The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

n. 1 pliability, pliancy or pliantness, elasticity, resilience or resiliency, suppleness, flexibleness, bendability, limberness, stretch, give, spring, springiness, ductility:

Chemists improved the flexibility of the substance by adding more plasticizer. 2 conformability or conformableness, adaptability, versatility, adjustability or adjustableness, compliance or compliancy, manageability, tractability or tractableness, malleability, obedience, submissiveness, docility, agreeableness, conformity: Fletcher has the flexibility needed to move from one department to another.

flexible adj. 1 pliable, pliant, elastic, resilient, supple, bendable, limber, lithe, stretchy, stretchable, springy, extensible or extensile, ductile, flexile, tensile, yielding, willowy: The foil is a thin, flexible duelling sword. 2 modifiable, adaptable, conformable, compliant, malleable, obedient, tractable, manageable, cooperative, amenable, persuadable or persuasible: English seems to be an infinitely flexible language. Nicole is flexible in her attitude towards politics. 3 easy, facile, submissive, complaisant, docile: Discipline at the school might be a little too flexible.

flicker v. 1 twinkle, blink, waver, glimmer, glint, sparkle, shimmer, flare, gutter: A slight draught made the candles flicker. 2 flap, flutter, quiver, twitter, fluctuate, oscillate, shake, tremble, vibrate: Dozens of tiny flags flickered in the wind.

--n. 3 glimmer, glint, glimmering, sparkle, spark, twinkle, twinkling, gleam, flare, glare: With a dying flicker the torch went out. 4 hint, suggestion, trace, glimmer, vestige, scintilla, spark: I thought I detected a flicker of recognition when our eyes met.

flight° n. 1 flying, soaring, winging, excursion: The flight above the mountains was exhilarating. He is subject to wild flights of the imagination. 2 (air) voyage or journey or trip: We had a fine flight from New Delhi. 3 aeroplane, airliner, plane, aircraft: Our flight was delayed in Istanbul. 4 flock, swarm, cloud, covey (of grouse or partridge), bevy (of quail), skein (of

geese), exaltation (of larks): A flight of migrating birds passed overhead. 5 feather: The flights on this dart are broken.

flightý n. 1 escape, retreat, departure, exit, exodus, getaway, fleeing, bolting, Slang split: Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 is called a 'hegira'. 2 put to flight. chase or drive (off or away), disperse, send off or away, send packing, dismiss, rout, stampede: They put the Saracens to flight in a decisive battle. 3 take flight. flee, go or run away or off, abscond, desert, depart, (beat a) retreat, exit, bolt, decamp, withdraw, take to one's heels, show a clean pair of heels, Colloq light out, shove off, Brit scarper, US take a (run-out) powder, take it on the lam, lam out; Slang split, Brit do a

bunk, do a moonlight flit, bugger off: The constable blew his whistle and the thief took flight.

flighty adj. 1 fickle, frivolous, inconstant, capricious, fanciful, changeable, variable, mercurial, skittish, volatile, unstable, unsteady, giddy, wild: These flighty girls never stay in a job more than a month. 2 irresponsible, light-headed, rattle-brained, silly, hare-brained, dizzy, crazy, mad, reckless, thoughtless, Colloq nutty, screwy, dotty, dippy: It was flighty of Caroline to pour the brandy into the well.

flimsy adj. 1 slight, frail, weak, insubstantial or unsubstantial, feeble, makeshift, fragile, frangible, breakable, rickety,

army. 3 gamble, risk, venture, attempt, try, go, shot, Colloq crack, whirl, bash: Her brief fling at an acting career was unsuccessful.

flip v. 1 toss, flick, snap, flop, turn, twist, spin: Flip a coin

to see who goes first. 2 anger, become angry or furious, go mad, go crazy, go berserk, US also flip out, Colloq go off the deep end, lose one's cool, Slang flip one's lid or Brit top, Brit freak, US freak out, lose it: Father flipped when I said I was quitting college.

flippancy n. 1 frivolousness, facetiousness, levity, light-heartedness, frivolity, jocularity, offhandedness, unseriousness: I was chagrined that she should treat my proposal of marriage with such flippancy. 2 disrespect, disrespectfulness, impudence, impertinence, irreverence, sauciness, rudeness, discourtesy, brazenness, brashness, pertness, insolence, Colloq cheek, cheekiness, lip, mouth, Slang Brit side: The headmaster will not tolerate flippancy on serious subjects such as religion and race relations.

flippant adj. 1 frivolous, facetious, light-hearted, jocular, offhand(ed), unserious, shallow, thoughtless, superficial; supercilious, belittling, scornful, dismissive: I don't appreciate your flippant remarks when I'm trying to be serious. 2 disrespectful, impudent, impertinent, irreverent, saucy, rude, pert, discourteous, brazen, brash, insolent, Colloq cheeky, flip: He disapproves of Charles's flippant attitude towards the royal family.

flirt v. 1 coquette, play or act the coquette, tease, tantalize, toy, lead on, dally, philander, Colloq Brit chat up; Slang US come on to: Amanda enjoys flirting with the boys. 2 flirt with. trifle

or toy or play or tinker with, contemplate, consider, entertain, give a thought to, think about or of, Colloq Brit try on: Many teenagers flirt with the idea of leaving home.

--n. 3 coquette, tease, vamp, hussy, playgirl, minx; philanderer, playboy, Slang lady-killer, Old-fashioned wolf, sheik, masher, lounge lizard, Taboo slang cock-teaser, prick-teaser: They are both such flirts, I can't tell if their advances are genuine.

flirtatious

adj. coquettish, vampish, seductive, flirty, coy, philandering, provocative, enticing, alluring, amorous, come-hither: They exchanged many flirtatious looks across the table.

flounce n. 1 frill, furbelow, peplum, ruffle, ornament, valance, trimming: The dress has decorative flounces round the skirt.

--v. 2 fling, toss, bounce, twist, strut, toss, parade, march, storm, stamp, US sashay: She flounced out of the room in high dudgeon.

flounder v. grope, blunder, stumble, tumble, struggle, stagger, plunge about: We floundered about in the dark till someone found the light switch.

flourish v. 1 prosper, thrive, grow, develop, luxuriate, bloom, blossom, flower, bear fruit, fructify, boom, burgeon or bourgeon, mature, ripen, increase, succeed, get ahead, do or fare well, make good; go up or rise in the world; Slang go great guns: We understand that Amy's medical practice has flourished. 2 wave, wield, brandish, wag, swing, twirl, flaunt, vaunt, swagger, swish,

shake: The band-leader flourished his baton.

--n. 3 decoration, embellishment, floridness, floweriness, ornamentation, elaboration, adornment, frill, embroidery, curlicue, furbelow: His signature is characterized by all these flourishes. 4 fanfare, display, show, showiness, dash, gesturing, wave: With a flourish of his hand, the king signalled the tourney to begin.

flourishing

adj. luxuriant, lush, thriving, prospering, blooming, blossoming, fruitful, flowering, burgeoning or bourgeoning, successful, prosperous, booming, growing, increasing: Patel runs a flourishing flower shop in Bicester.

spurt, squirt, spew, flood, cascade, fall, rain; brim, overflow, spill, teem: Open the gates to allow water to flow into the lock. A stream of insults flowed from his lips. Her tears flowed like wine. 3 issue, originate, come, emanate, rise, begin: With the dam repaired, water will once again flow from the reservoir. The authority of the state constitutions does not flow from Congress. 4 spread, overspread, cover: The paint flowed effortlessly onto the canvas.

--n. 5 rush, gush, surge; current, course, stream, run,

movement, drift: A dam blocks the flow of water here. The sound of a shot interrupted the flow of conversation. 6 abundance, superabundance, flood, plethora, excess, overflow(ing), deluge, tide, supply; plenty: London experiences an unending flow of tourists.

flower n. 1 blossom, bloom, floret or floweret, bud, Technical efflorescence: He brought me flowers for my birthday. 2 cream, best, pick, ‚lite, crŠme de la crŠme, finest, choicest: The

flower of the city's youth were put to death by the wicked caliph.

--v. 3 blossom, bloom, bud, burgeon or bourgeon, come out, open, unfold, Technical effloresce: The century plant was so called because it was thought to flower only once every hundred years.

flowery adj. florid, ornate, fancy, elaborate(d), decorated, ornamented, overwrought, embellished, rococo, baroque, arabesque, euphuistic, Gongoristic, Ossianic, grandiloquent, bombastic, inflated, pompous, affected, artificial, high-flown, showy: Many find his flowery style of writing difficult to stomach.

fluctuate v. vary, change, alternate, see-saw, swing, vacillate, undulate, waver, oscillate, shift: Prices fluctuate according to supply and demand.

fluctuation

n. Sometimes, fluctuations. variation(s), change(s), alternation(s), swing(s), vacillation(s), wavering(s), oscillation(s), undulation(s), ups and downs, instability, unsteadiness, inconstancy: We can expect fluctuation in

temperatures during the coming week.

facile, easy, natural, effortless, ready, smooth, polished, flowing, voluble, glib, slick; expressive: She is a fluent speaker of Spanish.

fluff n. 1 down, fuzz, feather(s), thistledown, floss, lint, dust, dust-ball, fuzz ball: Be sure you clean the fluff from under the beds. 2 bit of fluff. poppet, girl (friend), mistress, Slang bit of all right, (bit of) crumpet, (bit of) skirt or

stuff, Old-fashioned Brit popsy: Bickerley keeps some fluff on the side. 3 blunder, error, slip, mistake, Colloq howler, Brit bloomer, US and Canadian blooper: They showed a video of the fluffs actors make during recordings.