The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms
.pdfgalley, Brit caboose: He was in the kitchen getting dinner ready.
kittenish adj. coy, seductive, flirtatious, coquettish, sportive, playful: Barbara tends to get a bit kittenish when she's with men.
kitty n. pot, pool, collection: Has he contributed anything to the kitty?
11.3 knack...
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knack |
n. genius, intuition, talent, gift, talent, facility, skill, |
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aptitude, bent; ability, flair, dexterity, capacity, adroitness, |
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proficiency, skilfulness: He has an uncanny knack for saying |
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the wrong thing. When it comes to gourmet cooking, Peggy |
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certainly has the knack. |
knife |
n. 1 blade: This knife couldn't cut through warm butter. |
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--v. 2 stab, pierce, slash, cut, wound: There was a struggle, |
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and one youth was knifed in the chest. |
knit |
v. 1 join or fasten or weave (together), interweave, interlace, |
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interconnect, intertwine, link, bind, unite, tie (up or |
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together), consolidate, combine, compact: He was the first king |
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to succeed in knitting together the diverse elements of the |
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empire. 2 grow (together), heal, mend, join: The broken bones |
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will knit in about a month. 3 furrow, contract, wrinkle, knot, |
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crease: He knit his brow and sighed. |
knob |
n. boss, stud, protuberance, projection, protrusion, handle: |
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Turn the knob, then pull the drawer open. |
knock |
v. 1 strike, hit, rap, thwack, whack, thump, bang, tap: Knock |
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on the door. He knocked the man on the head with his |
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walking-stick. 2 Colloq criticize, deprecate, carp or cavil at, |
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disparage, put down, run down: Don't knock something till |
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you've tried it. 3 knock about or around. a wander, roam, |
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ramble, rove, travel, gad about: She's going to knock about the |
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world for a bit before settling down. b associate with, consort |
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knockout in the first round. 2 success, sensation, triumph, |
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Colloq hit, winner, smash, smash hit, stunner: She looks a |
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knockout with her new hairstyle. |
knoll |
n. hillock, hummock, mound, barrow, hill, elevation, rise: We |
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climbed to the top of the knoll where we had a better view of |
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the house. |
knot |
n. 1 snarl, gnarl, tangle; tie, bond: I cannot loosen this |
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knot. 2 collection, assemblage, aggregation, congregation, |
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crowd, cluster, bunch, gathering, company, band, gang, crowd, |
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throng: A small knot of people were standing in front of my |
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painting. |
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--v. 3 fasten, tie, bind, secure, lash, tether, affix, fix, |
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attach: I knotted the rope around his neck. |
know v. 1 understand, comprehend, be familiar with, grasp, be acquainted with, be versed or skilled in: Do you know anything about nuclear physics? I know Italian fairly well. She knows how to dance the tango. 2 recognize, identify, recall, remember, recollect: I know him from somewhere. 3 be sure or certain or positive: I knew I was right! I just know I'm going to win the first prize. 4 distinguish, separate, discern, differentiate, recognize, identify: Charles doesn't know right from wrong. 5 be aware or conscious or cognizant of, be informed or advised of, have knowledge of: He knows that he cannot fire her because she knows too much.
knowing adj. 1 conspiratorial or conspiratory, secret, private; significant, meaningful, eloquent, expressive; shrewd, canny, artful, sly, wily, crafty: She gave him a knowing wink. 2 wise, clever, shrewd, (well-)informed, knowledgeable or knowledgable, aware, expert, qualified, astute, perceptive, intelligent, sagacious: Harold is quite knowing about horses, why not ask him?
knowledge n. 1 knowing, awareness, apprehension, cognition, grasp, understanding, discernment, consciousness, conception, insight: Miles's knowledge of history is extensive. 2 facts,
information, data, intelligence: They had no knowledge of any defections to the enemy. 3 acquaintance, acquaintanceship, familiarity, appreciation, conversance, expertise, experience,
adeptness, proficiency: Has he any knowledge of their work on the DNA molecule? 4 schooling, education, scholarship, instruction, learning, erudition: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
knowledgeable
adj. 1 knowledgable, aware, au fait, au courant, up to date, (well-)informed, (well-)acquainted, cognizant, familiar, enlightened, expert, knowing, Colloq in the know: She is knowledgeable about events in eastern Europe. 2 well-educated, erudite, learned, cultured, well-read, intelligent,
sophisticated, worldly, wise, sage, sagacious: Professor Evans is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met.
11.4 kowtow =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
kowtow v. Often, kowtow to. genuflect (before), salaam (to), prostrate oneself (before), bow (down) (to or before), pay court to,
scrape before, cringe before, fawn (before), grovel (before), toady ((up) to), pander to, truckle ((up) to), dance attendance on, Colloq butter up, Slang suck up to, play up to, shine up to,
Taboo slang US brown-nose: He kowtows to anyone who he thinks may be of use to him.
11.5 kudos =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
kudos n. praise, acclaim, glory, fame, renown, honour, plaudits, applause, laudation, acclamation, accolade: They got a lot of kudos out of funding a new opera-house.
12.0 L =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
12.1 label...
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label n. 1 identification, identifier, ID, mark, marker, earmark, tag, ticket, sticker, stamp, imprint, hallmark, brand, Brit docket: The label shows the weight, composition, and price of the contents. A proper shipping label should show both source
and destination. 2 name, denomination, designation, appellation, nickname, epithet, sobriquet, classification, characterization, description: It is difficult to give a label to the kind of
novels she writes. 3 trade mark, trade name, brand, logo, mark: Many supermarket chains market products under their own label.
--v. 4 identify (as), mark, tag, earmark, ticket, stamp, hallmark, imprint, brand, Brit docket: In those days, every
liberal was labelled a communist. Prepared food packages must be labelled with their ingredients. 5 name, denominate, designate, call, term, dub, classify, categorize, pigeon-hole, class, characterize, describe, portray, identify, Colloq US peg: We cannot label Voltaire either spiritualist or materialist.
laborious adj. 1 arduous, burdensome, onerous, strenuous, gruelling, back-breaking, Herculean, exhausting, taxing, tiring, fatiguing, wearying, wearisome, toilsome, difficult, tough, hard, uphill, stiff: Few realize how laborious farm work can be. 2 painstaking, detailed, careful, thorough, diligent, scrupulous, exhaustive, steady, steadfast, relentless, unrelenting, dogged, assiduous, sedulous, persevering, persistent, untiring,
tireless, indefatigable, unremitting: After laborious research the virus was finally identified. 3 industrious, hard-working,
dogged, determined, unwavering, obstinate, stubborn, unflagging, obdurate: He made a laborious effort to get ahead. 4 laboured, strained, forced, ponderous, overworked: The book contains some of the most laborious prose ever written.
labour n. 1 toil, (hard) work, travail, exertion, effort, laboriousness, strain, drudgery, pains, industry, slavery,
donkey-work, Colloq sweat, grind, elbow-grease, Brit swot: They know the labour involved in building a road. 2 employees, workers, wage-earners, labourers: A meeting between labour and management is scheduled for today. 3 effort, task, job, chore, undertaking: Raising funds for the museum was a labour of love. 4 travail, childbirth, parturition, labour pains, contractions, delivery: She went into labour at midnight, and the twins were born just after four.
--v. 5 work, toil, travail, drudge, strain, strive, struggle, slave, Colloq sweat, grind, Brit peg away (at), swot: We laboured hard to get where we are today. 6 dwell on, overdo, overemphasize, harp on, overstress, strain, Colloq belabour: I heard you the first time, so don't labour the point. 7 labour under. be burdened or troubled or distressed by, be deluded or deceived by, be disadvantaged by, suffer, endure: He is labouring under a misapprehension. She labours under the
impression that she will not be affected by a lack of education.
laboured adj. 1 strained, forced, difficult, hard, laborious, heavy: His breathing became laboured. 2 overdone, excessive, overwrought, ornate, elaborate, overworked, over-embellished, contrived, affected, artificial, unnatural: Her writing style
is very laboured and much too stiff.
labourer n. worker, workman, hand, blue-collar worker, working man, manual worker, drudge, Colloq Brit navvy: Get some labourers to clear away that rubble.
labyrinthine
adj. labyrinthian, maze-like, mazy, tortuous, sinuous, winding, convoluted, complicated, confusing, perplexing, puzzling, enigmatic, baffling, confounding, complex, Daedalian or Daedalean or Daedalic, daedal, intricate, Byzantine, twisted, gnarled, snarled, tangled, knotted, knotty, Gordian: The plot was so labyrinthine that the audience was unable to follow it.
lace |
n. 1 lace-work, tatting, openwork, filigree, mesh, web, |
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webbing, net, netting, network: She wore a collar of handmade |
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lace. 2 shoelace, shoestring, bootlace, cord, string, thong, |
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tie, lacing: They made me remove my belt, tie, and laces before |
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locking me in a cell. |
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--v. 3 thread, weave, string, twine, interweave, intertwine: |
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First lace the cord through the eyelets, then draw it tight. 4 |
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spike, fortify, strengthen: I saw her lace my punch with vodka, |
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so I didn't drink it. 5 lace into. a attack, assault, beat, |
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assail, thrash, belabour, fall on or upon, set upon, pounce on |
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or upon, lay into, Colloq light into: The brothers laced into |
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one another with a fury. b berate, scold, revile, attack, |
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upbraid, castigate, rant or rave at: She really laced into me |
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for being an hour late for dinner. |
lacerate v. gash, cut, slash, tear, rip, claw, mangle; wound, rend, hurt: My feet were lacerated by the sharp stones. She suffered a lacerating attack from him for forgetting to pass on the message.
lack |
n. 1 want, deficiency, dearth, absence, scarcity, shortage, |
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need, insufficiency, paucity, deficit, inadequacy: We suffered |
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from a severe lack of water. The orchestra is experiencing a |
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serious lack of talent at the moment. |
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--v. 2 want, need, require, be deficient in, be or fall short |
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of, be without: He lacks the votes needed to win. Simon lacks |
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the ability to paint any better. |
lackadaisical
adj. 1 lethargic, languorous, languid, listless, lazy, sluggish, spiritless, idle, indolent, inactive, slothful,
fain‚ant: She's much too lackadaisical to go out and get a job. 2 unenthusiastic, dull, apathetic, insouciant, uncaring, unconcerned, indifferent, blas‚, cold, cool, lukewarm, tepid, unexcited, phlegmatic, unemotional, unexcitable, uninterested, unimpressed, uninspired, unmoved, pococurante: How can you explain the government's lackadaisical attitude towards the greenhouse effect?
lacklustre
adj. drab, dull, lustreless, flat, dingy, colourless, dismal, dreary, unexciting, boring, prosaic, tiresome, tedious, wearisome, uninteresting, two-dimensional, insipid, vapid, bland, unimaginative, thick, slow, dense, Colloq wishy-washy,
blah: He gave a very lacklustre performance as Shylock. She has been leading a lacklustre life since John left.
lad |
n. boy, young man, fellow, schoolboy, youth, juvenile, |
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youngster, hobbledehoy, stripling, (street) urchin, (street) |
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Arab, gamin, Colloq guy, (little) shaver, kid, US sprout: Round |
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up a few of the lads for a game of football. |
ladylike adj. well-bred, well-born, aristocratic, noble; refined, respectable, cultured, polished, elegant, mannerly, gracious, genteel, courteous, polite, courtly, dignified, proper, correct, decorous: I cannot believe that Mrs Gibson did not behave in a
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ladylike way. |
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lag |
v. |
1 fall behind, linger, loiter, delay, straggle, trail, hang |
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back, dally, dawdle, inch or poke along: If you lag behind too |
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far, you'll never catch up. 2 diminish, decrease, slacken, |
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abate, slow (down or up), flag, wane, ebb, falter, fail, let up, |
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fall (off or away), ease (up), lighten: Contributions to the |
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fund are lagging. Military preparations are lagging. |
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laggard |
n. straggler, idler, dawdler, loiterer, slouch, sluggard, |
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loafer, snail, loller, Colloq Brit slowcoach , US slowpoke: As |
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a young boy he was always the laggard, dragging along behind |
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everyone else. |
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lair |
n. |
1 den, burrow, hole, nest, tunnel, cave, hollow, covert: We |
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cautiously approached the lair of the man-eating tiger. 2 |
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hide-out, hideaway, retreat, hiding-place, refuge, asylum, |
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sanctuary, Colloq hidey-hole or hidy-hole: Oliver will not |
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emerge from his lair before tea-time. |
laissez-faire
n. laisser-faire, laissez-faireism, free enterprise, non-intervention, non-interference, freedom, free trade, individualism, laissez-aller or laisser-aller, deregulation, decontrol, laxness: The government's policy of laissez-faire has spurred business on.
lambaste v. 1 beat, whip, scourge, flog, lash, maul, horsewhip, cane, birch, thrash, bludgeon, trounce, drub, pummel, batter, belabour, cudgel: Terry threatened to lambaste anyone who interfered. 2 censure, rebuke, scold, reprimand, chide, admonish, reprove, upbraid, berate, scold, revile, attack, castigate, flay, Colloq dress down, get on (someone's) back, rake or haul over the coals, US call down, Slang chew or bawl
out: The press lambasted the company for its unfair employment policies.
lame |
adj. 1 crippled, disabled, handicapped, hobbled, limping, |
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incapacitated, impaired, halting, halt, spavined, Colloq US |
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gimpy: The mare was found to be lame after the previous day's |
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hunting. 2 feeble, weak, flimsy, thin, unconvincing, |
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unpersuasive, awkward, clumsy, poor, ineffective, Colloq |
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half-baked: Refusing to go because you have a headache sounds |
like a pretty lame excuse to me.
lament v. 1 mourn, bemoan, bewail, wail, weep (over), grieve (for or over), keen (over), sorrow (for or over): A year later, and she
is still lamenting the death of her hamster?!
--n. 2 lamentation, moaning, mourning; keen, dirge, elegy, knell, Requiem, monody, threnody, thanatopsis, epicedium, Scots and Irish coronach: Laments for Kitty's late husband were heard throughout the village.
lamentable
adj. deplorable, wretched, miserable, terrible, distressing, awful, regrettable, pitiful, despicable, intolerable, unfortunate: The hall was left in a lamentable state after the
party. His death was presaged by a lamentable series of events.
lamentation
n. mourning, grieving, moaning, weeping, wailing, crying, sobbing, lamenting: The lamentation went on far into the night.
lampoon n. 1 burlesque, caricature, satire, parody, pasquinade or pasquil, squib, Colloq take-off, Brit send-up: The students published a hilarious lampoon of the teaching staff.
--v. 2 burlesque, caricature, satirize, parody, pasquinade or pasquil, mock, ridicule, squib, US skewer, Colloq take off, put or run down, Brit send up: The cows we hold most sacred are often lampooned by irreverent cartoonists.
lance n. 1 spear, pike, javelin, assegai; lancet: He transfixed the knight with his lance, and claimed victory in the joust.
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--v. 2 pierce, stab, puncture, prick, incise, open, slit: The |
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boil must be lanced at once to draw out the poison. |
land |
n. 1 earth, (solid) ground, terra firma: After weeks in an |
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open boat, Captain Bligh was relieved to have land under his |
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feet again. 2 dirt, earth, soil, turf, sod, loam, mould: |
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Trumble tilled the land as his ancestors had done for |
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generations. 3 property, grounds, real property or realty or US |
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and Canadian also real estate, acreage; estate: How much land |
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goes with the house? 4 fatherland, motherland, nation, country, |
homeland, native land: The land of our fathers flowed with milk and honey.
--v. 5 arrive, alight, light, touch or come or go down, splash down, settle on or upon, come to rest, berth, dock, disembark, debark, go ashore, deplane, dismount: The plane was forced to land on the water. We land at dawn. 6 catch, capture, take captive, Colloq bag: He was unable to land the shark unaided. 7 Colloq get, secure, obtain, win, acquire: He finally landed a job with his father-in-law. Sadie finally landed a millionaire!
landing n. 1 touchdown, alighting, splashdown, docking: The fog made landing quite dangerous. 2 disembarkation, deplaning, arrival: After landing, passengers proceed through passport control. 3 landing-place, dock, pier, jetty, wharf, quay: We walked onto
the landing to watch the ship come in.
landlady n. 1 proprietor or proprietress, lady of the house, mistress, manager or Brit manageress, hostess: My landlady owns three bed and breakfasts. 2 See landlord, 2, below.
landlord n. 1 host, publican, proprietor, innkeeper, hotelier, manager, restaurateur, Boniface: Landlord! Two pints of your best bitter! 2 landlady, landowner, householder, (property) owner, lessor, Brit freeholder: My landlord has raised my rent claiming that his expenses have increased.
landmark n. 1 feature, guide, guidepost; identification: The tower serves as a landmark for those seeking the castle. 2 turning-point, watershed, milestone, monument: His essay remains a landmark in philosophical thought.
--attributive 3 critical, crucial, pivotal, important, historic, significant, precedent-setting, momentous, notable, noteworthy, major: This stands out as a landmark decision in the annals of criminal law.
landscape n. prospect, view, scene, aspect, vista, countryside: Here and there the landscape is dotted with spinneys.
language n. 1 speech, tongue, idiom, parlance, dialect, idiolect, patois, jargon, cant, argot, vernacular, Colloq lingo: How many languages do you speak? 2 communication, intercourse,