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

yet attained; even the ideal is not perfect, by reason of the imperfection of the human mind; a human character faultlessly holy would be morally perfect tho finite. That which is absolute is free from admixture (as absolute alcohol) and in the highest and fullest sense free from imperfection or limitation; as, absolute holiness and love are attributes of God alone. In philosophical language, absolute signifies free from all necessary, or even from all possible relations, not dependent or limited, unrelated and unconditioned; truth immediately known, as intuitive truth, is absolute; God, as self-existent and free from all limitation or dependence, is called the absolute Being, or simply the Absolute. Compare INNOCENT; INFINITE; RADICAL. Antonyms: bad, defective, imperfect, meager, scant, blemished, deficient, incomplete, perverted, short, corrupt, deformed, inferior, poor, spoiled, corrupted, fallible, insufficient, ruined, worthless. defaced, faulty, marred,

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PERMANENT. Synonyms: abiding, enduring, lasting, steadfast, changeless, fixed, perpetual, unchangeable, constant, immutable, persistent, unchanging. durable, invariable, stable,

Durable (L. durus, hard) is said almost wholly of material substances that resist wear; lasting is said of either material or immaterial things. Permanent is a word of wider meaning; a thing is permanent which is not liable to change; as, a permanent color; buildings upon a farm are called permanent improvements. Enduring is a higher word, applied to that which resists both time and change; as, enduring fame.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for TRANSIENT.

PERMISSION. Synonyms: allowance, authorization, leave, license, authority, consent, liberty, permit.

Authority unites the right and power of control; age, wisdom, and character give authority to their possessor; a book of learned research has authority, and is even called an authority. Permission justifies another in acting without interference or censure, and usually implies some degree of approval. Authority gives a certain right of control over all that may be affected by the action. There may be a failure to object, which constitutes an implied permission, tho this is more properly expressed by allowance; we allow what we do not oppose, permit what we expressly authorize. The noun permit implies a formal written permission. License is a formal permission granted by competent authority to an individual to do some act or pursue some business which would be or is made to be unlawful without such permission; as, a license to preach, to solemnize marriages, or to sell intoxicating liquors. A license is permission granted rather than authority conferred; the sheriff has authority (not permission nor license) to make an arrest. Consent is permission by the concurrence of wills in two or more persons, a mutual approval or acceptance of something proposed. Compare ALLOW.

Antonyms: denial, objection, prevention, refusal, resistance. hindrance, opposition, prohibition,

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PERNICIOUS. Synonyms: bad, evil, mischievous, pestilential, baneful, foul, noisome, poisonous, deadly, harmful, noxious, ruinous, deleterious, hurtful, perverting, unhealthful, destructive, injurious, pestiferous, unwholesome. detrimental, insalubrious,

Pernicious (L. per, through, and neco, kill) signifies having the power of destroying or injuring, tending to hurt or kill. Pernicious is stronger than injurious; that which is injurious is capable of doing harm; that which is pernicious is likely to be destructive. Noxious (L. noceo, hurt) is a stronger word than noisome, as referring to that which is injurious or destructive. Noisome now always denotes that which is extremely disagreeable or disgusting, especially to the sense of smell; as, the noisome stench proclaimed the presence of noxious gases.

Antonyms: advantageous, favorable, helpful, profitable, serviceable, beneficent, good, invigorating, rejuvenating, useful, beneficial, healthful, life-giving, salutary, wholesome. PERPLEXITY. Synonyms: amazement, bewilderment, distraction, doubt, astonishment, confusion, disturbance, embarrassment.

Perplexity (L. per, through, and plecto, plait) is the drawing or turning of the thoughts or faculties by turns in different directions or toward contrasted or contradictory conclusions; confusion (L. confusus, from confundo, pour together) is a state in which the mental faculties are, as it were, thrown into chaos, so that the clear and distinct action of the different powers, as of perception, memory, reason, and will is lost; bewilderment is akin to confusion, but is less overwhelming, and more readily recovered from; perplexity, accordingly, has not the unsettling of the faculties implied in confusion, nor the overwhelming of the faculties implied in amazement or astonishment; it is not the magnitude of the things to be known, but the want of full and definite knowledge, that causes perplexity. The dividing of a woodland path may cause the traveler the greatest perplexity, which may become bewilderment when he has tried one path after another and lost his bearings completely. With an excitable person bewilderment may deepen into confusion that will make him unable to think clearly or even to see or hear distinctly. Amazement results from the sudden and unimagined occurrence of great good or evil or[271] the sudden awakening of the mind to unthought-of truth. Astonishment often produces bewilderment, which the word was formerly understood to imply. Compare AMAZEMENT; ANXIETY; DOUBT.

PERSUADE. Synonyms: allure, dispose, incline, move, bring over, entice, induce, prevail on or upon, coax, impel, influence, urge, convince, incite, lead, win over.

Of these words convince alone has no direct reference to moving the will, denoting an effect upon the understanding only; one may be convinced of his duty without doing it, or he may be convinced of truth that has no manifest connection with duty or action, as of a mathematical proposition. To persuade is to bring the will of another to a desired decision by some influence exerted upon it short of compulsion; one may be convinced that the earth is round; he may be persuaded to travel round it; but persuasion is so largely dependent upon conviction that it is commonly held to be the orator's work first to convince in order that he may persuade. Coax is a slighter word than persuade, seeking the same end by shallower methods, largely by appeal to personal feeling, with or without success; as, a child coaxes a parent to buy him a toy. One may be brought over, induced, or prevailed upon by means not properly included in persuasion, as by bribery or intimidation; he is won over chiefly by personal influence. Compare INFLUENCE.

Antonyms: deter, discourage, dissuade, hinder, hold back, repel, restrain. PERTNESS. Synonyms: boldness, forwardness, liveliness, sprightliness. briskness, impertinence, sauciness, flippancy, impudence, smartness,

Liveliness and sprightliness are pleasant and commendable; smartness is a limited and showy acuteness or shrewdness, usually with unfavorable suggestion; pertness and sauciness are these qualities overdone, and regardless of the respect due to superiors. Impertinence and impudence may be gross and stupid; pertness and sauciness are always vivid and keen. Compare IMPUDENCE.

Antonyms: bashfulness, demureness, diffidence, humility, modesty, shyness.

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PERVERSE. Synonyms: contrary, froward, petulant, untoward, factious, intractable, stubborn, wayward, fractious, obstinate, ungovernable, wilful.

Perverse (L. perversus, turned the wrong way) signifies wilfully wrong or erring, unreasonably set against right, reason, or authority. The stubborn or obstinate person will not do what another desires or requires; the perverse person will do anything contrary to what is desired or required of him. The petulant person frets, but may comply; the perverse individual may be smooth or silent, but is wilfully intractable. Wayward refers to a perverse disregard of morality and duty; froward is practically obsolete; untoward is rarely heard except in certain phrases; as, untoward circumstances. Compare OBSTINATE.

Antonyms: accommodating, complaisant, genial, kind, amenable, compliant, governable, obliging. PHYSICAL. Synonyms: bodily, corporeal, natural, tangible, corporal, material, sensible, visible.

Whatever is composed of or pertains to matter may be termed material; physical (Gr. physis, nature) applies to material things considered as parts of a system or organic whole; hence, we speak of material substances, physical forces, physical laws. Bodily, corporal, and corporeal apply primarily to the human body; bodily and corporal both denote pertaining or relating to the body; corporeal signifies of the nature of or like the body; corporal is now almost wholly restricted to signify applied to or inflicted upon the body; we speak of bodily sufferings, bodily presence, corporal punishment, the corporeal frame.

Antonyms: hyperphysical, intangible, invisible, moral, unreal, immaterial, intellectual, mental, spiritual, unsubstantial. PIQUE. Synonyms: displeasure, irritation, offense, resentment, umbrage. grudge,

Pique, from the French, signifies primarily a prick or a sting, as of a nettle; the word denotes a sudden feeling of mingled pain and anger, but slight and usually transient, arising from some neglect or offense, real or imaginary. Umbrage is a deeper and more[273] persistent displeasure at being overshadowed (L. umbra, a shadow) or subjected to any treatment that one deems unworthy of him. It may be said, as a general statement, that pique arises from wounded vanity or sensitiveness, umbrage from wounded pride or sometimes from suspicion. Resentment rests on more solid grounds, and is deep and persistent. Compare ANGER.

Antonyms: approval, contentment, delight, gratification, pleasure, satisfaction. complacency, PITIFUL. Synonyms: abject, lamentable, paltry, sorrowful, base, miserable, pathetic, touching, contemptible, mournful, piteous, woful, despicable, moving, pitiable, wretched.

Pitiful originally signified full of pity; as, "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," James v, 11; but this usage is now archaic, and the meaning in question is appropriated by such words as merciful and compassionate. Pitiful and pitiable now refer to what may be deserving of pity, pitiful being used chiefly for that which is merely an object of thought, pitiable for that which is brought directly before the senses; as, a pitiful story; a pitiable object; a pitiable condition. Since pity, however, always implies weakness or inferiority in that which is pitied, pitiful and pitiable are often used, by an easy transition, for what might awaken pity, but does awaken contempt; as, a pitiful excuse; he presented a pitiable appearance. Piteous is now rarely used in its earlier sense of feeling pity, but in its derived sense applies to what really excites the emotion; as, a piteous cry. Compare HUMANE; MERCY; PITY.

Antonyms: august, dignified, grand, lofty, sublime, beneficent, exalted, great, mighty, superb, commanding, glorious, helpful, noble, superior. PITY. Synonyms: commiseration, condolence, sympathy, tenderness. compassion, mercy,

Pity is a feeling of grief or pain aroused by the weakness, misfortunes, or distresses of others, joined with a desire to help or relieve. Sympathy (feeling or suffering with) implies some degree of equality, kindred, or union; pity is for what is weak or unfortunate, and so far, at least, inferior to ourselves; hence, pity is[274] often resented where sympathy would be welcome. We have sympathy with one in joy or grief, in pleasure or pain, pity only for those in suffering or need; we may have sympathy with the struggles of a giant or the triumphs of a conqueror; we are moved with pity for the captive or the slave. Pity may be only in the mind, but mercy does something for those who are its objects. Compassion, like pity, is exercised only with respect to the suffering or unfortunate, but combines with the tenderness of pity the dignity of sympathy and the active quality of mercy. Commiseration is as tender as compassion, but more remote and hopeless; we have commiseration for sufferers whom we can not reach or can not relieve. Condolence is the expression of sympathy. Compare MERCY.

Antonyms: barbarity, ferocity, harshness, pitilessness, severity, brutality, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, rigor, sternness, cruelty, hardness, mercilessness, ruthlessness, truculence. Prepositions:

Pity on or upon that which we help or spare; pity for that which we merely contemplate; "have pity upon me, O ye my friends," Job xix, 21; "pity for a horse o'erdriven," Tennyson In Memoriam lxii, st. 1.

PLANT. Synonyms: seed, seed down, set, set out, sow.

We set or set out slips, cuttings, young trees, etc., tho we may also be said to plant them; we plant corn, potatoes, etc., which we put in definite places, as in hills, with some care; we sow wheat or other small grains and seeds which are scattered in the process. Tho by modern agricultural machinery the smaller grains are almost as precisely planted as corn, the old word for broadcast scattering is retained. Land is seeded or seeded down to grass.

Antonyms: eradicate, extirpate, root up, uproot, weed out. PLEAD. Synonyms: advocate, ask, beseech, implore, solicit, argue, beg, entreat, press, urge.

To plead for one is to employ argument or persuasion, or both in his behalf, usually with earnestness or importunity; similarly[275] one may be said to plead for himself or for a cause, etc., or with direct object, to plead a case; in legal usage, pleading is argumentative, but in popular usage, pleading always implies