The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfhail° |
v. 1 greet, accost, address, signal, call: Robert hailed us |
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from across the road. 2 cheer, salute, applaud, approve, |
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glorify, praise, laud, honour, acclaim, congratulate, |
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felicitate, acknowledge: He was hailed by all for his |
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charitable work. |
hailý |
v. 1 rain or beat or shower (down) on, bombard, pelt, volley, |
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barrage: Rocks and debris hailed down on us from the cliffs |
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above. |
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--n. 2 volley, storm, shower, torrent, bombardment, barrage: |
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They were greeted by a hail of abuse when they entered the |
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meeting hall. |
hair n. 1 tresses, locks, mane, curls, ringlets; braids, plaits: You will recognize her by her red hair. 2 hair's breadth, whisker, trifle, fraction, skin of one's teeth: He won the race by a hair.
hairdo n. coiffure, hairstyle, cut, coif: Your hairdo is very becoming.
hairless adj. bald, bald-headed, bald-pated, glabrous, calvous: She finds hairless men rather sexy.
hair-splitting
adj. quibbling, (over-)fussy, hypercritical, petty, captious, carping, fault-finding, finicky, (over)nice, fastidious, cavilling, niggling, Colloq nit-picking: His hair-splitting attention to detail gets on my nerves.
hairy adj. 1 hirsute, shaggy, downy, fleecy, fluffy, woolly, lanate or lanose, lanuginous or lanuginose, bristly, setaceous, setal, hispid, comate or comose, fringy, crinite, trichoid, strigose or strigous, strigillose; whiskered, bewhiskered, bearded, barbate, unshaven: The creature had a very hairy face. 2 tricky, dangerous, perilous, risky, uncertain, precarious, hazardous, frightening, worrying, nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, Colloq scary: The situation at the office has become very hairy. 3 tangled, intricate, knotty, complex, complicated, difficult,
problematic, confused, confusing: The exam contained some hairy questions.
hale |
adj. healthy, hearty, fit (as a fiddle), sound, able-bodied, |
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hardy, wholesome, robust, flourishing, in good or fine fettle, |
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in the pink: Her grandmother was as hale and hearty as ever. |
half-hearted
adj. indifferent, uncaring, unconcerned, lukewarm, uninterested, dispassionate, cool, unenthusiastic, half-baked, nonchalant, phlegmatic, lackadaisical, insouciant: The council has made only a half-hearted effort to solve the problem.
halfwit n. dunce, fool, idiot, simpleton, ninny, ass, ninny-hammer, moron, imbecile, dolt, dunderhead or dunderpate, rattle-brain, nincompoop, dullard, Colloq numskull or numbskull, nitwit, dim-wit, birdbrain, Brit nit, twit: He's such a halfwit, he can hardly expect me to give him a job!
halfwitted
adj. stupid, foolish, silly, simple, inane, asinine, moronic, imbecilic, doltish, rattle-brained, feeble-minded, attocerebral, cretinous, thick, non compos mentis, dim-witted, weak-minded, Colloq dumb, Brit dotty, barmy (in the crumpet): She had some halfwitted idea that she would win the lottery.
hall |
n. 1 corridor, hallway, passageway, passage; foyer, entry, |
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entry-way, lobby, vestibule: Let us step out into the hall for |
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a brief word. 2 auditorium, assembly or meeting or convention |
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hall, theatre, amphitheatre, hired hall; lecture-room, |
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lecture-hall, classroom: We hired a hall for the wedding |
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reception. |
hallmark n. 1 authentication, verification, seal or stamp (of authenticity or approval), mark, device, sign, symbol; plate-mark; assay-mark: From this hallmark we know when and where the piece was made, by whom, and its degree of purity. Surprise endings are the hallmark of O. Henry's short stories. 2 feature, stamp, mark, earmark, trade mark, characteristic, identification: From his hallmark, a tiny axe, you can tell
that the painting is a genuine Fellworthy.
hallow v. 1 consecrate, bless, sanctify, dedicate, honour, enshrine, glorify: Englishmen look upon this battlefield as hallowed ground. 2 venerate, worship, revere, reverence, respect,
honour, pay homage or respect or honour to, exalt: We must observe the hallowed traditions of the university.
hallucination
n. fantasy, mirage, day-dream, illusion, delusion, vision, dream, aberration, chimera, phantasm, phantom, figment of the imagination, apparition, spectre, ghost; par‘sthesia: Alone at sea for a fortnight, I began having hallucinations.
halo |
n. nimbus, aura, aureole or aureola, corona, radiance, Painting |
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vesica, mandorla; ring, disc, circle, annulation, annulus: The |
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saints can be identified by the golden halos round their heads. |
halt |
n. 1 stop, standstill, end, termination, close, stoppage, |
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cessation: We must call a halt to absenteeism in the factory. |
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--v. 2 stop, quit, end, terminate, cease, check, curb, stem, |
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discontinue, desist, bring or come or draw to an end or close, |
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put an end or stop to, conclude, shut or close down or up: We |
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halted when we came to the river. The guerrillas halted the |
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armoured column at the pass. |
halting adj. hesitant, hesitating, wavering, shifting, uneven, faltering, stumbling, faulty, unsteady, awkward, stammering, stuttering: He told her in halting English that there was no news of her friend.
hamper° v. slow, balk or baulk, delay, hold up, retard, inhibit, encumber, hinder, obstruct, block, impede, prevent, interfere with, frustrate, restrict, curb, limit, handicap, restrain, trammel, bar, barricade, shackle, clog, curtail, lessen, reduce, diminish: Ice floes hampered their further progress.
hamperý n. basket, pannier, creel, Brit punnet; hanaper, Dialectal
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skep: A hamper arrived from Fortnum's, packed full of |
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delicacies such as foie gras and peaches in brandy. |
hand |
n. 1 Slang mitt, paw, US lunch-hook: Keep your hands off me, |
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you oaf! 2 help, aid, assistance, helping hand, relief, boost; |
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leg up: Please give me a hand with this trunk. 3 influence, |
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agency, participation, involvement, part, share: Did you have a |
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hand in my getting the appointment? 4 (manual) labourer, |
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worker, workman, man, help, employee: It's getting harder to |
find hands for the farm. 5 pointer, indicator, index: The
minute hand covers the hour hand at noon and midnight. 6 (round of) applause, ovation, clap: Give the lad a hand for trying. 7 handwriting, penmanship, script; calligraphy: The writing was
in a hand that she could not recognize. 8 Often, hands. control, hold, grasp, possession, custody, clutches, keeping, power, disposal, jurisdiction, authority, supervision, management, guardianship, care: At last, the government is in the hands of the people. 9 at hand. nearby, close, near, close by, handy, (readily) available, to or on hand, at one's fingertips, convenient, within (arm's) reach, accessible, present; approaching, imminent, around the corner: He always
kept a pistol at hand. The Day of Judgement is at hand. 10 hand in glove. hand in hand, in league, together, in collusion, collusively, connivingly, conspiringly, intimately, closely, jointly, Colloq in cahoots: An informer is working hand in glove with the police. 11 hand in hand. together, side by side, hand in glove: They walked hand in hand down the road. 12 hand-over-fist. quickly, speedily, rapidly, swiftly, steadily,
like mad: He makes money hand-over-fist in the stock market. 13 hands down. easily, readily, effortlessly: He can win the marathon hands down.
--v. 14 give, pass, deliver, present to or with: Please hand
me the hammer. 15 hand down or on or over. a bequeath, will, pass on; transfer, turn over: The farm has been handed down from father to son for seven generations. b See 18 (a), below. 16 hand in. submit, give in, tender, proffer, offer: I handed
in my resignation. 17 hand out. distribute, disseminate, pass out or round or around, give out, deal (out), mete or dole out, dispense; disburse: She was handing out leaflets to passers-by. 18 hand over. a deliver, submit, yield, give up, surrender,
turn over; transfer: The man produced a gun and told the cashier to hand over the money. b See 15 (a), above.
handcuffs n.pl. manacles, shackles, Colloq cuffs, bracelets, Slang Brit darbies: The police put handcuffs on them all.
handful n. 1 few, couple, sprinkling, small number; fistful: Only a handful of restaurants are open that late. He gave the beggar a handful of change. 2 (behaviour or disciplinary) problem, bother, mischief-maker, troublemaker, nuisance: Timothy was a real handful when he was five.
handicap n. 1 hindrance, restraint, encumbrance, restriction, limitation, impediment, barrier, bar, obstacle, (stumbling) block, constraint, check, curb, trammel, disability, disadvantage: Did Douglas Bader view the loss of his legs as a handicap?
--v. 2 hinder, hamper, restrain, encumber, restrict, limit, impede, bar, block, check, curb, trammel, disable, disadvantage: He was severely handicapped by the loss of his sword.
handily adv. 1 readily, easily, effortlessly, without strain, comfortably, with both hands tied (behind one's back): Donald handily won the first prize in the poetry competition. 2 skilfully, capably, deftly, cleverly, dexterously, adroitly, expertly, proficiently, masterfully: I could never do that intricate work as handily as she.
handle n. 1 grip, hilt, handgrip, haft, helve: Hold it by the handle, not the blade.
--v. 2 feel, touch, finger, hold; caress, fondle, pat: Be careful how you handle that knife. 3 manage, run, operate,
direct, administer, supervise, oversee, control, command, guide: At the age of 26, she was handling all foreign business for the company. 4 steer, control, manage, cope with, manoeuvre, manipulate: Are you sure he can handle that horse? 5 deal or trade or traffic in, (buy and) sell, market: The gang was found to be handling stolen goods worth millions every month. 6 treat, control, deal with, cope with: She handled the customers with the utmost tact and respect. 7 treat, employ, use, utilize;
deal with, wield, tackle, manipulate: Don't you admire how she handled the perspective in this painting?
handsome adj. 1 good-looking, fine-looking, attractive, fair, comely: He's handsome enough to be a movie star. 2 generous, sizeable, large, big, substantial, considerable, good, goodly, ample, abundant: She has made a handsome profit on the painting.
handy adj. 1 nearby, accessible, available, at or on or to hand, close (by), convenient, at one's fingertips, within (easy) reach, (at the) ready: Because of the recent break-ins, she keeps a pistol handy. 2 usable, serviceable, manoeuvrable,
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clever, useful, helpful, practical: A pair of pliers and a |
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screwdriver are the handiest tools. 3 deft, clever, dexterous, |
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adroit, adept, skilled, skilful, proficient, expert: Aunt Sara |
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is very handy with a needle and thread. |
hang |
v. 1 suspend, depend, dangle; be poised or suspended, hover, |
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swing: Hang the lantern from this branch. The laundry was |
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hanging on the line. 2 gibbet, send to the gallows, lynch, |
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execute, kill, Colloq string up, stretch: They hanged two |
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murderers this morning. 3 drape, fall: The skirt isn't hanging |
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straight. 4 hang about or around. a loiter, wait, linger, |
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dally, idle, tarry , Colloq hang out: He hangs about after |
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school every day, waiting for Susan. b Also, hang about or |
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around (with). frequent, haunt, visit, spend time at; associate |
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with, socialize with, hobnob with, rub elbows with, consort |
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with, fraternize with, mix or mingle with, Colloq hang out |
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(with): He hangs about the Golden Crown. I saw him hanging |
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around with some pretty unsavoury characters. 5 hang back |
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(from). be reluctant, recoil (from), shrink (from), hesitate, |
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falter, stay away (from): Move to the front of the queue and |
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don't hang back. 6 hang fire. be delayed, remain unsettled or |
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unfinished, be in suspense or abeyance; stall, hold up, delay: |
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The decision will hang fire till after the election. 7 hang on. |
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a Also, hang on to. hold on (to), cling (to), clutch, grip, |
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grasp, grab: Hang on to me when we're crossing the street. b |
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wait, stay, stop: Hang on a minute - what did you call me? c |
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wait, persist, remain, carry on, persevere, go on, hold out, |
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endure, hold the phone, Colloq US hang in there: Hang on a |
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minute, I have to put down the phone to get a pencil. d Also, |
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hang on to or upon. listen carefully or attentively, give one's |
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undivided attention, be rapt: She hung on every word the guru |
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uttered. e depend or rely (on), be dependent or contingent |
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(on), be subject (to), be conditioned or conditional (on): The |
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entire project now hangs on their approval of the budget. 8 |
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hang one's head. be ashamed or humiliated or abashed or humbled |
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or embarrassed: She hung her head as the store detective |
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confronted her with the stolen goods. 9 hang out. See 5 (a), |
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above. 10 hang over. be put off or postponed or delayed: We |
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must first deal with matters hanging over from our last meeting. |
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11 hang together. a unite, be united, be as one, stick |
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together, join forces, cooperate, act in concert or harmony: We |
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must hang together or we shall hang separately. b make sense, |
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be logical, be consistent, correspond, match (up), cohere, be |
coherent: The statements issued yesterday and today just don't hang together. 12 hang up. break the connection, disconnect, cut off, put down the receiver: Whenever a salesman phones, I simply hang up.
hanger-on n. follower, dependant, leech, parasite, toady, sycophant, yes-man, Colloq scrounger, US freeloader, Slang groupie, sponger or sponge: The rock star came in, surrounded by his hangers-on.
hangman |
n. executioner, Archaic Brit Jack Ketch: The hangman, a black |
hood concealing his identity, slipped the noose over the |
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prisoner's head. |
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hanker |
v. Usually, hanker after or for. yearn for, long for, thirst |
after or for, hunger after or for, itch for, pine for, lust
after or for, covet, crave, have a hankering for, want, desire, fancy, Colloq have a yen for: She hankered after a big box of chocolates.
hanky-panky
n. mischief, trickery, double-dealing, legerdemain, deception, duplicity, chicanery, naughtiness, foolishness, tomfoolery, Colloq funny business, jiggery-pokery, monkey business, shenanigans, goings-on, antics: He'd best not try any of his hanky-panky with the tax inspector.
haphazard adj. 1 random, arbitrary, chance, fortuitous, aleatory, accidental, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unexpected, adventitious, serendipitous: Her fate was to be decided by a haphazard throw of the dice. 2 casual, offhand, hit-or-miss, unsystematic, slapdash, slipshod, careless, disorganized, disorderly: He took some haphazard shots at the target.
happen v. 1 occur, take place, come about, go on, come to pass, develop; betide, chance, prove, materialize, Colloq transpire, come off, Slang cook: What is happening? As it happens, everyone has already left. 2 befall, become of: What will happen to me if I refuse? 3 happen on or upon. come upon, chance or hit on or upon, stumble on or upon, find, turn up, encounter, meet with: It was then that I happened on an old letter of his.
happening n. event, incident, occurrence, occasion, taking place,
circumstance, chance, episode, phenomenon: Such a conjunction of the planets is a very rare happening.
happily adv. 1 fortunately, luckily, propitiously, providentially, opportunely: Happily, she made a full recovery and was soon back at work. 2 joyfully, joyously, delightedly, gleefully, cheerily, cheerfully, gaily, merrily, blithely;
enthusiastically, heartily: She waved happily as they drove off. 3 gladly, with pleasure, agreeably, contentedly, willingly, peaceably: And they both lived happily ever after.
happiness n. pleasure, delight, felicity, enjoyment, joy, joyousness, joyfulness, jubilation, cheerfulness, cheeriness, cheer, blithesomeness, gladness, light-heartedness, exhilaration, elation, exuberance, high spirits, glee, ecstasy: My happiness at seeing you again was unbounded.
happy adj. 1 pleased, delighted, glad, joyous, joyful, overjoyed, jubilant, cheerful, cheery, blithe, blithesome, glad, light-hearted, contented, exhilarated, exultant, cock-a-hoop, elated, exuberant, thrilled, gleeful, euphoric, ecstatic, satisfied, gratified, Colloq on top of the world, on cloud nine,
pleased as Punch, tickled pink, Brit in the seventh heaven, over the moon, US in seventh heaven: Her parents were happy that Georgina was married at last. 2 lucky, fortuitous, propitious, fortunate, auspicious, advantageous, beneficial, favourable, felicitous, opportune, timely, well-timed, apt, appropriate: By a happy chance, we were in Bermuda at the same time.
harangue n. 1 diatribe, tirade, oration, peroration, declamation, philippic, screed, exhortation, vituperation, rodomontade, speech, address, Colloq spiel: This morning he delivered a ten-minute harangue on the weakness of the coffee.
--v. 2 declaim, hold forth, preach, lecture, sermonize, pontificate, vituperate, rant and rave: Our neighbour is always haranguing her husband about trimming the hedges.
harass v. badger, harry, hector, trouble, torment, bother, exasperate, hound, plague, persecute, vex, annoy, irritate, pester, worry, beset, bait, nag, pick on or at, tease, torture, Brit chivvvy or chivy or chevy: The police harass me by turning up at all hours for 'help with their inquiries'.
harbinger n. forerunner, herald, precursor, omen, foretoken, sign, portent, augury: The crowing cock is the harbinger of dawn.
harbour n. 1 port, (safe) haven, anchorage, mooring: We sailed into the harbour just as the storm broke.
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--v. 2 shelter, keep safe, protect, shield, guard, safeguard, |
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conceal, hide: They were found guilty of harbouring a known |
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fugitive. 3 cherish, foster, nurture, nurse, keep, retain, |
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maintain, hold, cling to: She harbours a grudge against whoever |
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set the fire. |
hard |
adj. 1 rigid, stiff, solid, inflexible, firm, dense, condensed, |
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compressed, close, solidified, hardened; stony, rocklike, |
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concrete, petrified, granite(-like), flinty, steely; tough, |
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rugged, leathery, callous; unyielding, adamant(ine), |
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impenetrable, obdurate, impervious, impregnable: The cement |
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gets hard in an hour. This steak is as hard as shoe-leather. |
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The metal was so hard that I broke three drills trying to make a |
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hole in it. 2 difficult, laborious, arduous, back-breaking, |
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burdensome, onerous, fatiguing, tiring, exhausting, wearying, |
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strenuous, tough, toilsome: Laying track for the railway is a |
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very hard job. 3 difficult, perplexing, knotty, puzzling, |
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baffling, enigmatic, intricate, complicated, complex, tangled, |
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involved, thorny, incomprehensible, inscrutable, unsolvable, |
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insoluble, Colloq tough: There were a lot of hard questions in |
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the exam. 4 stern, cold, callous, intractable, exacting, |
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strict, demanding, hard-hearted, stony-hearted, severe, |
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tyrannical, despotic, dictatorial, magisterial, oppressive, |
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cruel, ruthless, pitiless, merciless, savage, brutal, brutish, |
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inhuman, heartless, harsh, unkind, implacable, unsympathetic, |
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dispassionate, uncompassionate, unfeeling, obdurate, indurate; |
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unsentimental, insensitive, thick-skinned, tough, hard-boiled, |
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stony, hardbitten, unfeeling, unsparing: Hemel is a hard |
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taskmaster. Of the prison warders, each was harder than the |
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next. He advocates taking a hard line against white-collar |
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crime. 5 bad, difficult, grievous, calamitous, racking, |
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disastrous, dark, grim, distressing, devastating, agonizing, |
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painful, unpleasant, severe, austere, Colloq tough, rough: The |
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years of the Great Depression were hard for everyone. 6 cool, |
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unemotional, calculating, uncompromising, methodical, critical, |
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systematic, practical, pragmatic, businesslike, realistic, |
penetrating, searching, hard-headed, Colloq tough, hard-nosed: Shareholders should take a hard look at the annual report. Chapelle drives a hard bargain. 7 sedulous, assiduous, devoted, conscientious, industrious, indefatigable, untiring, persistent, dogged, intent, eager, zealous, ardent, energetic, keen, avid: Galpin is a very hard worker who gets a lot done. 8 cold, bare, plain, straight, straightforward, blunt, unvarnished, unquestionable, verifiable, real, indisputable, undeniable, incontestable, incontrovertible, strict, inescapable,
ineluctable, unavoidable, unalterable, immutable: The hard fact is that the bill has never been paid. 9 angry, bitter, acrimonious, hostile, antagonistic, harsh, unpleasant, unfriendly: I'm afraid there were some hard words between us. 10 spirituous, alcoholic, strong: She won't touch hard liquor.
11 addictive, habit-forming: He later changed from marijuana to hard drugs. 12 sharp, well-defined, clear, distinct, stark, definite: Note the hard edges of objects in Realist paintings.
--adv. 13 vigorously, forcefully, forcibly, energetically, mightily, arduously, laboriously, strenuously, earnestly, actively, dynamically, eagerly, intensely, ardently, heartily, zealously, intently, spiritedly, diligently, assiduously, sedulously, studiously, determinedly, steadfastly, conscientiously, industriously, devotedly, urgently, persistently, untiringly, indefatigably, perseveringly, unfalteringly, relentlessly, doggedly: They always had to work very hard just to scrape by. He's hard at work writing his new book. 14 violently, deeply, intensely, badly, distressingly, painfully, severely, agonizingly: Failing the examination hit him quite hard. 15 intently, carefully, earnestly: The judge thought long and hard before passing sentence. 16 harshly, severely, badly, ill: It's going to go hard with her if she doesn't change her ways. 17 hard up. poor, indigent, poverty-stricken, impoverished, penniless, impecunious, bankrupt, Colloq in the red, broke, bust(ed), on one's uppers, Slang Brit skint: He's so hard up he can't afford a decent meal.
harden v. 1 set, solidify, stiffen, freeze: The concrete will harden overnight. 2 intensify, strengthen, brace, fortify, toughen, reinforce, stiffen: The opposition have hardened their stand against privatization.