The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

in a coronation. 2 courtly, courteous, polite, civil, correct, proper, conventional, punctilious, careful: He entered the room and made a ceremonious bow.

ceremony n. 1 rite, observance, solemnity, service, ceremonial, ritual, formality, function; obsequies: I had to attend my grandmother's funeral ceremony and was absent from school. 2 motions, formalities or formality, conventions or convention, niceties, proprieties, form, protocol; lip-service, appearances, pro formas, etiquette, decorum: Going through the ceremony is all they want - they don't care what you believe. Please sign even if only for ceremony's sake.

certain adj. 1 determined, set, fixed, predetermined, decided, settled, firm, stable, invariable, established, standard, constant, unchanging, steady, unfluctuating, non-fluctuating, traditional: He agreed to pay a certain yearly rent. She met him there every day at a certain time. 2 sure, unerring, definite, dependable, trustworthy, unfailing, infallible, reliable, assured,

guaranteed: How do you know that the dividend is certain? 3 sure, inevitable, inescapable, destined, predestined, ineluctable, inexorable, unavoidable, definite, firm; unchanging, changeless, infallible, permanent, Colloq on the cards, a sure thing, US in the cards: It is not always certain that justice will triumph. Nothing is certain but death and taxes. 4 indubitable, indisputable, undisputed, undoubted, sure, doubtless, unequivocal, incontestable, undeniable, incontrovertible, absolute, irrefutable, unquestionable, unquestioned, unarguable, valid: It is certain only that we exist, according to Descartes. 5 confident; assured, sure, positive, definite: I am certain that she did not steal the money. 6 specific, particular, definite; unnamed, unspecified, non-specified, non-specific: He gave us certain information which we now have reason to doubt.

certainty n. 1 fact, actuality, reality, truth, Colloq sure thing: I would not advise you to neglect a certainty for something doubtful. 2 assurance, self-assurance, definiteness, confidence, conviction, faith, authoritativeness, positiveness, certitude: The certainty with which he played the card showed he expected it to be a winner. 3 for a certainty. assuredly, definitely, certainly, surely, positively; undoubtedly, indubitably, without (a) doubt, undeniably, unquestionably,

absolutely, Colloq for sure: I know for a certainty that I cannot fly.

certify v. 1 confirm, attest (to), verify, testify (to), affirm, aver, asseverate, corroborate, substantiate, endorse, guarantee, warrant; swear (to), bear witness (to), vouchsafe, vouch (for): I will certify the accuracy of the report. She certified that

she was the owner of the car. 2 declare, classify, establish, confirm: The magistrate certified the man insane.

3.3 chafe...

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chafe v. 1 rub, warm (up), heat (up): I took the chill off my hands by chafing them a bit. 2 rub, abrade, fret, gall, irritate,

make sore: The skin is very tender where it was chafed. 3 fume, rage, seethe; ruffle, vex, fret, irritate: I chafed in impotent rage and exasperation at the ridiculous regulations. To chafe and vex me is a part of her nature.

--n. 4 sore, abrasion, bruise, soreness, irritation: The saddle caused a chafe on the inside of my thigh.

chaff n. 1 banter, raillery, ridicule, badinage, joking, teasing, twitting, Colloq kidding, ragging, Chiefly US and Canadian joshing: After the speech, he had to put up with a lot of good-natured chaff from the audience.

--v. 2 banter, tease, twit, rail at, Colloq kid, rag, Chiefly

US and Canadian josh: When he was in the navy, his family chaffed him for having a girl in every port.

chain n. 1 string, series, combination; sequence, succession, train, course, set, concatenation: He owns a chain of bookshops. Interruption of the food chain can cause serious ecological consequences. A curious chain of circumstances led me to a small hotel at Torquay in February. 2 restraint, check, trammel, control, confinement, fetter, bond, manacle, shackle, gyve: The family finally threw off the chains of poverty.

--v. 3 shackle, secure, fasten, bind, gyve; confine, fetter, restrain, confine, restrict, tie, limit: Prometheus was chained

to a rock as punishment for having brought fire to man. Marguerite felt chained after twenty years of marriage.

chair n. 1 seat, armchair, stool, bench, easy chair, rocking-chair: He offered me a chair so I sat down. 2 throne, bench, position, cathedra, authority; professorship, directorship: Sue has been offered a chair on the board. 3 chairperson, chairman, chairwoman, presiding officer, leader, moderator: The chair ruled on the matter after due consideration.

--v. 4 preside, lead, govern, moderate, run, direct, manage, oversee: Katherine will chair the meetings during the absence of the president.

challenge v. 1 question, dispute, defy, object to, take exception to, contest, doubt, call into doubt, call into or to question, impugn: I challenge the validity of your accusation. 2 invite,

dare, summon, call out, provoke: The duke was challenged to a duel. 3 brave, dare, confront, defy, contest: We could challenge criticism with an easy confidence.

--n. 4 question, dispute, doubt: His opinions are open to challenge. 5 invitation, dare, summons, provocation, confrontation, defiance; ultimatum: An older opponent might not have issued such a challenge. 6 problem, demand, stimulation, trial, test: Are you sure that Mr Wilson will be able to meet

the challenge of the new position?

chamber n. 1 assembly, body, legislature, judicature, house, congress, judiciary, senate, diet; consortium: She is entitled to sit in

the Upper Chamber. 2 meeting-hall, reception room, assembly room: The council chamber was packed with people. 3 compartment, niche, nook, cavity: We hid the gold in a small chamber in the cave. 4 room, apartment; bedroom, bedchamber: On the first floor are the magnificent royal chambers.

champion n. 1 victor, winner, conqueror, title-holder, prizewinner, titleist: She is the women's singles champion for the fourth year in a row. 2 defender, guardian, protector, hero, supporter, backer, protagonist, advocate: He acquired a reputation as champion of the low-paid. 3 fighter, combatant, hero, warrior, campaigner, veteran: A stouter champion never handled a sword. The boar is often regarded as the champion

substitute, Colloq swap or swop: I won't be a minute, I just want to change my shoes. I'd like to change this shirt for a larger size. 6 modify, alter, modulate; mutate, transform, metamorphose: Antoinette has changed since her marriage. I

never thought anyone would be able to make her change her mind. 7 fluctuate, shift, vary; vacillate: The temperature often

changes very rapidly here. 8 change to or into. turn into, become, transform, mutate, transmute, convert, metamorphose: The alchemists tried to change base metal into gold. Every winter changes into spring - sooner or later.

changeable

adj. 1 variable, mutable, protean, inconstant, unstable, unsettled, shifting, uncertain, irregular, uneven, unpredictable, labile, capricious, erratic, fickle, unreliable, undependable, mercurial, volatile: The weather has been changeable for the past week. 2 alterable, modifiable, transformable, convertible: Their meeting-places were changeable and known only to them.

changeless

adj. 1 unchanging, unvaried, eternal, permanent, fixed, stable; unchangeable, immutable, unalterable, inevitable, uniform: We studied photographs of the changeless Martian landscape. The fundamental truths of the Gospel are changeless. 2 abiding, permanent, constant, perpetual, everlasting, steadfast, unvarying, unchanging: Nothing could alter my changeless love for you.

channel n. 1 watercourse, canal, waterway, ditch, aqueduct, sluice, trench, trough, gutter, moat; river-bed, stream-bed: The engineers dug a channel to drain the swamp. 2 strait, narrows, neck: The English Channel connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. 3 furrow, groove, flute: The channels cut into this column are not straight. 4 course, means, way, approach, avenue, medium, path, artery, conduit: We have to open a new channel of communication with the terrorists.

--v. 5 direct, convey, pass, guide, lead, conduct: Their grievances are being channelled through the information officer.

chant n. 1 song, psalm, hymn, canticle, plainsong, plainchant, mantra, paean, dirge, monody, descant, carol; singsong: The war

chant of the natives, echoing over the water, struck fear into their enemies.

--v. 2 sing, intone, descant, carol: The choir chanted the verses of a lugubrious threnody.

character n. 1 brand, stamp, mark, symbol, monogram, insigne, badge, emblem, sign, seal, label; letter, number, figure, type, sort, arbitrary, peculiar, rune, hieroglyphic or hieroglyph: They

used to brand the character of a horse on the forehead of their slaves. We shall need to obtain a set of Cyrillic characters if we are going to print Russian texts. 2 characteristic, quality, distinction, trait, feature, mark; sort, kind, type, nature, description, attribute; idiosyncrasy, peculiarity: He now tried to give the war the character of a crusade. It is the character of some people to be curious. 3 morality, honesty, integrity,

respectability, rectitude, honour, courage, goodness: Everyone agrees that she is a person of outstanding character. 4 person, personage, personality, individual: Cobbett had more sagacity and foresight than any other public character of his time. 5 role, part, personality, characterization, dramatis persona: He

played the character of Caesar. 6 eccentric, card, Colloq oddball, nut, nutter, loony, bat, weirdo, nutcase, screwball, crackpot, fruit cake, Australian and old-fashioned Brit cove: She was regarded as quite a character because of her many strange habits. 7 role, position, status, capacity: He assumes the character of a Dutch uncle when he speaks to me. 8 in character. fitting, proper, suitable, in keeping, typical, normal, expected, characteristic: It is completely in character for Len to criticize everything he encounters. 9 out of character. untypical, atypical, uncharacteristic, abnormal, unexpected, unfitting: It would be out of character for Janet to refuse help to someone in need.

characteristic

adj. 1 typical, representative; emblematic, symbolic, distinctive, idiosyncratic, symptomatic: How characteristic it is of them to refuse to go to the dance! These subjects are characteristic of the early Impressionists.

--n. 2 mark, trait, attribute, feature, quality, property, peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, character, earmark: It is a characteristic of bees to swarm.

characterize

v. delineate, describe, portray, depict, represent, define, brand, label, mark, note, identify: She has consistently characterized him as a buffoon. 'Virago' is the term that would best characterize Felicity.

obligation: She feared that she would become a charge on her children. 2 price, fee, cost: What is the charge for admission? 3 debt, debit, expense, assessment, liability: Any charge against the estate of the deceased will be paid in full. 4 care, custody, protection, guardianship, wardship, supervision, jurisdiction, control, responsibility, safe

keeping: We left the children in the charge of Nanny and Nanny in charge of the children. 5 order, mandate, injunction,

precept, command, dictate, direction, instruction, demand, exhortation: The judge's charge to the jury was to ignore the

evidence given by the caretaker. 6 accusation, imputation, indictment, allegation: The charge is murder. The police decided to drop the charges against him. 7 attack, onset, action, assault, sally, raid, foray, sortie: At the signal the cavalry began their charge.

--v. 8 fill, imbue, load, instil, pervade, permeate, saturate, suffuse: The air was highly charged with a stench from the kitchen. 9 burden, entrust, commission, assign; afflict, tax:

He was charged with the supervision of all the military schools. 10 command, order, bid, enjoin, exhort, urge, require, instruct, direct: I charge you not to speak of this matter to anyone. 11 blame, censure, accuse; indict, cite, name; allege, assert: She charged him with being a hypocrite. He has been charged with assault. It is charged that she was present at the commission of the crime. 12 bill, invoice, assess, debit: Please charge these items to my account. Do not charge me for merchandise not shipped. 13 ask, demand, claim, require, expect: How much do they charge for asparagus at the supermarket? 14 attack, assault, storm, assail, do battle (with): Four thousand horsemen stood ready to charge the enemy.

charitable

adj. 1 generous, liberal, bountiful, munificent, unselfish, open-handed, magnanimous, philanthropic, public-spirited, unsparing, eleemosynary: Despite her income, Irena has always been most charitable when it comes to worthwhile causes. 2 well-disposed, kindly, kind, beneficent, benevolent, well-wishing, lenient, tolerant, forgiving, indulgent, understanding, compassionate, humane, sympathetic, considerate, well-meaning, good: They took a charitable view of the matter and decided not to press charges.

charity n. 1 generosity, alms-giving, munificence, liberality, open-handedness, magnanimity, beneficence, philanthropy, unselfishness, humanity, humanitarianism, good will: Your charity towards this hospital has been unequalled by any other donor, Sir Keith. 2 leniency, big-heartedness, large-heartedness, benevolence, magnanimity, indulgence, considerateness, consideration, compassion, understanding, sympathy, kind-heartedness: We are all urged to show charity towards those who wrong us. 3 alms, donation, contribution, largesse, Colloq Brit dole, US welfare, relief: I want the

opportunity to work, not the government's charity.

charm n. 1 amulet, talisman, fetish, rabbit's foot, good-luck piece: She wears a charm to ward off evil spirits. 2 attractiveness, appeal, fascination, allure, magnetism, desirability, elegance, urbanity, sophistication, sophisticatedness, suavity, grace, refinement, cultivatedness, cultivation, culture, polish; magic, enchantment, spell, sorcery: To Diderot we go not for charm of style but for a store of fertile ideas. To get ahead Colin

relies more on his charm than on his ability. 3 charms. beauty, attractiveness, pulchritude, prettiness, handsomeness, appeal, allure, magnetism, pull, draw: For all her charm, I would not trust her one inch. 4 like a charm. successfully, perfectly, miraculously, marvellously, extraordinarily, especially well: His appeal to their egos worked like a charm.

--v. 5 influence, control, subdue, bind, put a spell on, bewitch, enchant, seduce, hypnotize, mesmerize, enthral or US enthrall, captivate, delight, fascinate, Literary enrapture: He

charmed them with some tale and they gave him their money. 6 overcome, subdue, calm, soothe, allay, assuage, hypnotize, mesmerize: Music is said to have qualities capable of charming savages.

charmed adj. 1 bewitched, spellbound, enchanted, magical: Apollonius considered the use of charmed rings essential to quackery. 2 fortified, protected: He must lead a charmed life to have

survived all those battles. 3 pleased, delighted, enchanted, happy: I am charmed to meet you at last, Madam President.

charmer n. enchanter, enchantress, sorcerer, sorceress, magician; vamp, siren, Circe, Cleopatra, Lorelei, temptress, seductress;

seducer, Romeo, Valentino, Don Juan, Lothario, Casanova, lady-killer, ladies' man; flatterer; smooth talker, Colloq (big-time) operator, con artist or man, Old-fashioned smoothie, wolf: Charlotte has run off with some charmer she met at a party.

chart n. 1 sea-chart, map: According to the chart, we are fifty miles west of the Lizard. 2 map, table, tabulation, graph, diagram; blueprint: A weather chart appears on page 23. Here is a chart of the highest-yielding unit trusts. She drew up a genealogical chart of the descendants of Queen Victoria.

--v. 3 plot, plan, map (out), design: He charted a course of action for the company. Have you charted the shortest route between Gibraltar and Cyprus?

charter n. 1 document, contract, compact, agreement, covenant: This year we again commemorate the signing of the United Nations charter. 2 permit, permission, licence or US license, authority, franchise, right, privilege, concession: He was given an exclusive charter to export furs in 1679. 3 lease, contract:

We have the yacht under charter for the summer.

--v. 4 license, authorize, document, commission, approve, certify, franchise, qualify; recognize: He is a chartered accountant, she a chartered surveyor. 5 let, lease, rent, hire, engage, contract: I chartered the sloop for three weeks.

chase n. 1 hunting, hunt, pursuit: Police dogs entered the chase and the prisoner was finally caught. 2 run after, follow, pursue, track, go (out) after; court, woo: The police were chasing a

man down the street. Stop chasing women and settle down. 3 chase away, off, out, etc. rout, put to flight, hound; drive away,

off, out, etc.: I chased the cat away from the birdcage.

chaste adj. 1 pure, virginal, virgin, celibate, abstinent, continent, virtuous, undefiled, stainless, unstained, unsullied, unblemished, decent, clean, good, wholesome, moral: Only a knight who was wholly chaste would find the Grail. 2 subdued, severe, restrained, unadorned, austere, unembellished, simple, pure, undecorated, clean: In some respects, modern architecture emulates the chaste style of the ancient Egyptians.

chasten v. 1 discipline, correct, chastise, punish, castigate: He used every means to chasten the unruly and disobedient. 2 moderate, temper, subdue, curb, restrain, repress, tame, suppress: I am not as sanguine as I was - time and experience have chastened me.

chastise v. punish, beat, thrash, belabour or US belabor, spank, whip, flog, scourge, birch, cane; discipline, chasten, correct,

censure, berate, scold: Pupils are not being chastised as in the old days.