Analogous Words II Flashcards
base
low
vile
mean deserving of contempt because of the absence of higher values.
base stresses the ignoble and may suggest cruelty, treachery, greed, or grossness: base motives.
low may connote crafty cunning, vulgarity, or immorality and regularly implies an outraging of one’s sense of decency or propriety: refused to listen to such low talk.
vile, the strongest of these words, tends to suggest disgusting depravity or filth: a vile remark.
worry annoy harass harry plague pester tease
mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts.
worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation: pursued a policy of worrying the enemy.
annoy implies disturbing one’s composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks: you’re doing that just to annoy me.
harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one’s nervous or mental power: harassed on all sides by creditors.
harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment: the strikers had been harried by thugs.
plague implies a painful and persistent affliction: plagued all her life by poverty.
pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks: constantly pestered with trivial complaints.
tease suggests an attempt to break down one’s resistance or rouse to wrath: children teased the dog.
obscure dark vague enigmatic cryptic ambiguous equivocal
mean not clearly understandable.
obscure implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge: obscure poems.
dark implies an imperfect or clouded revelation often with ominous or sinister suggestion: muttered dark hints of revenge.
vague implies a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration: a vague sense of obligation.
enigmatic stresses a puzzling, mystifying quality: enigmatic occult writings.
cryptic implies a purposely concealed meaning: cryptic hints of hidden treasure.
ambiguous applies to language capable of more than one interpretation: an ambiguous directive.
equivocal applies to language left open to differing interpretations with the intention of deceiving or evading: moral precepts with equivocal phrasing.
weak feeble frail fragile infirm decrepit
mean not strong enough to endure strain, pressure, or strenuous effort.
weak applies to deficiency or inferiority in strength or power of any sort: felt weak after the surgery.
feeble suggests extreme weakness inviting pity or contempt: a feeble attempt to walk.
frail implies delicacy and slightness of constitution or structure: a frail teenager unable to enjoy sports.
fragile suggests frailty and brittleness unable to resist rough usage: a reclusive poet too fragile for the rigors of this world.
infirm suggests instability, unsoundness, and insecurity due to old age or crippling illness: infirm residents requiring constant care.
decrepit implies being worn-out or broken-down from long use or old age: the dowager’s decrepit retainers.
contemptible despicable pitiable sorry scurvy
mean arousing or deserving scorn.
contemptible may imply any quality provoking scorn or a low standing in any scale of values: a contemptible liar.
despicable may imply utter worthlessness and usually suggests arousing an attitude of moral indignation: a despicable crime.
pitiable applies to what inspires mixed contempt and pity: a pitiable attempt at tragedy.
sorry may stress pitiable inadequacy or may suggest wretchedness or sordidness: this rattletrap is a sorry excuse for a car.
scurvy adds to despicable an implication of arousing disgust: a scurvy crew of hangers-on.
dirty filthy foul nasty squalid
mean conspicuously unclean or impure.
dirty emphasizes the presence of dirt more than an emotional reaction to it: a dirty littered street.
filthy carries a strong suggestion of offensiveness and typically of gradually accumulated dirt that begrimes and besmears: a stained greasy floor, utterly filthy.
foul implies extreme offensiveness and an accumulation of what is rotten or stinking: a foul-smelling open sewer.
nasty applies to what is actually foul or is repugnant to one expecting freshness, cleanliness, or sweetness: it’s a nasty job to clean up after a sick cat. In practice, nasty is often weakened to the point of being no more than a synonym of unpleasant or disagreeable: had a nasty fall / his answer gave her a nasty shock.
squalid adds to the idea of dirtiness and filth that of slovenly neglect: squalid slums.
All these terms are also applicable to moral uncleanness or baseness or obscenity.
dirty then stresses meanness or despicableness: don’t ask me to do your dirty work
while filthy and foul describe disgusting obscenity or loathsome behavior: filthy street language / a foul story of lust and greed
and nasty implies a peculiarly offensive unpleasantness: a stand-up comedian known for nasty humor.
Distinctively, squalid implies sordidness as well as baseness and dirtiness: engaged in a series of squalid affairs.
trespass
encroach
infringe
invade
mean to make inroads upon the property, territory, or rights of another.
trespass implies an unwarranted or unlawful intrusion: hunters trespassing on farmland.
encroach suggests gradual or stealthy entrance upon another’s territory or usurpation of another’s rights or possessions: the encroaching settlers displacing the native peoples.
infringe implies an encroachment clearly violating a right or prerogative: infringing a copyright.
invade implies a hostile and injurious entry into the territory or sphere of another: accused of invading their privacy.
ridicule
deride
mock
taunt
mean to make an object of laughter of.
ridicule implies a deliberate often malicious belittling: consistently ridiculed everything she said.
deride suggests contemptuous and often bitter ridicule: derided their efforts to start their own business.
mock implies scorn often ironically expressed as by mimicry or sham deference: youngsters began to mock the helpless wino.
taunt suggests jeeringly provoking insult or challenge: hometown fans taunted the visiting team.
decay decompose rot putrefy spoil
mean to undergo destructive dissolution.
decay implies a slow change from a state of soundness or perfection: a decaying mansion.
decompose stresses a breaking down by chemical change and when applied to organic matter a corruption: the strong odor of decomposing vegetation.
rot is a close synonym of decompose and often connotes foulness: fruit was left to rot in warehouses.
putrefy implies the rotting of animal matter and offensiveness to sight and smell: corpses putrefying on the battlefield.
spoil applies chiefly to the decomposition of foods: keep the ham from spoiling.
prone
supine
prostrate
recumbent
mean lying down.
prone implies a position with the front of the body turned toward the supporting surface: push-ups require a prone position.
supine implies lying on one’s back and suggests inertness or abjectness: lying supine on the couch.
prostrate implies lying full-length as in submission, defeat, or physical collapse: a runner fell prostrate at the finish line.
recumbent implies the posture of one sleeping or resting <a>.</a>
shrewd
sagacious
perspicacious
astute
mean acute in perception and sound in judgment.
shrewd stresses practical, hardheaded cleverness and judgment: a shrewd judge of character.
sagacious suggests wisdom, penetration, and farsightedness: sagacious investors got in on the ground floor.
perspicacious implies unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden: a perspicacious counselor saw through the child’s facade.
astute suggests shrewdness, perspicacity, and diplomatic skill: an astute player of party politics.
kill slay murder assassinate dispatch execute
mean to deprive of life.
kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner: killed in an accident / frost killed the plants.
slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive: slew thousands of the Philistines.
murder specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility: convicted of murdering a rival.
assassinate applies to deliberate killing openly or secretly often for political motives: terrorists assassinated the Senator.
dispatch stresses quickness and directness in putting to death: dispatched the sentry with one bullet.
execute stresses putting to death as a legal penalty: executed by lethal gas.
fit suitable meet proper appropriate fitting apt happy felicitous
mean right with respect to some end, need, use, or circumstance.
fit stresses adaptability and sometimes special readiness for use or action: fit for battle.
suitable implies an answering to requirements or demands: clothes suitable for camping.
meet suggests a just proportioning: meet payment.
proper suggests a suitability through essential nature or accordance with custom: proper acknowledgement.
appropriate implies eminent or distinctive fitness: an appropriate gift.
fitting implies harmony of mood or tone: a fitting end.
apt connotes a fitness marked by nicety and discrimination: apt quotations.
happy suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate: a happy choice of words.
felicitous suggests an aptness that is opportune, telling, or graceful: a felicitous phrase.
rude
rough
crude
raw
mean lacking in social refinement.
rude implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy: rude behavior.
rough is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness: rough manners.
crude may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive: a crude joke.
raw suggests being untested, inexperienced, or unfinished: turning raw youths into polished performers.
care concern solicitude anxiety worry
mean a troubled or engrossed state of mind or the thing that causes this.
care implies oppression of the mind weighed down by responsibility or disquieted by apprehension: a face worn by years of care.
concern implies a troubled state of mind because of personal interest, relation, or affection: crimes caused concern in the neighborhood.
solicitude implies great concern and connotes either thoughtful or hovering attentiveness toward another: acted with typical maternal solicitude.
anxiety stresses anguished uncertainty or fear of misfortune or failure: plagued by anxiety and self-doubt.
worry suggests fretting over matters that may or may not be real cause for anxiety: financial worries.
take seize grasp clutch snatch grab
mean to get hold of by or as if by catching up with the hand.
take is a general term applicable to any manner of getting something into one’s possession or control: take some salad from the bowl.
seize implies a sudden and forcible movement in getting hold of something tangible or an apprehending of something fleeting or elusive when intangible: seized the suspect.
grasp stresses a laying hold so as to have firmly in possession: grasp the handle and pull.
clutch suggests avidity or anxiety in seizing or grasping and may imply less success in holding:!clutching her purse.
snatch suggests more suddenness or quickness but less force than seize: snatched a doughnut and ran.
grab implies more roughness or rudeness than snatch: grabbed roughly by the arm.
steep
abrupt
precipitous
sheer
mean having an incline approaching the perpendicular.
steep implies such sharpness of pitch that ascent or descent is very difficult: a steep hill / a steep dive.
abrupt implies a sharper pitch and a sudden break in the level: a beach with an abrupt drop-off.
precipitous applies to an incline approaching the vertical: the river winds through a precipitous gorge.
sheer suggests an unbroken perpendicular expanse: sheer cliffs that daunted the climbers.
pay compensate remunerate satisfy reimburse indemnify repay recompense
mean to give money or its equivalent in return for something.
pay implies the discharge of an obligation incurred: paid their bills.
compensate implies a making up for services rendered: an attorney well compensated for her services.
remunerate clearly suggests paying for services rendered and may extend to payment that is generous or not contracted for: promised to remunerate the searchers handsomely.
satisfy implies paying a person what is required by law: all creditors will be satisfied in full.
reimburse implies a return of money that has been spent for another’s benefit: reimbursed employees for expenses.
indemnify implies making good a loss suffered through accident, disaster, or warfare: indemnified the families of the dead miners.
repay stresses paying back an equivalent in kind or amount: repay a favor with a favor.
recompense suggests due return in amends, friendly repayment, or reward: passengers were recompensed for the delay.
attack assail assault bombard storm
mean to make an onslaught upon.
attack implies taking the initiative in a struggle: plan to attack the town at dawn.
assail implies attempting to break down resistance by repeated blows or shots: assailed the enemy with artillery fire.
assault suggests a direct attempt to overpower by suddenness and violence of onslaught: commandos assaulted the building from all sides.
bombard applies to attacking with bombs or shells: bombarded the city nightly.
storm implies attempting to break into a defended position: preparing to storm the fortress.
Fitful
Spasmodic
Convulsive
mean lacking steadiness or regularity in movement.
fitful implies intermittence, a succession of starts and stops or risings and fallings: fitful sleep.
spasmodic adds to fitful the implication of rapid or violent activity alternating with inactivity: spasmodic growth.
convulsive suggests the breaking of regularity or quiet by uncontrolled movement: convulsive shocks.
ecstasy
rapture
transport
mean intense exaltation of mind and feelings.
ecstasy and rapture both suggest a state of trance or near immobility produced by an overpowering emotion.
ecstasy may apply to any strong emotion (as joy, fear, rage, adoration): religious ecstasy.
rapture usually implies intense bliss or beatitude: in speechless rapture.
transport applies to any powerful emotion that lifts one out of oneself and usually provokes vehement expression or frenzied action: in a transport of rage.
discernment discrimination perception penetration insight acumen
mean a power to see what is not evident to the average mind.
discernment stresses accuracy (as in reading character or motives or appreciating art): the discernment to know true friends.
discrimination stresses the power to distinguish and select what is true or appropriate or excellent: the discrimination that develops through listening to a lot of great music.
perception implies quick and often sympathetic discernment (as of shades of feeling): a novelist of keen perception into human motives.
penetration implies a searching mind that goes beyond what is obvious or superficial: lacks the penetration to see the scorn beneath their friendly smiles.
insight suggests depth of discernment coupled with understanding sympathy: a documentary providing insight into the plight of the homeless.
acumen implies characteristic penetration combined with keen practical judgment: a director of reliable box-office acumen.
chase
pursue
follow
trail
mean to go after or on the track of something or someone.
chase implies going swiftly after and trying to overtake something fleeing or running: a dog chasing a cat.
pursue suggests a continuing effort to overtake, reach, or attain: pursued the criminal through narrow streets.
follow puts less emphasis upon speed or intent to overtake: friends followed me home in their car.
trail may stress a following of tracks or traces rather than a visible object: trail deer / trailed a suspect across the country.
assume affect pretend simulate feign counterfeit sham
mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance.
assume often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive: assumed an air of cheerfulness around the patients.
affect implies making a false show of possessing, using, or feeling: affected an interest in art.
pretend implies an overt and sustained false appearance: pretended that nothing had happened.
simulate suggests a close imitation of the appearance of something: cosmetics that simulate a suntan.
feign implies more artful invention than pretend, less specific mimicry than simulate: feigned sickness.
counterfeit implies achieving the highest degree of verisimilitude of any of these words: an actor counterfeiting drunkenness.
sham implies an obvious falseness that fools only the gullible: shammed a most unconvincing limp.
imposture fraud sham fake humbug counterfeit
mean a thing made to seem other than it is.
imposture applies to any situation in which a spurious object or performance is passed off as genuine: their claim of environmental concern is an imposture.
fraud usually implies a deliberate perversion of the truth: the diary was exposed as a fraud.
sham applies to fraudulent imitation of a real thing or action: condemned the election as a sham.
fake implies an imitation of or substitution for the genuine but does not necessarily imply dishonesty: these jewels are fakes; the real ones are in the vault.
humbug suggests elaborate pretense usually so flagrant as to be transparent: creating publicity by foisting humbugs on a gullible public.
counterfeit applies especially to the close imitation of something valuable: 20-dollar bills that were counterfeits.
despondent
despairing
desperate
hopeless
mean having lost all or nearly all hope.
despondent implies a deep dejection arising from a conviction of the uselessness of further effort: despondent about yet another rejection.
despairing suggests the slipping away of all hope and often despondency: despairing appeals for the return of the kidnapped child.
desperate implies despair that prompts reckless action or violence in the face of defeat or frustration: one last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle.
hopeless suggests despair and the cessation of effort or resistance and often implies acceptance or resignation: the situation of the trapped miners is hopeless.
lasting
permanent
durable
stable
mean enduring for so long as to seem fixed or established.
lasting implies a capacity to continue indefinitely: a book that left a lasting impression on me.
permanent adds usually the implication of being designed or planned to stand or continue indefinitely: permanent living arrangements.
durable implies power to resist destructive agencies: durable fabrics.
stable implies lastingness because of resistance to being overturned or displaced: a stable government.
perfect
whole
entire
intact
mean not lacking or faulty in any particular.
perfect implies the soundness and the excellence of every part, element, or quality of a thing frequently as an unattainable or theoretical state: a perfect set of teeth.
whole suggests a completeness or perfection that can be sought, gained, or regained: felt like a whole person again after vacation.
entire implies perfection deriving from integrity, soundness, or completeness of a thing: the entire Beethoven corpus.
intact implies retention of perfection of a thing in its natural or original state: the boat survived the storm intact.
abdicate
renounce
resign
mean to give up a position with no possibility of resuming it.
abdicate implies a giving up of sovereign power or sometimes an evading of responsibility such as that of a parent: abdicated the throne.
renounce may replace it but often implies additionally a sacrifice for a greater end: renounced her inheritance by marrying a commoner.
resign applies to the giving up of an unexpired office or trust: resigned from the board.
provoke excite stimulate pique quicken
mean to arouse as if by pricking.
provoke directs attention to the response called forth: my stories usually provoke laughter.
excite implies a stirring up or moving profoundly: news that excited anger and frustration.
stimulate suggests a rousing out of lethargy, quiescence, or indifference: stimulating conversation.
pique suggests stimulating by mild irritation or challenge: that remark piqued my interest.
quicken implies beneficially stimulating and making active or lively: the high salary quickened her desire to have the job.
lazy
indolent
slothful
mean not easily aroused to activity.
lazy suggests a disinclination to work or to take trouble: take-out foods for lazy cooks.
indolent suggests a love of ease and a dislike of movement or activity: the heat made us indolent.
slothful implies a temperamental inability to act promptly or speedily when action or speed is called for: fired for being slothful about filling orders.
revere reverence venerate worship adore
mean to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully.
revere stresses deference and tenderness of feeling: a professor revered by her students.
reverence presupposes an intrinsic merit and inviolability in the one honored and a similar depth of feeling in the one honoring: reverenced the academy’s code of honor.
venerate implies a holding as holy or sacrosanct because of character, association, or age: heroes still venerated.
worship implies homage usually expressed in words or ceremony: worships their memory.
adore implies love and stresses the notion of an individual and personal attachment: we adored our doctor.
hinder
impede
obstruct
block
mean to interfere with the activity or progress of.
hinder stresses causing harmful or annoying delay or interference with progress: rain hindered the climb.
impede implies making forward progress difficult by clogging, hampering, or fettering: tight clothing that impedes movement.
obstruct implies interfering with something in motion or in progress by the sometimes intentional placing of obstacles in the way: the view was obstructed by billboards.
block implies complete obstruction to passage or progress: a landslide blocked the road.
exterminate
extirpate
eradicate
uproot
mean to effect the destruction or abolition of something.
exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction by killing off all individuals: exterminate cockroaches.
extirpate implies extinction of a race, family, species, or sometimes an idea or doctrine by destruction or removal of its means of propagation: many species have been extirpated from the area.
eradicate implies the driving out or elimination of something that has established itself: a campaign to eradicate illiteracy.
uproot implies a forcible or violent removal and stresses displacement or dislodgment rather than immediate destruction: the war uprooted thousands.
inflexible
obdurate
adamant
mean unwilling to alter a predetermined course or purpose.
inflexible implies rigid adherence or even slavish conformity to principle: inflexible in their demands.
obdurate stresses hardness of heart and insensitivity to appeals for mercy or the influence of divine grace: obdurate in his refusal to grant clemency.
adamant implies utter immovability in the face of all temptation or entreaty: adamant that the work should continue.
pungent
piquant
poignant
racy
mean sharp and stimulating to the mind or the senses.
pungent implies a sharp, stinging, or biting quality especially of odors: a cheese with a pungent odor.
piquant suggests a power to whet the appetite or interest through tartness or mild pungency: a piquant sauce.
poignant suggests something is sharply or piercingly effective in stirring one’s emotions: felt a poignant sense of loss.
racy implies having a strongly characteristic natural quality fresh and unimpaired: spontaneous, racy prose.
contract shrink condense compress constrict deflate
mean to decrease in bulk or volume.
contract applies to a drawing together of surfaces or particles or a reduction of area or length: caused her muscles to contract.
shrink implies a contracting or a loss of material and stresses a falling short of original dimensions: the sweater will shrink when washed. condense implies a reducing of something homogeneous to greater compactness without significant loss of content: condense the essay into a paragraph.
compress implies a pressing into a small compass and definite shape usually against resistance: compressed cotton into bales.
constrict implies a tightening that reduces diameter: the throat is constricted by a tight collar.
deflate implies a contracting by reducing the internal pressure of contained air or gas: deflate the balloon.
inveterate
confirmed
chronic
mean firmly established.
inveterate applies to a habit, attitude, or feeling of such long existence as to be practically ineradicable or unalterable: an inveterate smoker.
confirmed implies a growing stronger and firmer with time so as to resist change or reform: a confirmed bachelor.
chronic suggests something that is persistent or endlessly recurrent and troublesome: a chronic complainer.
acute
critical
crucial
mean of uncertain outcome.
acute stresses intensification of conditions leading to a culmination or breaking point: an acute housing shortage.
critical adds to acute implications of imminent change, of attendant suspense, and of decisiveness in the outcome: the war has entered a critical phase.
crucial suggests a dividing of the ways and often a test or trial involving the determination of a future course or direction: a crucial vote.
negligent neglectful lax slack remiss
mean culpably careless or indicative of such carelessness.
negligent implies inattention to one’s duty or business: negligent about writing a note of thanks.
neglectful adds a more disapproving implication of laziness or deliberate inattention: a society callously neglectful of the poor.
lax implies a blameworthy lack of strictness, severity, or precision: a reporter lax about accurate quotation.
slack implies want of due or necessary diligence or care: slack workmanship.
remiss implies blameworthy carelessness shown in slackness, forgetfulness, or neglect: had been remiss in their familial duties.
