The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

of, substitute for: The 286 computers have been superseded by 386 models.

supervise v. oversee, overlook, watch (over), manage, run, control, superintend, govern, direct, be in or have charge (of), handle, keep an eye on, administer: They are moving you up to supervise the production department.

supervisor

n. overseer, foreman, manager, controller, superintendent, superior, governor, director, boss, chief, head, administrator: As supervisor, you are responsible for the work done in your department.

supervisory

adj. managerial, administrative, executive: Do you think that Len is ready for supervisory responsibilities?

supine adj. 1 flat (on one's back), lying (down), prostrate,

recumbent, Formal or technical procumbent, accumbent, decumbent: When I found him, he was supine, staring up at the stars. 2 indolent, lazy, lethargic, idle, listless, indifferent,

apathetic, unconcerned, uninterested, torpid, languid, languorous, sluggish, slothful, phlegmatic, lymphatic, lackadaisical, inert, inactive, passive, motionless, inanimate, spiritless, abject: During the entire crisis, the town council was completely supine and uncaring.

supplant v. replace, displace, oust, turn out, eject, remove, expel, dismiss, unseat, supersede, substitute, exchange: The council should be supplanted by a new group more sympathetic to the needs of the people.

supple adj. 1 flexible, flexile, pliant, bendable, elastic, resilient, pliable, tractile, fictile: He made a rug-beater out of some supple lengths of bamboo. 2 willowy, lithe, limber, nimble, pliant, lissom or lissome, graceful, athletic: She has the supple body of a dancer. 3 tractable, compliant, yielding,

accommodating, obliging, complaisant, acquiescent, submissive, unresistant, unresisting, servile, obsequious, ingratiating, fawning, toadying: With supple words the miserable sycophant wormed his way into father's confidence.

supplement

n. 1 addendum, addition, appendix, epilogue, end-piece, postscript, appendage, extension, continuation, adjunct, annexe, appurtenance, accessory, codicil, insert, sequel; supplementation; Technical suppletion: The later version includes the 1909 supplement.

--v. 2 add (on or to), extend, augment; complement: Various scholars supplemented the earlier work with their own notes and comments. He supplements his income by working at a restaurant.

supplementary

adj. 1 additional, added, annexed, adjunct, new: The supplementary buildings increased the size of the hospital greatly. 2 supplemental, supportive, contributory, ancillary, secondary, subordinate, annexed, additional, attached, added, appended, subsidiary, adscititious; extraneous, adventitious, supervenient, extra, excess; Technical suppletive: The supplementary material expanded the original work five-fold.

supplicant

adj. 1 suppliant, supplicating, entreating, petitioning, supplicatory, beseeching, praying, imploring, solicitous, importunate, begging, mendicant: In 1897, he carved a supplicant group in white marble, now in the Fraser Museum.

--n. 2 suppliant, applicant, petitioner, beseecher, suitor, pleader, aspirant, appellant, plaintiff, beggar, mendicant: He came to me as a supplicant, begging forgiveness for what he had done.

supplication

n. 1 entreaty, petition, prayer, appeal, pleading, plea, suit, solicitation, obsecration, obtestation, impetration: Heeding the pitiful supplications of the beggars, they gave them some money. 2 supplicating, begging, pleading, soliciting, petitioning, entreating, beseeching: All his supplication could not wring a farthing from the old skinflint.

supply v. 1 furnish, provide, give, endow, present, purvey, deliver, come up with, contribute, distribute, sell; stock, accommodate, afford, equip, outfit, gear (up), rig (out), fit (out),

provision, cater to, Chiefly Brit kit out or up; victual: Her

company supplies radios to the army. Her husband's firm supplies the navy with anti-fouling paint. 2 yield, give, contribute,

come up with, deliver, provide, furnish: The farm supplies our basic foods. 3 satisfy, fulfil, replenish, fill: Can you

supply the demand for clothing?

--n. 4 stock, stockpile, store, inventory, quantity, reservoir, reserve, cache, hoard, accumulation, fund: Our supply is big enough to serve the entire area. 5 furnishing, provision, providing, purveying, supplying, distribution, equipping, outfitting, provisioning, delivery, stocking, stockpiling: The supply of microchips on a large scale is beyond our capacity.

support v. 1 back (up), stand by, help, bolster, uphold, brace, strengthen, fortify, buttress, prop (up), shore up, reinforce, boost, champion, assist, take up the cudgels for, aid, promote, forward, second, advance, advocate, stand up for, be supportive (of or in), Colloq stick up for: Peterson agreed to support him in his bid for the presidency. 2 brace, hold up, carry, prop (up); strengthen, shore up, reinforce, fortify, buttress: You need a column to support this beam. 3 tolerate, bear, stand (for), suffer, submit to, undergo, brook, stomach, endure, abide, countenance, face, Brit stick, Colloq put up with: He cannot support the notion that she might be guilty. 4 pay for, fund, maintain, keep, finance, subsidize, underwrite, sponsor, Colloq US bankroll: I can no longer support myself or my family. 5 sustain, withstand, stand, take, bear, tolerate, hold

up under, weather: His legs were too weak to support his own weight. 6 verify, corroborate, authenticate, vouch for, endorse, confirm, affirm, bear out, attest to, certify, substantiate, validate, ratify: Can anyone support his alibi?

--n. 7 help, backing, backup, reinforcement, bolstering, encouragement, reinforcing, fortifying, assistance, aid,

succour, sustenance: Thank you for your support over the years. 8 brace, prop, stay, frame, foundation, underpinning, substructure, truss, beam, column, pillar, strut, guy, guy wire, mainstay, buttress, bolster, reinforcement, supporter: The supports failed under the grandstand and it fell, injuring a

few. Alan was a tremendous support during my illness. 9 sustenance, (living) expenses, keep, maintenance, subsistence, upkeep; finances, funding: Mona is suing David for the support of their child. He lives mainly on government support.

n. assumption, presumption, surmise, belief, thought, fancy, theory, hypothesis, postulate, proposal, proposition: On the supposition that your calculations are correct, we will have made a profit this year.

suppress v. 1 end, discontinue, cut off, cease, stop, terminate, put an end to, halt, prohibit, preclude, prevent, repress, censor, forbid, interdict, block, obstruct, withhold, stifle, inhibit, hinder, arrest: They have been unable to suppress the publication of the book. 2 put down, quell, crush, squelch,

quash, subdue, check, stamp out, snuff out, smother, extinguish, quench, crack down on: The uprising was suppressed with the shooting of the students. 3 keep down, control, keep under control, keep or hold in check, restrain, hold in or back, repress, cover up, conceal, hide, keep quiet or secret, mute, muffle, quiet, silence: Objections to the guest speaker were suppressed at the request of the university's chancellor.

suppression

n. suppressing, ending, end, discontinuation, discontinuing, cutting off, cut-off, cessation, ceasing, surcease, stopping, stop, terminating, termination, halting, halt, prohibiting, prohibition, preclusion, precluding, preventing, prevention, repressing, repression, censoring, censorship, forbidding, forbiddance, interdicting, interdiction, blocking, obstructing, obstruction, withholding, stifling, hindering; putting down, put-down, quelling, crushing, squelching, quashing, subduing, checking, check, stamping out, smothering, snuffing out,

extinguishing, extinction, elimination, quenching, cracking down on, crack-down; control, controlling, restraining, restraint, concealing, concealment, hiding, muting, muffling, quieting, silencing: That constitutes suppression of the freedom of speech. The suppression of heresy is a perennial church problem. Dictators confuse the suppression of ideas with the oppression of people.

supremacist

n. supremist, bigot, racist, racialist, dogmatist, zealot, fanatic: Supremacists' philosophies are based on hatred, not love.

supremacy n. 1 transcendency, pre-eminence, superiority, ascendancy, excellence, primacy, peerlessness, matchlessness,

incomparability, inimitability: Colonialism depends on military supremacy. 2 sovereignty, dominion, sway, mastery, control, dominance, (supreme or absolute) rule or authority, autarchy, omnipotence, hegemony: They maintained their supremacy over the Iberian peninsula for centuries.

supreme adj. 1 highest, loftiest, topmost, greatest, first, foremost, principal, unsurpassed, top, uppermost, chief, paramount, sovereign: There is no appeal to a decision of the supreme tribunal. 2 greatest, maximum, extreme, uttermost, utmost, ultimate: I fear that your son has made the supreme sacrifice, Mrs Atkins. 3 best, greatest, first, outstanding, pre-eminent, first-rate, prime, primary, unexcelled, leading, crowning, consummate: Many regard her as the supreme artist of her day. 4 superb, marvellous, excellent, outstanding, superlative, matchless, peerless, incomparable, unparalleled, masterful, masterly, sublime, brilliant, transcendent, inimitable, choice: There is no doubt that she is a supreme artist.

supremely adv. very, extremely, completely, perfectly, superlatively,

unhesitatingly, determinedly, doggedly, securely: Slowly but surely, the Great Bamboni stepped out onto the tightrope stretched across the Reichenbach Falls.

surface n. 1 exterior, covering, outside, top, skin, integument, fa‡ade, face, boundary, interface, superficies; side, plane: Most of the earth's surface is covered by water. How many surfaces on an icosahedron? 2 on the surface. superficially, to all appearances, at first glance, outwardly, to the casual observer, extrinsically, ostensibly: It looks pretty enough on the surface, but it is rotten underneath.

--v. 3 appear, show up, emerge, materialize, arise, rise, come up, Colloq pop up, crop up: Guess who surfaced after ten years in Tierra del Fuego! An enormous turtle surfaced near our boat. 4 pave, concrete, tarmac: They are surfacing the road in front of my house.

surfeit n. over-abundance, superabundance, plethora, glut, excess, surplus, oversupply, overdose, satiety, overflow, flood, deluge, superfluity, nimiety: There has been a surfeit of those dolls on the market. She is suffering from a surfeit of rich food and alcohol.

surfeited adj. gorged, overfed, satiated, sated, stuffed, glutted, jaded: He passed the sleeping surfeited diners and stole into the library unseen.

surge v. 1 swell, wave, billow, bulge, heave, roll, undulate, well forth or up, rise and fall, ebb and flow, pulsate; rush, gush, pour, flood, stream, flow: The sea surged through the narrow gorge with a roar. The crowd surged round their hero.

--n. 2 swell, wave, billow, roller, whitecap, white horse, breaker, comber, upsurge, eddy, rush, gush, flood, stream, flow: The raft was caught by a surge and tossed high up on the beach.

surly adj. unpleasant, rude, crusty, cantankerous, curmudgeonly, churlish, crabby, crabbed, choleric, splenetic, dyspeptic, bilious, temperamental, cross, crotchety, grouchy, grumpy, bearish, testy, touchy, short-tempered, ill-tempered, bad-tempered, ill-natured, bad-natured, ill-humoured, peevish, quarrelsome, argumentative, obnoxious, uncivil, rough,

obstreperous: I see no reason to shop where the sales staff are surly.

surmise v. 1 imagine, guess, conjecture, speculate, suppose, hypothesize, theorize, assume, presume, conclude, gather, infer, understand, fancy, suspect, feel, sense: I surmised that the treaty terms were arranged by deputies long before the summit.

--n. 2 guess, conjecture, speculation, notion, hypothesis, theory, supposition, assumption, presumption, conclusion, understanding, fancy, suspicion, feeling, sense: It was an early surmise of the experts that man could not survive passing through the Van Allen belts.

surpass v. exceed, excel, go or pass beyond, outdo, beat, worst, better, best, outstrip, outdistance, outperform, outclass, outshine, eclipse, overshadow, top, cap, transcend, prevail over, leave behind: He easily surpassed the statesmen of his time.

surpassing

adj. excessive, extraordinary, great, enormous, unrivalled, matchless, peerless, unmatched, unequalled, unsurpassed: I could not believe the surpassing gall of the man.

surpassingly

adv. exceedingly, extraordinarily, incomparably, Literary surpassing: The girls on the beach were surpassingly beautiful.

surplus n. 1 surplusage, overage, excess, leftover(s), surfeit, over-abundance, oversupply, overdose, glut: The price of oil dropped owing to the surplus in the market.

--adj. 2 excess, leftover, extra, spare, over-abundant, superfluous, unused, redundant: The surplus grain is sold abroad.

surprise v. 1 shock, astound, astonish, amaze, disconcert, nonplus, dumbfound or dumfound, stagger, take aback, strike, hit, Colloq floor, bowl over, flabbergast, rock or set (someone) back on his or her or chiefly Brit their heels, Brit knock (someone) for

six, US knock (someone) for a loop: What surprised me was her coolness in the face of danger. 2 take or catch unawares, catch

red-handed or in the act or in flagrante delicto, catch napping or off guard, discover: When Samuel Johnson's wife found him with a maid, she said, 'Dr Johnson! I am surprised!', to which he replied, 'No, madam: you are amazed. I am surprised.'

--n. 3 shock, astonishment, amazement, stupefaction, wonder, incredulity: Imagine my surprise to learn that I was being arrested. 4 blow, jolt, shocker, bolt from or US also out of the blue, bombshell, eye-opener: It came as a surprise to me that my sister was pregnant.

surrender v. 1 give up, yield, let go (of), relinquish, deliver (up), hand over, forgo, forsake, turn over, turn in, part with, cede,

concede: We were forced at gunpoint to surrender our valuables. 2 give up, yield, quit, cry quits, capitulate, throw in the

sponge or the towel, raise the white flag, throw up one's hands, succumb, submit, give way, acquiesce, comply, give in, concede, crumble: The argument is so overwhelming that I must surrender.

--n. 3 submission, capitulation, yielding, renunciation, relinquishment, yielding, transferral, transfer, transference, handing or turning over, conveyancing, ceding, cession, concession: The official surrender of the disputed territory took place in the following year.

surreptitious

adj. furtive, secret, clandestine, stealthy, underhand(ed), covert, (on the) sly, secretive, private, concealed, hidden, veiled, Colloq sneaky: She stole surreptitious glances at him.

surround v. 1 encompass, encircle, envelop, enclose, hem in, ring: She likes being surrounded by flowers. Troops surrounded the building.

--n. 2 environs, environment, surroundings, atmosphere, ambience or ambiance, setting: The formal gardens make a charming surround for the art gallery.

surrounding

adj. nearby, neighbouring, local, adjoining, neighbourhood, adjacent, bordering, abutting, circumambient, circumjacent: The surrounding countryside was bursting into bloom.