The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

soup‡on, suspicion: There was never the slightest whisper of gossip about Eleanor.

white adj. 1 snow-white, snowy, chalk-white, chalky, ivory, creamy, milky, milk-white, oyster-white, off-white; silver, hoary: Many buildings in the tropics are painted white. Do you believe that

a person's hair can turn white overnight? 2 pale, pallid, pasty, wan, whey-faced, ashen, bloodless, drained, whitish, waxen, ghastly, ghostly, anaemic, dead white, deathly white, cadaverous, corpse-like: Her black dress contrasted starkly with her white complexion. 3 innocent, pure, unsullied, stainless, unblemished, spotless, immaculate, virginal, virtuous, undefiled, chaste: She came to you with white hands, which you have sought to dirty with your vicious accusations. 4 Caucasian, Caucasoid, light-skinned, fair-skinned, pale-complexioned: The American Indian was - and still is - treated very unfairly by the White man.

whitewash v. gloss over, cover up, sugar-coat, hide, camouflage, conceal, qualify, minimize, extenuate, diminish, play down, downplay, make light of, rationalize, excuse: We are being accused of whitewashing the dishonest actions of the previous

administration.

whittle v. 1 pare (down or away), shave, trim, cut, carve, hew, shape: Remember when Grandpapa used to whittle those tiny figures of elves when we were children? 2 Usually, whittle away at or down. pare, shave, cut, trim, reduce, diminish, erode, eat away at:

If he keeps whittling away at his trust fund, he might have to get a job.

whole adj. 1 entire, complete, uncut, full, intact, unbroken, total: I can't believe she ate the whole chicken. Were you here the whole time? 2 in one piece, intact, unharmed, undamaged, unscathed, unimpaired, unhurt, uninjured: How could anyone emerge whole from that smash-up? 3 well, healthy, sound, fit, strong: The surgeons have made him whole again.

--n. 4 everything, aggregate, (sum) total, totality, lot, entirety; ensemble; Colloq whole kit and caboodle: I look at

the whole and don't bother about petty details. 5 on the whole. largely, mostly, usually, more often than not, for the most part, in general, generally, by and large, with few exceptions,

tremendous, prodigious, monstrous, thumping, mammoth, massive, Brobdingnagian: With that whopping Great Dane of yours in the kitchen there's no room to move about. 2 flagrant, outrageous, extravagant, terrible, awful: Jones tells such whopping lies I

don't know when to believe him.

23.4 wicked...

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wicked adj. 1 evil, bad, immoral, amoral, unprincipled, sinful, impious, irreligious, blasphemous, profane, sacrilegious, ungodly, godless, diabolic(al), satanic, Mephistophelian, demonic, demoniac(al), hellish, infernal, accursed, damnable, fiendish, ghoulish: How wicked must one be to murder one's own child? She has done many wicked things, but this was the worst. 2 depraved, dissolute, villainous, black-hearted, iniquitous, horrible, horrid, hideous, heinous, beastly, base, low, vile, debased, degenerate, perverse, perverted, corrupt, foul,

offensive, abominable, disgraceful, shameful, dreadful, awful, gross, gruesome, grim, appalling, grisly, loathsome, lawless, unrepentant, unregenerate, incorrigible, criminal, felonious, rascally, knavish, terrible, egregious, execrable: The Deluge was regarded as divine vengeance on a wicked world. He was a wicked man, in league with the devil himself. 3 dirty, pornographic, filthy, erotic, obscene, lewd, offensive,

indecent, prurient, smutty, rude, taboo, blue, coarse, bawdy, vulgar, salacious, licentious, nasty, X-rated, Colloq US

raunchy: The townspeople took the wicked books and burnt them all. 4 vicious, beastly, savage, nasty, bad, violent, mean,

cruel: Graham has a wicked temper. The boys were subjected to the most wicked treatment. 5 naughty, mischievous, impish, sly, devilish, rascally, roguish, scampish, puckish; vexatious, exasperating, annoying, irritating, irksome, trying, galling, bothersome: What trouble have those wicked children got themselves into now? It is wicked of you to make pig noises every time I mention Bertha. 6 foul, offensive, pernicious, baleful, mephitic, disgusting, revolting, sickening, repulsive, repellent, nauseous, repugnant, rotten, pestilential, noxious: That liniment the doctor prescribed has a wicked odour. 7 expert, ingenious, superior, superb, superlative, outstanding, masterful, masterly, skilful, deft, adept: That chap Gough

plays a wicked game of tennis.

far-reaching, wide-ranging, widespread: He has wide interests, from music to archaeology to sport. 3 extreme, considerable, substantial, sizeable, major, big, large; widespread: There have been wide fluctuations in market prices. 4 wide of the mark. off the mark, astray, deviant, deviating, off (the)

target, not on target, inappropriate: Forecasts from analysts

were based on erroneous assumptions and proved to be very wide of the mark.

--adv. 5 astray, afield, wide of the mark, off the mark, off (the) target, to one side: He took careless aim and the shot went wide. 6 all the way, as much as possible, fully, completely, to the utmost: The dentist said, 'Open wide'. When I heard the drill, I was suddenly wide awake.

widely adv. 1 extensively, thoroughly, universally, everywhere, generally, by many: In the days when it was widely believed

--n. 10 Usually, wilds. wasteland, wilderness, desert, vastness, emptiness, Colloq sticks, middle of nowhere, back of beyond: His idea of adventure was to trek through the wilds of Hyde Park.

plot, scheme, machination, Colloq (little) game: You won't get far trying to work your wiles on me, young lady.

wilful adj. 1 intentional, deliberate, voluntary, conscious, intended, purposeful, premeditated, US willful: The jury decided that such a wilful act of vandalism must be punished. She is accused of wilful neglect of her children. 2 stubborn, headstrong, pigheaded, obstinate, mulish, inflexible, adamant, obdurate, intransigent, unyielding, self-willed, ungovernable,

recalcitrant, unruly, immovable, intractable, dogged, determined, refractory, uncompromising, wayward, perverse,

drive, purposefulness, purpose, intent, intention, resolve, commitment, resolution, determination; will-power: Where there's a will there's a way. Some believe that taking medication is against God's will. Marguerite seems to have lost the will to live. 2 choice, wishes, desire, inclination: He was forced to submit against his will. 3 (last will and) testament, last wishes: In accordance with his will, Josiah was buried at sea. 4 at will. as or when (one) pleases or wishes or thinks fit(ting), at (one's) desire or whim or pleasure or discretion:

If he brings his own car, then he can leave at will.

--v. 5 want, desire, wish, choose, see fit, make, compel,

force, command, order, ordain, require: When she willed him to appear, there was a flash of lightning and he was there. 6

leave, bequeath, devise, hand down or on, pass on, transfer; settle upon or on: My great-uncle Philip willed me his collection of 19th-century theatre memorabilia.

willing adj. agreeable, acquiescent, compliant, amenable, consenting, assenting, passive, complaisant, docile, ready, well-disposed, happy, content, pleased, delighted, enthusiastic, avid, eager,

zealous, Colloq game: Albert might not have thought up the pranks, but he was a willing accomplice.

willingly adv. readily, happily, contentedly, gladly, cheerfully, amenably, agreeably, freely, passively, docilely, of (one's) own accord or free will, on (one's) own, ungrudgingly, by choice, voluntarily, unhesitatingly, nothing loath, eagerly, enthusiastically, zealously, avidly, Colloq at the drop of a

hat: We did not coerce him in any way - he went along quite willingly. You can rely on Hubert to give willingly and generously to support any good cause.

willowy adj. 1 lissom or lissome, pliant, lithe, flexible, supple, limber, loose-limbed: Everyone enjoys watching the willowy athletes training for the Olympics. 2 slim, slender, graceful, sylphlike, svelte, thin, long-limbed, clean-limbed: How does Jeanne keep her willowy figure without dieting?

willy-nilly

adv. 1 whether one likes it or not, inevitably, necessarily, of necessity, perforce, whether or no, like it or not, nolens

volens, bon gr‚, mal gr‚: Having borrowed the money, you must, willy-nilly, repay it.

wind° n. 1 breeze, zephyr, puff, gust, breath, draught, light air, current (of air): A gentle wind wafted our little boat across the bay. 2 puffery, bombast, rodomontade, bluster, boasting, braggadocio, vain speech, blather, (idle or empty) talk, fustian, nonsense, twaddle, humbug, babble, gibberish, Colloq gab, hot air, claptrap, hogwash, rot, hooey, boloney, Slang Brit (load of (old)) cobblers: I went there for advice and all I got was a lot of wind. 3 gas, flatulence, windiness, flatus, borborygmus (= 'stomach rumbling (as from gas)'), heartburn, Taboo slang fart (= 'anal release of gas'): I have to take a

pill to relieve this wind. 4 before the wind. Nautical downwind, off the wind: We were racing before the wind with every scrap of sail flying. 5 break wind. Taboo slang fart:

It is considered rude to break wind. 6 get or have wind of. hear of, learn of, come to know, pick up, be made or become

aware of, gather, understand, hear on the grapevine, Colloq hear tell of: We got wind of the company's plans to close this

plant. 7 get or have the wind up. take fright, become frightened or afraid or apprehensive: When I heard a window being raised I got the wind up. 8 in the wind. around, about, rumoured, in the air, detectable, discernible, discoverable, imminent, impending, approaching, close (at hand), about to happen or take place or occur, afoot, in the offing, near, on the way, Colloq Brit on the cards, US in the cards: We knew

that a change was in the wind, but never expected the chairman to resign. 9 off the wind. See 5, above. 10 on the or a wind. Nautical upwind, windward, to the wind, into (the teeth or the

eye of) the wind; near the wind Because 'Syrena' was a sloop, she could sail closer on the wind than the schooner. 11 put the wind up. scare, frighten, alarm: The leakage at the nuclear plant really put the wind up everyone living in the area. 12 sail close or near to the wind. take risks, throw caution to the winds, play with fire, skate on thin ice, take (one's) life in (one's) hands, Colloq stick (one's) neck out, Slang go for broke: One nude scene is highly salacious, and we think the director is sailing very close to the wind by including it. 13 take the wind out of (someone's) sails. deflate (someone), disconcert (someone), destroy (someone's) advantage, ruin (someone's) superiority or supremacy or ascendancy: It rather took the wind out of her sails when he announced that he was leaving anyway.

windý v. 1 turn, bend, twist, snake, worm, twine, zigzag, slew, swerve, loop, coil, curve, meander, ramble, veer: The river winds along the valley floor. 2 reel, roll, spiral, turn, twist, curl, coil, wrap, twine, wreathe; crank (up), wind up:

The streamers are wound around the columns for decoration. 3 wind down. a taper off, slow down, diminish, reduce, close out, slacken or slack off (on), ease (up on), decrease, cut back or down (on); wind up: They were going to wind down their sportswear department, but then business suddenly perked up. b relax, become calm or tranquil, calm down, cool off or down, regain (one's) equilibrium, ease up or off, Colloq unwind, let (one's) hair down, take it easy: It takes me a couple of days

to wind down from the hectic activity in the office. 4 wind up. a terminate, conclude, come or bring to an end or a close or a conclusion, end (up), close down or up, finish (up), wrap up; liquidate, settle: After calmly winding up his affairs, Evan sailed off in his boat and was never seen again. b end up, finish (up), become ultimately: I understand that Sally wound up as a bar girl in Tampico. c excite, innervate, energize, stimulate, invigorate, stir up: After getting us all wound up about that weekend party in Paris, she called the whole thing off. d agitate, fluster, disconcert, ruffle: Don't let such

trifles get you so wound up. e See 3 (a), above.

windfall n. bonanza, godsend, stroke of (good) fortune, serendipitous find, boon, piece of (good) luck, jackpot, (lucky) strike: The sale of the house provided a windfall that saved them from imminent bankruptcy.

windy adj. 1 blustery, blowing, blowy, breezy, gusting, gusty, wild, squally, tempestuous; windswept: It is quite windy today. I waited at that windy corner for you and you never showed up! 2 talkative, long-winded, garrulous, wordy, verbose, prolix, loquacious, rambling, voluble, fluent, effusive, glib, turgid, bombastic, pompous, longiloquent: Potter does tend to be windy at times.

prepossessing, winsome, bewitching, fetching, taking, enchanting, pleasing, delightful, charming, amiable, friendly, pleasant, sweet: Maggie's winning ways are a tremendous asset to making friends. 2 triumphant, conquering, victorious, successful: The winning team is invited to dine at the Red Lion.

wintry adj. 1 hiemal, brumal, hibernal; icy, snowy, freezing, frozen, frosty, cold, frigid, bitter (cold), chilly, chilling, piercing,