
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--v. 3 flay, strip, decorticate, excoriate: I shall skin that |
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boy alive if I catch him! 4 peel, hull, husk, shell: This |
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machine skins the fruit automatically. 5 abrade, scrape, graze, |
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bark: She skinned her knee on the edge of the coffee table. |
skin-deep adj. superficial, shallow, surface, slight, external, unimportant, trivial, unprofound, insubstantial: The impression he makes on people is only skin-deep.
skinny adj. thin, underweight, gaunt, bony, scraggy, lank, lanky,
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gangly, gangling, raw-boned, meagre, spare, emaciated, |
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half-starved, undernourished, spare, pinched, hollow-cheeked, |
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wasted, shrunken: Two skinny children were clinging to their |
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mother's skirts. |
skip |
v. 1 leap, cavort, caper, gambol, frisk, prance, jump, hop, |
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romp, bound, dance: Eleanor came skipping down the walk to the |
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house. 2 omit, leave out, pass by, overlook, pass over, avoid, |
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ignore, disregard, steer clear of, cut: In my haste, I skipped |
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over your name. Please skip the reading of the roll today. |
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--n. 3 leap, cavort, caper, gambol, frisk, prance, jump, bound, |
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dance, hop, romp: He had a curious way of walking, giving a |
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little skip before each step. 4 lacuna, gap, omission, |
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avoidance, disregard; miss, Colloq go-by: There was a skip of |
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32 pages after page 64. If you take my advice, you will give |
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that restaurant a skip. |
skipper n. captain, master, commander; boss, leader, chief: The skipper gave orders to put him in irons.
skirmish n. 1 fight, encounter, fray, brush, clash, engagement, confrontation, showdown, combat, battle, conflict, struggle, set-to, contest, scrimmage, fracas, tussle, mˆl‚e or melee, Law affray, Colloq scrap, dust-up, Brit scrum: There was a brief skirmish when the troops met a band of partisans.
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--v. 2 fight, clash, struggle, battle, tussle, clash: At the |
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edge of the convoy a destroyer skirmished with a submarine. |
sky |
n. 1 heaven(s), skies, arch or vault of heaven, firmament, |
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(wild) blue (yonder), ether, Archaic or literary welkin, |
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empyrean, azure: The dour, overcast sky gave the bleak moor a |
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chilling sense of foreboding. 2 to the skies. overly, |
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excessively, extravagantly, fulsomely, profusely, inordinately, |
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highly: If I praise him to the skies people will get the idea |
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that I benefit from his success. |
19.7 slab...
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slab |
n. slice, wedge, piece, hunk, chunk, tranche, Colloq Brit |
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wodge: The keeper threw a large slab of meat into the lion's |
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cage. |
slack |
adj. 1 remiss, careless, indolent, negligent, lax, lazy, idle, |
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neglectful, delinquent, inattentive, otiose, dilatory, |
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cunctatory, laggard, easygoing, slothful, sluggish, lethargic, |
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shiftless, do-nothing, fain‚ant, Colloq asleep at the switch or |
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the wheel, asleep on the job: Production has fallen off because |
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the workers are getting slack. 2 loose, flabby, flaccid, soft, |
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limp, baggy, drooping, droopy, bagging, sagging, floppy: The |
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flag hung down, slack in the still air. |
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--v. 3 Often, slack or slacken off or up. a let go, let run, |
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let loose, release, slacken, loose, loosen, relax, ease (out or |
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off), let up (on): Slack off the stern line a bit. b slow |
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(down or up), delay, reduce speed, tire, decline, decrease, |
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diminish, moderate, abate, weaken: Barnes could not keep up his |
terrific pace and is beginning to slack off. Business has slackened off since Christmas. 4 neglect, shirk, Colloq Brit skive (off), US goof off, Chiefly military gold-brick, Taboo slang US fuck the dog: Don't let the foreman find you slacking.
--n. 5 lull, pause, inactivity, cut-back, lessening, reduction, abatement, drop-off, downturn, diminution, decline, fall-off, decrease, dwindling: How do you compensate for the slack in sales of ski equipment during the summer? 6 room, looseness, slackness, play, give: There's too much slack in that mooring line.
slacker |
n. shirker, loafer, idler, Slang Brit skiver, Military |
scrimshanker, US gold brick, goof-off: We have tight deadlines |
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to meet, so there is no room for slackers on the team. |
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slake |
v. satisfy, quench, gratify, allay, assuage, ease, relieve: |
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Nothing would slake my thirst better right now than a pint of |
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ice-cold lager. |
slam |
v. 1 shut, fling closed, bang: Gillian said that she hated |
encyclopedias, and slammed the door in the salesman's face. 2 crash, smash, smack, dash, ram, bang, slap: Not looking where he was going, Newland slammed his car into a street lamp. 3 criticize, attack, vilify, pillory, run down, disparage,
denigrate, denounce, put down, flay, pounce on or upon, Colloq shoot down, pan, Chiefly Brit slate: The critics slammed his play because of the way it portrayed women.
slander n. 1 defamation (of character), calumny, obloquy, misrepresentation, slur, vilification; libel: He spread lies about me and I am suing him for slander.
--v. 2 defame, calumniate, disparage, slur, traduce, malign, smear, vilify, decry; libel: He must be stopped from slandering people and ruining their reputations.
slanderous
adj. defamatory, calumnious, disparaging, smear, deprecatory, depreciative, discrediting, decrying; libellous: I understand that she made some slanderous remarks about your relationship with your ex-wife.
slant |
n. 1 angle, viewpoint, (point of) view, standpoint, approach, |
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twist, idea, aspect, attitude: The article reflects a new slant |
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on why governments are sometimes out of touch with the |
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electorate. 2 bias, prejudice, partiality, one-sidedness, turn, |
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bent: Carla's reporting has a feminist slant which occasionally |
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distorts the facts. 3 slope, incline, tilt, ramp, gradient, |
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pitch, lean, leaning, deflection, angle, rake, cant, camber: A |
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window sill normally has an outward slant. The road has a slant |
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downwards to the right on right-hand curves. |
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--v. 4 tilt, angle, incline, pitch, cant, slope, bend, lean, |
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list, tip, bevel, shelve: The land slants downwards near the |
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lake. Notice how his writing slants upwards at the ends of the |
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lines. Cut the edges to slant outwards. 5 bend, distort, |
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deviate, twist, warp, colour, weight, bias: The editor slanted |
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the story to put the minister in a favourable light. |
slap |
v. 1 smack, cuff, whack, rap; spank; Colloq clout, wallop: He |
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said something extremely rude so she slapped him. 2 flap, slat, |
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whip, beat, bat: Can't you stop that blind from slapping in the |
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wind? 3 fling, toss, splash, hurl, throw, sling: If you slap |
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some paint on it, no one will know the difference. |
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--n. 4 smack, blow, cuff, whack, rap, Colloq clout, wallop: He |
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got a hard slap on the cheek for using foul language. 5 Often, |
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slap in the face. reprimand, reproof, rebuff, criticism, |
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censure, rebuke, shot, thrust, attack, put-down, insult, |
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offence, smack in the eye: The speaker's reference to Anne's |
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paper as 'trivial' was a severe slap in the face. |
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--adv. 6 slap on. exactly, directly, precisely, straight, |
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point-blank, right, squarely, plumb, smack, bang: As usual, |
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Barry's comments were slap on the mark. |
slash |
v. 1 cut, gash, hack, score, slit, knife, lacerate; wound; |
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scar: The guide slashed away at the undergrowth with his |
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machete. 2 lash, whip, scourge, flog, beat, horsewhip, flail, |
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flagellate, flay, lambaste, thrash, beat: In those days, a |
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convicted felon was beaten and slashed in front of a crowd in |
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the market-place. 3 cut, reduce, decrease, drop, mark down, |
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trim, lower: Prices were slashed to clear out last season's |
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styles. |