The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

non-religious, civic, secular, profane: Theo indulged in worldly pleasures in the fleshpots of the continent. Veronica put aside worldly things and took the veil. 2 urbane, suave, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, worldly-wise, Slang with it, hip, cool: Behind that worldly manner is the heart of a peasant.

worn adj. 1 shabby, threadbare, tatty, tattered, ragged, frayed:

Burt wears an old, worn tweed jacket when he's around the house. 2 haggard, drawn: He looked anxiously at his mother's thin, worn face. 3 worn out. tired, fatigued, exhausted, frazzled,

spent, jaded, played out, haggard, drawn, the worse for wear, Colloq dog-tired, all in, done in, Slang dead (on one's feet),

beat, US pooped: I was completely worn out from climbing those stairs.

worried adj. fearful, apprehensive, anxious, distressed, nervous, uneasy, anguished, disquieted, agonized, agonizing, distraught, on edge, on tenterhooks, ill at ease, troubled, fretful,

agitated, perturbed, upset, suffering: The two worried mothers waited at the police station for news of their children.

worry v. 1 be anxious, be fearful, be concerned, fret, agonize, be distressed, be vexed, Colloq stew, bite or chew (one's) nails, go or get grey, get grey hair, Slang sweat blood, US sweat bullets: I worry about you when you stay out so late. 2 annoy, irk, pester, nettle, harry, harass, tease, bother, tantalize, torment, plague, hector, badger, nettle, gall, peeve, Colloq

hassle: The police have been worrying me the way a dog worries a bone.

--n. 3 concern, care, responsibility; problem, bother, trouble, affliction, irritation, annoyance, vexation: I cannot see why that is your worry. I am sorry to hear about your financial worries. 4 anguish, anxiety, uneasiness, unease, nervousness, distress, apprehension, disquiet, perturbation, agitation,

upset, misgiving: Your association with that crowd has caused your mother and me a great deal of worry.

worsen v. 1 increase, exacerbate, heighten, intensify, aggravate: The recent rains have worsened the drainage problem. 2 weaken, deteriorate, decline, degenerate, decay, slip, sink, slide,

fail, disintegrate, take a turn for the worse, get worse, go

from bad to worse, Colloq go downhill: Her condition continues

to worsen.

worship v. 1 venerate, revere, reverence, extol, honour, exalt, praise, admire, adore, adulate, glorify, deify, idolize, be devoted to,

pay homage to, bow down before, kneel before, put on a pedestal: When he arrived, he found the people worshipping huge stone idols.

--n. 2 veneration, reverence, adoration, devotion, homage, honour, respect, esteem, exaltation, praise, admiration, adulation, glorification, deification, idolatry: A healthy respect for security should not be confused with the worship of money.

worth n. quality, merit, value, advantage, benefit, good, importance, significance, usefulness: You have underestimated Roberta's worth to the community.

worthless adj. 1 valueless, unimportant, insignificant, inessential or unessential, dispensable, disposable, paltry: His contribution to the work of the committee proved utterly worthless. 2 pointless, bootless, silly, inane, vain, unavailing, useless, futile, fruitless, unproductive, unprofitable: It is worthless

to try to salvage that wreck. 3 cheap, valueless, tawdry, poor, trashy, rubbishy, shabby, wretched, Colloq tinny, crappy, cheesy, Slang chintzy: The deceased's handbag contained only a few items of worthless jewellery.

worthwhile

adj. 1 profitable, justifiable, productive, gainful, rewarding, fruitful, cost-effective, remunerative: Would it be worthwhile to buy up that land as a long-term investment? 2 useful, valuable, good, helpful, beneficial, worthy, beneficent, desirable, exemplary, matchless, honourable, upright, sterling, irreproachable: Brian Smith is one of the most worthwhile people I met at university.

worthy adj. 1 worthwhile, deserving, meriting, meritorious, praiseworthy, good, estimable, qualified, creditable: He is a worthy recipient of the honour. 2 See worthwhile, 2, above.

--n. 3 dignitary, personage, notable, eminence, luminary: The dinner was attended by all the local worthies.

wound n. 1 damage, hurt, injury, trauma, traumatism; laceration, puncture, cut, gash, slash, lesion, bruise, contusion: We dressed and bandaged the wounds of the victims. 2 slight, damage, injury, harm, blow, distress, mortification, torment, torture, anguish, pain, insult: Hugh takes the slightest criticism as a deep wound to his self-esteem.

--v. 3 damage, harm, injure, hurt, traumatize; cut, slash,

gash, lacerate, slit, stab, shoot, Colloq wing: He was wounded in the leg in the war. 4 slight, distress, damage, mortify, insult, hurt, pain, grieve, offend, aggrieve, wrong: I was terribly wounded by the things she said about me.

23.6 wrap...

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wrapper n. 1 housecoat, robe, dressing-gown, bathrobe, kimono, negligee, lounging robe, peignoir, US house-dress: Peggy threw on a wrapper and went to answer the door. 2 envelope, package, packing, wrapping, covering, jacket, case, casing, container: Throw the wrapper in the dustbin.

wreak v. inflict, exercise, exert, carry out, bring (to bear), visit, effect, work, unleash, execute, impose, force, vent, let go: The tribesmen wreaked vengeance on the hill people for destroying their farms.

wreck v. 1 destroy, ruin, devastate, demolish, smash, shatter, spoil, dash (to pieces), reduce to nothing, turn into scrap,

annihilate: He drove my motor-bike into a tree and wrecked it. 2 sink, scuttle, run aground, founder, capsize: The ship was wrecked on a reef near Rarotonga.

--n. 3 hulk, shipwreck, ruins: The wreck finally rusted away to nothing. 4 mess, disaster, ruin; havoc: That man made a wreck of her life. 5 destruction, loss, sinking, devastation, foundering, grounding, capsize, capsizing, disabling, disablement, wrecking; demolition, demolishing, levelling, tearing down, razing, pulling down, obliteration: The wreck of

the Titanic was a major news event in 1912. The wreck of the old tower block is scheduled for next month.

ankle on the ladder, Mary couldn't walk for a week. 3 extract, wrest, wring, force, pry, draw: The only way they could wrench the information from Michael was by torturing him.

--n. 4 yank, twist, jerk, pull, tug, rip: One wrench at the doorknob and it came off in my hand. 5 pang, pain, agony, torture, blow, ache, throe, anguish, sadness, grief, heartbreak:

The severest wrench at my heartstrings came when we had to part. 6 Brit spanner, shifting spanner, adjustable spanner, US monkey wrench: We need metric wrenches to work on your car.

swine, rogue, good-for-nothing, knave, varlet, scallywag or scalawag, rascal, rapscallion, Archaic caitiff, whoreson, Colloq

rat, stinker, louse, creep, Slang bastard, Brit rotter, bounder, blighter, US bum: That wretch not only stole my wife but asked me for money to support her! 2 unfortunate, poor fellow or chap, miserable creature, poor devil, pilgarlic, Slang poor bastard or son of a bitch, Brit poor bugger or sod, US sad sack: The poor wretch cannot keep a job and lives off others' charity.

wretched adj. 1 miserable, awful, terrible, atrocious, deplorable, Colloq lousy, rotten: We had the most wretched weather throughout our holiday. 2 unhappy, sad, miserable, woebegone, woeful, dismal, downhearted, heartbroken, broken-hearted, heartsick, dejected, depressed, melancholic, melancholy, mournful, disconsolate, inconsolable, doleful, cheerless, crestfallen, joyless, desolate: If you want to see a wretched human being, look at a boy whose dog is lost. 3 pitiable, pathetic, sorry, pitiful, hapless, hopeless, unfortunate, miserable: The poor in these tropical paradises are some of the most wretched people on earth. 4 vile, shameful, scurvy, underhand(ed), treacherous, contemptible, despicable, base, low, mean, paltry, mean-spirited, detestable: It was hard to see how the people could support such a wretched little demagogue.

wriggle v. 1 wiggle, wobble, shake, tremble, quiver, jiggle, waggle, writhe, twist, fidget: She managed to wriggle free of the ropes and run away. The dog was wriggling with excitement at seeing its master. 2 twist, squirm, snake, worm, writhe, slither,

crawl: He wriggled through the narrow opening into the strongroom.

--n. 3 wiggle, zigzag, wavy line, Colloq squiggle, squiggly line: The page had no writing on it, only a lot of wriggles. 4 wriggling, writhing, squirm, squirming, wiggle, wiggling, shaking, trembling, quiver, quivering, shimmying, waggle, waggling, twisting, twist: Don't confuse that rhythmic wriggle of the hips with dancing.

wrinkle° n. 1 crease, fold, line, furrow, crinkle, crow's-foot, corrugation, pucker, ridge: She hasn't a wrinkle on her face - but then she's only nine.

--v. 2 crease, fold, line, furrow, crinkle, corrugate, pucker, gather, ruck, crimp, screw up, rumple, crumple: I love the way you wrinkle your nose when you're perplexed.

wrinkleý n. dodge, gimmick, device, ploy, ruse, scheme, trick, idea, plan, plot, stunt, way, approach, technique, method, Slang chiefly Brit wheeze: Leave it to Edmund to come up with a new wrinkle for fleecing pensioners.

write v. 1 pen, scribble, get off, dash off; indite, inscribe, make out: I was writing you a note when you phoned. She wrote out a cheque for œ1000. 2 correspond (with), send a letter or a note

or a postcard or US also a postal card, communicate (with): You don't write home often enough. Write and let me know when you get a job. 3 compose, create, make up, author: We saw the house in which Elgar wrote the 'Enigma' Variations. 4 write down. a register, list, catalogue, note, make a note or notation,

record, transcribe, set or jot or take down, note, put in writing, put in black and white: The teacher was known for Irish bulls like, 'All absent students must write down their

names'. b derogate, decry, disparage, put down, minimize, make little of, play down, detract, belittle: Cumberland's contributions have been written down by his critics. 5 write off. delete, cancel, disregard, ignore, forgive, forget (about), annul, eradicate, erase: The bad debts have been written off.

writer n. author, novelist, litt‚rateur, essayist, man of letters, scribe, scribbler, wordsmith, freelancer, penny-a-liner, hack, Grub Streeter, journalist, newsman, reporter, correspondent, member of the fourth estate, (gossip) columnist, stringer, Brit

paragraphist, US paragrapher, Colloq pen-pusher, pencil-pusher, sob sister, Brit journo: These days all those who know how to write call themselves writers.

writing n. 1 handwriting, longhand, penmanship, script, calligraphy or chirography, scribble: I sometimes have trouble reading your writing. 2 Sometimes, writings. (literary) work(s),

composition, theme, book, article, critique, criticism, review, editorial, column, expos‚, essay, poetry, poem, novel, non-fiction, fiction, document, letter, correspondence, publication, Chiefly Brit journalism leading article or leader, Chiefly US journalism op-ed article: Her writing has been widely published. Poe's writings are collected in this book. 3 literature, belles-lettres, letters: I don't agree that British writing has declined since 1900.

wrong adj. 1 improper, unjust, unfair, injudicious, unethical, terrible, foul, awful, bad, immoral, sinful, evil, iniquitous, villainous, wicked, vile, diabolic(al), infernal, fiendish, corrupt, dishonest, reprehensible, abominable, dreadful, dishonourable, blameworthy, naughty, shameful, disgraceful, opprobrious, criminal, felonious, illegal, illicit, unlawful, illegitimate, Colloq crooked: They believe that all war is

wrong. It was wrong of you to come here while my husband was away. 2 mistaken, in error, erroneous, incorrect, inaccurate, imprecise, inexact, fallacious, askew, false, wide of the mark; strange, odd, peculiar, curious; Colloq off target or US also

off the target, Brit off beam, US off the beam: The answers to these four questions were all wrong. You certainly have some wrong ideas about me. 3 incorrect, improper, unsuitable: They must have given us the wrong baby at the hospital. 4 inappropriate, inapt, improper, indecorous, unseemly, unfitting, unacceptable, undesirable, incongruous, unbecoming, out of place, ill-considered, wrong-headed, imprudent, misguided, inexpedient, impolitic, infelicitous, Colloq out of line: You saw nothing wrong in inviting girls to stay with you in your

rooms? Your mother thinks she's the wrong girl for you. 5 out of order, not working, faulty, awry, amiss, the matter, defective, imperfect, unsound, flawed, deficient: Considering the noise my car makes, there must be something wrong. 6 opposite, reverse, incorrect, improper: That is the wrong direction to the post office.

--adv. 7 awry, imperfectly, incorrectly, improperly, inappropriately, amiss, badly, wrongly, Scots and No. Eng. and literary agley, Colloq out of sync: You've wired up the video all wrong. 8 go wrong. a go astray, falter, fail, lapse, err,

fall from grace, go to the bad, deteriorate, go downhill, backslide, regress, retrogress, recidivate: Her father was convinced that she would go wrong if she went into the theatre. b fail, malfunction, break down, miscarry, backfire, fall through, Colloq flop, come to grief, go kaput, Brit go phut: The entire plan went wrong when Clara started screaming.

--v. 9 abuse, mistreat, injure, misuse, maltreat, ill-use, ill-treat, discredit, asperse, calumniate, malign, dishonour, impose upon, take advantage of, harm, damage, oppress: He believes he was wronged by his commanding officer.

nevertheless, regardless, in spite of or despite everything, just or all the same, even so, after all, US still and all: Despite the life I've led, I might get to heaven yet.

--conj. 6 notwithstanding, in spite of or despite it or that or the fact, still, nevertheless, but: He goes out every night, yet never oversleeps in the mornings.

24.3 yield...

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yield v. 1 surrender, give up (the fight or struggle), give in, knuckle under, submit, cede, cry quits, throw in the towel or the sponge, capitulate, succumb, raise the white flag: The captain of the enemy company asked if we would yield. 2 give up, surrender, give over, hand in or over, abandon, relinquish, renounce, cede: We agreed to yield our arms to the enemy. 3 agree, consent, comply, concede, relent, assent, give way, accede, concur: He did his best to persuade me, and I finally yielded. 4 earn, return, pay, bring in, supply, generate, produce, net: She has investments that yield more than 15% a year.

--n. 5 return, production, output, revenue, takings, gate, earnings, income, proceeds, profit, gain: The yield from that operation is not even enough to pay the rent.

yielding adj. 1 pliant, flexile, flexible, pliable, soft, plastic, fictile, elastic, resilient, supple, springy, bouncy, spongy, rubbery: The frame is of a yielding material that gives way

under pressure. 2 accommodating, docile, submissive, amenable, tractable, compliant, obedient, flexible, acquiescent,

agreeable, obliging, manageable, manipulable: He wanted a wife with a yielding temperament who would tolerate his foibles.

24.4 young...

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young adj. 1 youthful, teenage(d), adolescent, prepubescent, pubescent, juvenile, minor, junior, under age: Would you believe that she has young children? 2 boyish, girlish;