The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
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did his best to forward her career. 7 dispatch or despatch, |
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send, ship, deliver, transmit, express, post, mail, consign, |
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remit; send on: The shipment will be forwarded as soon as |
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payment is received. The post office will forward mail to my |
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new address. 8 speed (up), accelerate, advance, hasten, |
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expedite, hurry, quicken, step up: This mixture is said to |
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forward the flowering of plants. |
foster |
v. 1 promote, encourage, stimulate, further, forward, advance, |
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cultivate, nurture, nourish, support, back, assist, help, aid, |
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succour, patronize: Cutting back these offshoots fosters growth |
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of the main stem. Representatives have fostered acceptance of |
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our products throughout Europe. 2 bring up, rear, raise, take |
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care of, maintain, care for: The Cartwrights have fostered |
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eight orphans in their home. |
foul |
adj. 1 offensive, loathsome, disgusting, obnoxious, revolting, |
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repulsive, repellent, repugnant, sickening, nauseous, |
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nauseating, nasty, beastly, Archaic fulsome: The bartender |
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makes a foul concoction he swears will cure a hangover. 2 |
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filthy, unclean, nasty, polluted, putrid, putrescent, |
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putrefactive or putrefacient, defiled, soiled, spoiled, rotten, |
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decayed, decomposed, rancid, soured, turned, tainted, mouldy, |
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impure, adulterated, contaminated, stale, bad, Brit off: The |
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hamburger place was closed when public health inspectors found |
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foul food in the freezer. 3 smelly, stinking, noisome, fetid or |
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foetid, rank, evil-smelling, foul-smelling, malodorous, musty, |
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mephitic, graveolent: A foul odour emanated from the cabinet. |
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4 wicked, vile, bad, base, abominable, low, sordid, iniquitous, |
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evil, flagitious, atrocious, monstrous, nefarious, sinful, |
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immoral, amoral, vicious, villainous, scandalous, infamous, |
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dishonourable, shameful, disgraceful, ignominious; detestable: |
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They were finally brought to justice for their foul deeds. 5 |
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dirty, obscene, filthy, profane, scatological, gross, smutty, |
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foul-mouthed, blue, licentious, salacious, lewd, indecent, |
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improper, coarse, uncouth, vulgar, rude, scurrilous, rough, |
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indelicate, immodest, risqu‚, off colour, suggestive, bawdy, |
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ribald, Rabelaisian, Fescennine, US raw, Slang raunchy: My |
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mother forbids my reading books containing foul language. 6 |
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abusive, offensive, affronting, insulting, disparaging, |
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maligning, thersitical, calumnious or calumniatory, aspersive, |
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slanderous, defamatory, libellous, denigrating, derogatory, |
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deprecatory or deprecative, depreciatory or depreciative, |
denunciatory or denunciative, derisory, derisive, scornful, belittling, fulminous, objurgatory or objurgative, vituperative, invective: Keep your foul tongue to yourself. 7 dishonest, unfair, unjust, unsportsmanlike, dishonourable, fraudulent, underhand(ed), double-dealing, two-faced, corrupt, venal, dirty, treacherous, perfidious, traitorous, unscrupulous, Colloq crooked, shady, Slang chiefly Brit bent: Thrupp will get his way by fair means or foul. 8 nasty, dangerous, rough, disagreeable, unfavourable, sloppy, stormy, adverse; windy, blustery; snowy, sleety, wet, rainy: We ran into a spot of foul weather at Dover. 9 obstructed, blocked, choked, stopped (up), plugged (up), clogged (up): The drain is foul with all that rubbish. 10 tangled, entangled, caught, ensnared, enmeshed, snarled: A foul anchor is a common nautical symbol. 11 illegal, prohibited, forbidden, interdicted, not fair; dirty:
In boxing a hit below the belt is a foul blow.
--v. 12 dirty, pollute, sully, befoul, defile, soil, contaminate, adulterate, taint: Effluent from the factory was fouling the river. 13 tangle, entangle, catch, snare, ensnare, enmesh, snag, snarl, jam, twist: We can't hoist the mainsail because the halyard is fouled. 14 disgrace, dishonour, sully, taint, besmirch, defile, soil, stain, smear, tarnish, blacken,
denigrate, debase, degrade, abase, demean, disparage, defame, derogate, asperse, devaluate, depreciate, vitiate, belittle, discredit, bring or call into disrepute: That act of treachery will foul the family name for generations. 15 obstruct, block, choke, stop or plug or clog (up): Dead leaves fouled the
downpipe. 16 foul up. a See def. 13. b mismanage, mishandle, botch, bungle, make a mess (of), mess up, spoil, ruin, Colloq muff, Brit throw a spanner in(to) (the works), US throw a monkey wrench into (the machinery); Slang muck up, goof (up), blow, screw up, louse up, Chiefly Brit bugger (up), US and Canadian snafu: Give him a chance and he's sure to foul up. She fouled
up my hi-fi.
--n. 17 violation, infringement, infraction, illegality: The Rangers' forward has already been charged with two fouls.
--adv. 18 afoul, in conflict, in trouble, in violation: Curshaw has fallen foul of the law again.
foul play n. treachery, chicanery, perfidy, perfidiousness, duplicity,
double-dealing, deception, guile, crime, sharp practice, skulduggery, dirty work or business, dirty trick(s); murder, homicide, manslaughter; Colloq hanky-panky: The travellers suspected foul play when the aeroplane failed to arrive. The hacked up corpse suggested foul play to Detective LemaŒtre.
found v. 1 establish, originate, institute, set up, organize, inaugurate, start, initiate, create, bring about, develop: The society was founded a hundred years ago. 2 base, ground, establish, set, build; rest: This charity was founded on love and concern for children.
foundation
n. 1 basis, base, substructure, understructure, underpinning, bottom, foot, basement, cellar: This foundation is of stone. 2 basis, base, fundamental, (underlying or fundamental) principle, grounds, groundwork, rationale, raison d'ˆtre, purpose: Their morality finds its foundations in Judaeo-Christian culture. 3 founding, establishment, instituting, institution, creation, origination, setting up, organizing, organization, inauguration, endowment: We voted for the foundation of an institute to study the English language.
founder° n. originator, creator, progenitor, author, framer, father, architect, designer, builder, initiator, establisher,
institutor: Today we honour the founder of this great university.
founderý v. 1 sink, go down or under, go to Davy Jones's locker, be wrecked or destroyed: Many a proud vessel has foundered on this rock. 2 fail, miscarry, collapse, come to nothing or naught,
fall through, abort, falter, break down, come to grief, die: After Alice left to get married, the business foundered. 3 trip, stumble, stagger, lurch, fall, topple (over or down),
collapse; go lame: He drove the horse too hard and caused it to founder.
foundling n. orphan, waif; stray, outcast: We are trying to raise money for a hospital for foundlings.
fountain n. 1 fount, spring, font, jet, spout, spray, well, well-spring, well-head, fountain-head: Bathing in the city fountains is forbidden. 2 source, origin, genesis: Miss Corbell was a
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fountain of wisdom on the subject of basket-weaving. |
foxy |
adj. 1 clever, sly, cunning, wily, crafty, tricky, guileful, |
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shifty, devious, slippery, smooth, slick, artful, resourceful, |
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ingenious, calculating, designing, plotting, scheming, |
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disingenuous, knowing, shrewd, sharp, astute, wise; foxlike, |
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vulpine; Colloq cagey or cagy: Be careful dealing with him, for |
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he can be foxy. 2 attractive, alluring, seductive, vampish, |
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Colloq sexy: Margo is a very foxy lady. |
6.6 fracas...
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fracas n. 1 trouble, disturbance, commotion, rumpus, fuss, hubbub, pandemonium, hullabaloo, uproar, disorder, scramble, scuffle, brawl, rough-house, rough-and-tumble, turmoil, tumult, free-for-all, riot, fray, brouhaha, mˆl‚e or melee, Law affray; Brit scrum, US brannigan; Colloq ruckus, punch-up, Slang Brit bovver: It was football hooligans who caused the fracas after the game. 2 argument, disagreement, quarrel, dispute, discord, wrangle, altercation, squabble, spat, tiff, fight, row, tussle, Donnybrook, brawl, Colloq barney, scrap: After the referee's ruling, a fracas broke out.
fracture n. 1 break, breakage, breaking: An old fracture makes him walk with a limp. 2 break, crack, split, rupture, breach,
separation, cleavage, division, rift: We can permit no fracture in the united front we present to the voters.
--v. 3 break, rupture, crack, split, breach, separate, cleave: He fractured three vertebrae in the accident.
fragile adj. frail, breakable, brittle, frangible, delicate, dainty, thin, light, slight, weak, feeble, infirm, decrepit; tenuous,
shaky, flimsy, rickety, unsubstantial or insubstantial: Because of her great age, her bones had become fragile. The argument in favour of acquittal is very fragile, indeed.
fragment n. 1 piece, portion, part, chip, shard or sherd, splinter, sliver, scrap, bit, speck, snippet, morsel, crumb, particle, remnant, shred, snatch: A fragment of the airliner was found twenty miles from the crash. 2 fragments. smithereens; debris,
Literary disjecta membra: The car was blown into thousands of fragments. I tried to pick up the fragments of my former life.
--v. 3 shatter, splinter, break or split (up), explode, disintegrate, come or go to pieces, come apart: I picked up the skull and it fragmented in my fingers.
fragmentary
adj. disconnected, piecemeal, incomplete, scattered, disjointed, incoherent, sketchy: Accounts of the disaster are still fragmentary.
fragrance n. fragrancy, scent, aroma, smell, odour, redolence, perfume, bouquet, balm: The fragrance of orange blossom filled the room.
fragrant adj. aromatic, odorous, redolent, perfumed, balmy, odoriferous, ambrosial, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling: A fragrant breeze
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wafted over the meadow. |
frail |
adj. 1 See fragile. 2 ailing, unwell, ill, sick, sickly, |
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poorly, thin, skinny, slight, puny, scrawny, wasting or fading |
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away, languishing, infirm, feeble; crippled, consumptive, |
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phthisic: She is too frail to see visitors. |
frailty |
n. 1 weakness, infirmity, delicate condition, feebleness, |
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fragility, delicacy: The doctors are concerned about his |
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frailty. 2 susceptibility, liability, suggestibility, |
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impressionability, vulnerability; fallibility, foible, flaw, |
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defect, imperfection, fault: You just said that to take |
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advantage of my frailty. Her vanity is her greatest frailty. |
frame |
n. 1 framework, shell, form, skeleton, support, chassis, |
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framing, structure, fabric, scaffolding, construction: We made |
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a frame of sticks over which the canvas was stretched. 2 |
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border, casing, case-mounting, mount, edge, edging; setting: |
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This picture would look best in a gold frame. 3 system, form, |
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pattern, scheme, schema, plan, order, organization, framework, |
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structure, construct, construction, arrangement, blueprint, |
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design, layout, composition, context, make-up, configuration: |
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The proposed new department does not fit into the present frame |
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of the company. 4 physique, build, bone structure, body, |
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skeleton, figure: He has an unusually large frame for a dancer. |
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5 frame of mind. mood, humour, state, condition, attitude, bent, |
disposition: I am not in the right frame of mind to put up with your nonsense at the moment.
--v. 6 construct, build, put together, assemble, set up, put up, erect, raise, elevate: We framed the entire house in two days. 7 make, fashion, form, mould, carve out, forge, originate, create, devise, compose, formulate, put together,
conceive, draw up, draft, shape, block out, give form or shape to; contrive: The founding fathers met to frame a new constitution. 8 enclose, box (in); set off: I like the way you've framed that painting. 9 set up, incriminate (fraudulently), trap, entrap: Did Dr Crippen kill his wife or was he framed?
frank adj. 1 open, free, candid, direct, outspoken, unreserved, uninhibited, honest, sincere, genuine, truthful, plain-spoken, forthright, downright, explicit, unrestrained, unchecked, unconstrained, unrestricted, unabashed: I asked for a frank appraisal of my work and, unfortunately, he gave it. 2 candid, na‹ve, guileless, artless, ingenuous, innocent, (open and) above-board, on the up and up, Colloq upfront, on the level: The boy's description of the events was completely frank.
frantic adj. frenzied, excited, frenetic, nervous, overwrought, excitable, wrought up, distracted, distraught, beside oneself, hysterical, wild, berserk, mad, running amok; upset, agitated, perturbed, at one's wit's end, disconcerted, confused; hectic; Colloq in a state, in a tizzy, up the wall, in a dither, out of
one's mind, Chiefly US and Canadian discombobulated: They are frantic because they haven't heard from Edmund in a week.
fraternal adj. brotherly, platonic, friendly, comradely, idealistic, intellectual: He insists that his interest in her is purely fraternal.
fraternity
n. 1 community, brotherhood, crowd, set, clique, coterie, circle, society, US club: Rumours have been circulating in the academic fraternity for months. 2 brotherliness, kinship, fellowship, camaraderie, sodality, comradeship, friendship, companionship, relatedness, closeness, association, affiliation, solidarity, unity, esprit de corps, clannishness: A sense of
fraternity prevents them from betraying one another. 3 company,
guild, clan, league, club, union, society, association: She has joined the fraternity of legal clerks.
fraternize
v. consort (with), associate (with), socialize (with), go
(around or round) with or together, spend time with or together, keep company (with), hobnob with, mingle (with), mix (with), take up with or together, keep up (with), fall in with, rub shoulders (with), Colloq hang out (with or together), hang about or around with or together: Soldiers are forbidden to
fraternize, which means they are not allowed to fraternize with local people.
fraud n. 1 deception, trickery, cheating, sharp practice, chicanery, deceit, swindling, double-dealing, duplicity, artifice, craft,
guile, humbug, humbuggery, treachery, Colloq monkey business, funny business, hanky-panky: The company directors have been convicted of fraud. 2 trick, hoax, swindle, deception, cheat, wile, stratagem, dodge, bilk, ruse, sham, fake, subterfuge, Colloq flimflam, Slang gyp, rip-off, scam: The investigation exposed extensive fraud in the handling of local government funds. 3 deceiver, trickster, cheat(er), impostor, swindler, charlatan, humbug, sharper, shark, bilk(er), quack, mountebank, fake(r), pretender, bluff(er), confidence man, inveigler, defrauder; scoundrel, rogue, Archaic knave; Colloq con man or artist, phoney or US also phony, flimflam artist, flimflammer,
US and Canadian four-flusher; Slang US barracuda: He is a fraud who extracts protection money from the elderly.
fraudulent
n. 1 fake, counterfeit, forged, false, falsified, spurious, imitation, sham, pinchbeck, Colloq phoney or US also phony: These banknotes are fraudulent. 2 deceitful, dishonest, criminal, deceptive, tricky, artful, crafty, double-dealing, duplicitous, shifty, guileful, sharp, Colloq shady, crooked, bent: Substituting paste for diamonds is a fraudulent act.
fraught adj. 1 Usually, fraught with. filled or charged or packed with, loaded with, teeming or replete or overflowing with, oversupplied with, abounding or abundant in, attended or accompanied by: The scene was fraught with emotion. 2 tense, taut, stressful, trying, anxious, distressing, distressful,
upsetting, nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, fretful, strained,
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traumatic: Relations between the two countries became even more |
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fraught following the incident. |
fray° |
n. disturbance, skirmish, fight, battle, brawl, tussle, |
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scuffle, fracas, mˆl‚e or melee, Donnybrook, wrangle, rumpus, |
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row, quarrel, dispute, altercation, Law affray, Colloq ruckus, |
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punch-up: He leapt into the fray and fought like a tiger. |
frayý |
v. shred, wear (thin or threadbare), wear out, rub, abrade, |
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chafe, ravel, unravel, frazzle: He saves his frayed shirts to |
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wear at home. |
freak |
n. 1 monstrosity, monster, mutant, deformity: The show |
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features freaks such as a two-headed calf and a bearded lady. 2 |
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anomaly, rarity, abnormality, irregularity, oddity, curiosity, |
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rara avis, rare bird, Brit one-off, Colloq one-shot: Biologists |
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regard the albino giraffe as a freak of nature. 3 whim, |
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caprice, vagary, crotchet, quirk, eccentricity, fancy, |
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idiosyncrasy, peculiarity: The snow in New York in July was a |
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freak. 4 enthusiast, fan, devotee, aficionado; fanatic, addict; |
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Colloq buff, fiend, nut: She's been a jazz freak for years. |
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--adj. 5 freakish, freaky, abnormal, anomalous, extraordinary, |
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unique, rare, atypical, unusual, odd, queer, strange, |
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exceptional, bizarre, weird, unparalleled, unforeseen, |
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unexpected, unpredicted, unpredictable, Brit one-off, Colloq |
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one-shot: He claims he had a freak experience with a lion that |
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had a thorn in its foot. |
free |
adj. 1 at liberty, unfettered, unchained, unshackled, |
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unconfined, untrammelled, unencumbered, unrestrained, |
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unrestricted, unconstrained, uncontrolled, free-born, |
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independent, self-governing, self-governed, self-ruling, |
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autonomous, democratic, sovereign: These people want to be |
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free. It's a free country. 2 liberated, at large, let go, let |
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off, emancipated, delivered, manumitted, set free, unshackled, |
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unfettered, released, freed, loose, out, Colloq sprung, on the |
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loose: After ten years he was free at last. 3 unoccupied, |
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unengaged, at liberty, not busy, available, accessible; unused, |
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vacant, empty, spare, extra, uninhabited, untenanted: Are you |
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free for dinner tonight? Here is a free room we can use for the |
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meeting. 4 cost-free, free of charge, complimentary, gratis, for |
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nothing, without cost (or obligation), unencumbered, Colloq for |
free, on the house: The food was free but we paid for our drinks. 5 unattached, unfastened, untied, loose: Tie the free end of the rope round your waist. 6 unasked for, unsolicited, gratuitous, unbidden, voluntary, spontaneous, unconditioned, unconditional: Let me give you some free advice. 7 generous, lavish, open, liberal, munificent, unstinting, bountiful, open-handed, unsparing; charitable: Fred is quite free with his donations to good causes. 8 relaxed, casual, informal, free and easy, easy, natural, unceremonious, Colloq laid-back: He is quite free about letting me use his car. 9 open, above-board, honest, direct, outspoken, uninhibited, unconstrained, unrestrained, relaxed: You can be free in your criticism. 10
unhindered, unimpeded, unencumbered, unhampered, unobstructed, allowed, permitted, able, clear, unrestricted, unregulated:
She's free to do as she pleases. The two countries have signed a free-trade agreement. 11 free of. rid of, exempt(ed) from, relieved of, safe from, not liable or subject to, immune from, unaffected by, above, without, untouched by: He thinks he is free of her influence.
--adv. 12 freely, openly, at will, unrestrictedly, loose;
loosely: Our dog runs free on the farm. Let the rope hang free. 13 gratis, at no cost, free of charge, without charge: They give new businesses advice free.
--v. 14 set free, set at liberty, enfranchise, release, let go, liberate, let out, let loose, unloose, unchain, unfetter, uncage; emancipate, disenthrall, manumit; pardon, parole,
furlough: Bail was paid and we were freed. Lincoln freed the slaves. He was freed after six years in prison. 15 disengage, untie, unbind, loose, unfasten, undo, unshackle, unlock, open, release, disentangle, loosen, detach, extricate: Free the end of that rope. 16 relieve, rid, unburden, disburden, disencumber, unbosom; rescue, redeem: Free yourself of any preconceived notions on the subject.
freedom n. 1 liberty, independence, self-government, self-determination, self-direction, autonomy: Democracy is based on the freedom of the individual. 2 release, deliverance, liberation, emancipation, manumission: Will these people ever get their freedom? 3 exemption, immunity, deliverance, liberation, relief: All citizens should enjoy freedom from want. 4 range, latitude, scope, play, deregulation,
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non-interference, discretion, margin, free hand, discretion; |
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facility, ease, licence, permission, right, privilege, |
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authority, authorization, power, carte blanche: He must have |
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the freedom to make decisions. I have the freedom to do as I |
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wish. 5 free time, leisure, spare time: I like a lot of freedom |
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to do things in my own time. 6 candour, honesty, openness, |
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frankness, candidness, unrestraint, unconstraint, naturalness: |
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Freedom of speech is practised here. 7 boldness, |
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overfamiliarity, audacity, audaciousness, forwardness, |
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brazenness, brass, impertinence, impudence, disrespect, |
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arrogance, presumption, presumptuousness, nerve, gall: Where |
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does she get the freedom to talk to you that way? |
freely |
adv. 1 candidly, frankly, openly, unreservedly, without |
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reserve, unrestrainedly, without restraint, unconstrainedly, |
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without constraint, unceremoniously, plainly: Please speak |
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freely. 2 willingly, spontaneously, readily, voluntarily, on |
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(one's) own, independently, of (one's) own accord, of (one's) |
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own volition or free will: I didn't send for her - she came to |
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me freely. 3 unrestrainedly, unrestrictedly, without |
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restriction, without let or hindrance, without interference: He |
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was allowed to move freely about the island. 4 liberally, |
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lavishly, unreservedly, generously, unstintingly, open-handedly, |
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ungrudgingly, munificently, amply, plentifully, abundantly: He |
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has no money to donate but he gives freely of his time. 5 |
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readily, easily, smoothly, cleanly, unobstructedly: With the |
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obstacle removed, the water ran freely through the pipes. |
freeze |
v. 1 chill, refrigerate, ice, deep-freeze, flash-freeze, frost: |
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If you freeze the leftovers, they keep better. 2 solidify, |
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congeal, harden, stiffen, ice up or over: When the lake |
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freezes, we can go skating. 3 fix, immobilize, paralyse, stop |
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(dead or dead in one's tracks), stay, pin, transfix, Gorgonize; |
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become fixed, stand (stock-)still or motionless; peg, stick, |
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set: She froze him with an icy stare. He froze to the spot in |
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horror. Rates of exchange are no longer frozen. 4 freeze out. |
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exclude, debar, ban, reject, ostracize; eject, drive away or |
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out, expel, force out: When he tried to join the club, he was |
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frozen out. |
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--n. 5 frost, Brit freeze-up, US ice-up, deep-freeze: There |
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will be a freeze tonight in northern counties. 6 fix, |
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immobilization: The government has put a freeze on wages. |