English Synonyms and Antonyms - James Champlin Fernald (christmas read aloud TXT) 📗

A 'genuine' work is one written by the author whose name it bears; an 'authentic' work is one which relates truthfully the matters of which it treats. For example, the apocryphal Gospel of St. Thomas is neither 'genuine' nor 'authentic.' It is not 'genuine,' for St. Thomas did not write it; it is not 'authentic,' for its contents are mainly fables and lies.

Trench On the Study of Words lect. vi, p. 189. [W. J. W.]

Authentic is, however, used by reputable writers as synonymous with genuine, tho usually where genuineness carries a certain authority. We speak of accepted conclusions, certain evidence, current money, genuine letters, a legitimate conclusion or legitimate authority, original manuscripts, real value, received interpretation, sure proof, a true statement, a trustworthy witness, a veritable discovery.

Antonyms: apocryphal, counterfeit, exploded, false, spurious, baseless, disputed, fabulous, fictitious, unauthorized. AUXILIARY. Synonyms: accessory, ally, coadjutor, helper, promoter, aid, assistant, confederate, mercenary, subordinate.

An auxiliary is a person or thing that helps in a subordinate[68] capacity. Allies unite as equals; auxiliaries are, at least technically, inferiors or subordinates. Yet the auxiliary is more than a mere assistant. The word is oftenest found in the plural, and in the military sense; auxiliaries are troops of one nation uniting with the armies, and acting under the orders, of another. Mercenaries serve only for pay; auxiliaries often for reasons of state, policy, or patriotism as well. Compare ACCESSORY; APPENDAGE.

Antonyms: antagonist, hinderer, opponent, opposer. Prepositions:

The auxiliaries of the Romans; an auxiliary in a good cause; an auxiliary to learning.

AVARICIOUS. Synonyms: close, greedy, niggardly, penurious, sordid, covetous, miserly, parsimonious, rapacious, stingy.

Avaricious and covetous refer especially to acquisition, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, and penurious to expenditure. The avaricious man has an eager craving for money, and ordinarily desires both to get and to keep, the covetous man to get something away from its possessor; tho one may be made avaricious by the pressure of great expenditures. Miserly and niggardly persons seek to gain by mean and petty savings; the miserly by stinting themselves, the niggardly by stinting others. Parsimonious and penurious may apply to one's outlay either for himself or for others; in the latter use, they are somewhat less harsh and reproachful terms than niggardly. The close man holds like a vise all that he gets. Near and nigh are provincial words of similar import. The rapacious have the robber instinct, and put it in practise in some form, as far as they dare. The avaricious and rapacious are ready to reach out for gain; the parsimonious, miserly, and niggardly prefer the safer and less adventurous way of avoiding expenditure. Greedy and stingy are used not only of money, but often of other things, as food, etc. The greedy child wishes to enjoy everything himself; the stingy child, to keep others from getting it.

Antonyms: bountiful, free, generous, liberal, munificent, prodigal, wasteful. Preposition:

The monarch was avaricious of power.

[69]

AVENGE. Synonyms: punish, retaliate, revenge, vindicate, visit.

Avenge and revenge, once close synonyms, are now far apart in meaning. To avenge is to visit some offense with punishment, in order to vindicate the righteous, or to uphold and illustrate the right by the suffering or destruction of the wicked. "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian," Acts vii, 24. To revenge is to inflict harm or suffering upon another through personal anger and resentment at something done to ourselves. Avenge is unselfish; revenge is selfish. Revenge, according to present usage, could not be said of God. To retaliate may be necessary for self-defense, without the idea of revenge. Compare REVENGE.

Prepositions:

Avenge on or upon (rarely, avenge oneself of) a wrong-doer.

AVOW. Synonyms: knowledge, aver, confess, own, profess, testify, admit, avouch, declare, proclaim, protest, witness.

Acknowledge, admit, and declare refer either to oneself or to others; all the other words refer only to one's own knowledge or action. To avow is to declare boldly and openly, commonly as something one is ready to justify, maintain, or defend. A man acknowledges another's claim or his own promise; he admits an opponent's advantage or his own error; he declares either what he has seen or experienced or what he has received from another; he avers what he is sure of from his own knowledge or consciousness; he gives his assurance as the voucher for what he avouches; he avows openly a belief or intention that he has silently held. Avow and avouch take a direct object; aver is followed by a conjunction: a man avows his faith, avouches a deed, avers that he was present. Avow has usually a good sense; what a person avows he at least does not treat as blameworthy, criminal, or shameful; if he did, he would be said to confess it; yet there is always the suggestion that some will be ready to challenge or censure what one avows; as, the clergyman avowed his dissent from the doctrine of his church. Own applies to all things, good or bad, great or small, which one takes as his own. Compare CONFESS; STATE.

Antonyms: contradict, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, ignore, repudiate.

[70]

AWFUL. Synonyms: alarming, direful, frightful, majestic, solemn, appalling, dread, grand, noble, stately, august, dreadful, horrible, portentous, terrible, dire, fearful, imposing, shocking, terrific.

Awful should not be used of things which are merely disagreeable or annoying, nor of all that are alarming and terrible, but only of such as bring a solemn awe upon the soul, as in the presence of a superior power; as, the awful hush before the battle. That which is awful arouses an oppressive, that which is august an admiring reverence; we speak of the august presence of a mighty monarch, the awful presence of death. We speak of an exalted station, a grand mountain, an imposing presence, a majestic cathedral, a noble mien, a solemn litany, a stately march, an august assembly, the awful scene of the Judgment Day.

Antonyms: base, contemptible, inferior, paltry, beggarly, despicable, lowly, undignified, commonplace, humble, mean, vulgar. AWKWARD. Synonyms: boorish, clumsy, rough, unhandy, bungling, gawky, uncouth, unskilful. clownish, maladroit, ungainly,

Awkward, from awk (kindred with off, from the Norwegian), is off-ward, turned the wrong way; it was anciently used of a back-handed or left-handed blow in battle, of squinting eyes, etc. Clumsy, on the other hand (from clumse, also through the Norwegian), signifies benumbed, stiffened with cold; this is the original meaning of clumsy fingers, clumsy limbs. Thus, awkward primarily refers to action, clumsy to condition. A tool, a vehicle, or the human frame may be clumsy in shape or build, awkward in motion. The clumsy man is almost of necessity awkward, but the awkward man may not be naturally clumsy. The finest untrained colt is awkward in harness; a horse that is clumsy in build can never be trained out of awkwardness. An awkward statement has an uncomfortable, and perhaps recoiling force; a statement that contains ill-assorted and incongruous material in ill-chosen language is clumsy. We speak of an awkward predicament, an awkward scrape. An awkward excuse commonly reflects on the one who offers it. We say the admitted facts have an[71] awkward appearance. In none of these cases could clumsy be used. Clumsy is, however, applied to movements that seem as unsuitable as those of benumbed and stiffened limbs. A dancing bear is both clumsy and awkward.

Antonyms: