The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

4.5 drab...

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stall: The committee is dragging its feet on the housing issue.

--n. 7 bore, nuisance, annoyance; pest; Colloq drip, pain (in the neck), headache: That course in botany is a real drag.

drain n. 1 ditch, channel, trench, culvert, conduit, pipe, gutter, outlet, watercourse, sewer, cloaca: The storm drains have overflowed. 2 depletion, reduction, sapping, sap, exhaustion, strain, drag; outgo, outflow, withdrawal, disbursement, expenditure: The cost of the new roof was a drain on our resources. 3 down the drain. wasted, gone, thrown away, lost, Slang up the spout: All that money spent on his education went down the drain.

--v. 4 draw off, tap, extract, remove, take away, withdraw, pump off or out; empty, evacuate, drink up or down, quaff, swallow, finish: After washing the lettuce, drain off the water. He drained the glass in one gulp. 5 consume, use up, exhaust, sap, deplete, bleed, strain, tax, spend; weaken, debilitate, impair, cripple: The car repairs drained my bank account. After climbing to the top of the mountain, we were completely drained. 6 seep, trickle, ooze, drip, leave, go or flow from or out of, disappear (from), ebb: Let the pus drain

from the boil. The blood drained from his face when he saw her.

drama n. 1 play, stage play, photoplay, screenplay, (stage) show, (theatrical) piece, (stage) production; scenario: He plays only in dramas, never in musicals. 2 dramaturgy, stagecraft, theatre art(s), Thespian or histrionic art(s), acting, theatre, dramatic art: She has studied drama at RADA. 3 histrionics, dramatics, theatrics, theatricalism, play-acting: There's always a drama over who's going to wash up.

dramatic adj. 1 theatric(al), dramaturgic(al), Thespian, histrionic, stage: She was studying the dramatic works of Shakespeare. There will be a festival of dramatic arts at the centre next week. 2 vivid, sensational, startling, breathtaking, sudden, striking, noticeable, extraordinary, impressive, marked, shocking, expressive, graphic, effective; complete, considerable, radical, major: A dramatic change has come over him since meeting her. 3 flamboyant, melodramatic, colourful, showy, stirring, spectacular; theatrical, histrionic,

exaggerated, overdone: His presentation was quite dramatic,

well staged and with much arm-waving.

dramatist n. playwright, dramaturge, screenwriter, scriptwriter, scenarist, tragedian, melodramatist: The actors failed to carry out the dramatist's intentions.

dramatize v. exaggerate, overplay, overstate, overdo, make a production or show (out) of, Colloq lay it on (thick), pile it on, ham (something or it) up: He always dramatizes everything way out of proportion.

drape v. 1 hang, festoon, swathe, deck, array, bedeck, adorn, ornament, decorate: The coffin was draped with the national flag.

--n. 2 drapery, curtain; hanging, tapestry: The drapes match neither the carpet nor the wallpaper.

drapery n. drape, curtain; hanging, valance, pelmet, tapestry, arras, portiŠre, lambrequin, drop: Which colour will you choose for the drapery?

drastic adj. violent, severe, extreme, strong, powerful, potent, puissant, fierce, forceful, vigorous, rigorous, harsh, radical, Draconian, desperate, dire: I shall have to take drastic measures if this misbehaviour continues.

drawn by two horses. 2 pull or take out, extract; unsheathe, unholster: The cowboy drew his gun and began firing. 3 draw off; pour; drain off or out: She drew two pails of water for

the horses. 4 attract, gather, allure, lure, bring out or

forth, elicit, Colloq pull: Anything will draw a crowd in New York. 5 depict, sketch, portray, outline, delineate, design, limn, paint: The artist was drawing pictures in chalk on the pavement. 6 devise, draw up, draft, create, contrive, frame, compose, prepare: The plans for the new civic centre have not

yet been drawn. 7 inhale, breathe (in), inspire; suck in:

She's very ill and may draw her last breath any minute. 8 draw out, withdraw, take, receive, get, acquire, obtain, secure, procure, extract, remove: I have to draw some money from my bank account for groceries. 9 choose, pick, select, take: It

is your turn to draw a card. 10 draw back. retreat, recoil,

shrink (from), withdraw: He drew back quickly when he saw the snake. 11 draw in. arrive, pull in: The train drew in to the station. 12 draw off. a tap, pour: The barmaid drew off two large beers from the keg. b withdraw, draw or go away, depart, leave: The Indians drew off and waited to see what we would do. 13 draw on. a employ, use, make use of, exploit, have resort or recourse to, resort to, fall back on, rely or depend on: She

drew on her years of experience as a doctor. b come close or near, near, draw nigh, approach, advance: With the cold season drawing on, we had to get in the crops. 14 draw out. a extend, drag out, prolong, protract, lengthen, stretch, spin out: Her visit has been drawn out to a week. b elicit, evoke, induce to talk: I drew him out on his feelings about social security. c See 8, above. 15 draw up. a halt, stop, pull up or over: A

taxi drew up and I got in. b draft, compose, prepare, put down (in writing), frame, compile, put together, formulate: We drew up the agreement only yesterday. c arrange, deploy, position, order, rank, marshal: The troops were drawn up in full battle array.

--n. 16 magnetism, attraction, lure, enticement, Colloq pull, drawing power: The draw of the rock concert was extraordinary. 17 tie, stalemate, dead heat, deadlock: The race ended in a

draw for second place.

drawback n. disadvantage, hindrance, stumbling-block, obstacle, impediment, hurdle, obstruction, snag, problem, difficulty, hitch, catch, handicap, liability, flaw, defect, detriment,

Colloq fly in the ointment; Taboo nigger in the woodpile: Lack of education is a serious drawback to getting a good job.

tense, exhausted: Sidonia looks a bit drawn after her ordeal.

dread v. 1 fear, be afraid of, apprehend, anticipate, flinch, shrink or recoil from, cringe or quail or blench or wince at, view with horror or alarm: She dreads any kind of surgery.

--n. 2 fear, fright, fearfulness, trepidation, apprehension, apprehensiveness, uneasiness, anticipation, alarm, nervousness, qualm, queasiness, misgiving, dismay, worry, anxiety, consternation, concern, distress, perturbation, disquiet, aversion, horror, terror, panic, Colloq cold feet, butterflies

(in the stomach), the jitters; Slang the heebie-jeebies, the willies, the collywobbles: I regarded the history exam with dread.

--adj. 3 feared, dreaded, dreadful, terrifying, terrible:

Before us, breathing fire, was the dread dragon of the Druids.

dreadful adj. 1 bad, awful, terrible, Colloq rotten, Slang lousy: That TV soap opera is simply dreadful. 2 grievous, dire, horrible, horrendous, horrifying, horrid, monstrous, fearful, feared, frightful, dread, frightening, shocking, alarming, appalling, fearsome, hideous, ghastly, atrocious, heinous, wicked, evil, iniquitous, villainous, flagitious, fiendish, diabolical,

devilish, demonic, malevolent, maleficent, malefic, Colloq scary: They did the most dreadful things to political prisoners.

dream n. 1 reverie, day-dream, delusion, fantasy, hallucination, illusion, vision, mirage, pipedream, (flight of) fancy, speculation: When I awoke I realized that my winning the lottery had just been a dream.

--v. 2 imagine, fancy, conjure up, hallucinate: I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls.

dreamer n. fantasizer, visionary, idealist, romantic, romanticist, idealizer, Utopian; day-dreamer, escapist, fantasizer, star-gazer: If you think people change, you're a dreamer.

dreamlike adj. unreal, fantastic, unbelievable, phantasmagoric(al), hallucinatory or hallucinative or hallucinational, surreal, delusionary or delusional, illusionary or illusional, delusive or delusory, illusory or illusive, insubstantial or

unsubstantial, imaginary, chimeric(al), fanciful, fancied, visionary: His plans have a dreamlike quality about them that make them impractical.

dreamy adj. 1 dreamlike, vague, indefinite, indistinct, undefined, intangible, misty, shadowy, faint: He has a dreamy recollection of being awakened in the middle of the night. 2 absent-minded, absent, far-away, abstracted, pensive, thoughtful; day-dreaming, musing, occupied, in a reverie, in a brown study, in the clouds;

Colloq off somewhere: I was in a dreamy mood, my mind wandering through old memories. 3 relaxing, soothing, calming, lulling,

gentle, tranquil, peaceful, peaceable, quiet; lazy, sleepy, drowsy: It was one of those dreamy, hot midsummer days.

dreary adj. 1 dismal, joyless, cheerless, gloomy, bleak, drear, sombre, doleful, depressing, wretched; sad, melancholy, downcast, depressed, funereal, glum, unhappy, forlorn, mournful,

morose, blue, miserable: One more day on these dreary moors and I shall go mad. Caroline was again in a dreary mood. 2 boring, lifeless, colourless, ennuyant, drab, dull, arid, dry,

uninteresting, dead, monotonous, prosaic, tedious, tiresome, tiring, wearisome, wearying, humdrum, ordinary, vapid, run-of-the-mill, unstimulating, unexciting: Do you mean to tell me that that dreary book is a best seller!

dregs n.pl. 1 sediment, grounds, lees, deposit, residue, solids, remains; precipitate: Filter the coffee to remove the dregs. 2 outcasts, pariahs, rabble, riff-raff, scum, tramps, down-and-outs, losers: That park is frequented by the dregs of society.

drench v. soak, saturate, wet, flood, inundate, immerse, drown: She had no coat or umbrella and got completely drenched in the storm.

dress v. 1 clothe, put on (clothing or clothes), attire, apparel, outfit, fit out, garb, accoutre or US also accouter; array,

bedeck, deck out, rig out, smarten up: They dressed him to look like a prince. 2 array, equip, adorn, decorate, deck out,

arrange: He has a job dressing shop windows. 3 bandage, treat, medicate, doctor: After dressing my wound they gave me a sedative. 4 dress down. reprimand, scold, berate, castigate, rebuke, reprove, upbraid, Colloq tell off, haul (someone) over

the coals, Brit tear (someone) off a strip, US and Canadian chew out, US rake (someone) over the coals, tee off on (someone): The colonel dressed us down and cancelled all leave. 5 dress up. a put on dinner or formal clothes, put on one's (Sunday) best (clothes), Colloq put on one's best bib and tucker or one's glad rags: On the cruise, we dressed up in our dinner-jackets every night. b (put on a) costume, disguise, masquerade, camouflage, put on fancy dress: The children dressed up as goblins for Hallowe'en.

--n. 6 frock, gown, outfit, costume, Colloq get-up: Why not wear your new dress to the dance tonight?

dressmaker

n. seamstress, tailor, couturier or couturiŠre, modiste: She's at the dressmaker's having a ball gown fitted.

dressy adj. 1 formal, dressed-up, elegant, fancy, chic: A black suit is too dressy to wear tonight - it's not a dressy party. 2

declensions.

--n. 3 auger, (brace and) bit, gimlet: The bit for this drill is no longer sharp. 4 practice, training, repetition, exercise,

rehearsal; discipline: Tomorrow there will be a complete drill of the parts of speech.

drink v. 1 quaff, imbibe, sip, gulp, swallow, swill, guzzle, toss off, lap (up), Colloq wet one's whistle, swig, knock back, US belt: She prefers not to drink beer. 2 tipple, nip, indulge,

tope, chug-a-lug, carouse, Colloq booze, bend the elbow, hit the bottle, go on a binge or bender, drown one's sorrows, US and Canadian go on a toot, Chiefly Brit pub-crawl: He threatened to leave her if she continued to drink. 3 drink to. toast, salute, celebrate, pledge: Let's drink to friendship!

--n. 4 beverage, potation, liquid refreshment, liquid, potable, draught: After the match I was dying for a drink. 5 alcohol, spirits, liquor, the cup that cheers; stirrup-cup; Colloq booze, the bottle, hard stuff, mother's ruin, eye-opener, nightcap, US hooch; Slang rot-gut, US the sauce, red-eye: After the accident, he took to drink. 6 tot, nip, draught or US also draft, schooner, pint, bumper, jigger, snifter, sip, taste,

glass, gulp, swallow, Scots (wee) deoch an doris or doch an dorris, (wee) dram, Brit sundowner; Colloq snort, slug, swig: Granny likes a drink before retiring. 7 the drink. the sea, the ocean, the main, the deep, Nautical Davy Jones's locker, Colloq the briny: The canoe tipped and our picnic went right into the drink!

drip v. 1 dribble, trickle, drop; drizzle, sprinkle: The tap began to drip and kept me awake all night.

--n. 2 dribble, trickle, drop, dripping: Yes, it was the drip from the tap that kept me awake. 3 milksop, bore, wet blanket,

killjoy, damper, Colloq Brit wet, weed, Colloq wimp, Slang pill, drag, US and Canadian milquetoast: Must you invite that drip George?

drive v. 1 push, propel, impel, urge, press, thrust, move, motivate, actuate, prod, spur, goad, urge, force, make, compel, coerce, constrain, oblige, pressure or Brit pressurize, high-pressure, induce, require; demand: What drove you to become a traitor? 2