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

relation. Anarchism is properly an antonym of socialism, as it would destroy, by violence if necessary, all existing government and social order, leaving the future to determine what, if anything, should be raised upon their ruins. SOUND. Synonyms: noise, note, tone.

Sound is the sensation produced through the organs of hearing or the physical cause of this sensation. Sound is the most comprehensive word of this group, applying to anything that is audible. Tone is sound considered as having some musical quality or as expressive of some feeling; noise is sound considered without reference to musical quality or as distinctly unmusical or discordant. Thus, in the most general sense noise and sound scarcely differ, and we say almost indifferently, "I heard a sound," or "I[339] heard a noise." We speak of a fine, musical, or pleasing sound, but never thus of a noise. In music, tone may denote either a musical sound or the interval between two such sounds, but in the most careful usage the latter is now distinguished as the "interval," leaving tone to stand only for the sound. Note in music strictly denotes the character representing a sound, but in loose popular usage it denotes the sound also, and becomes practically equivalent to tone. Aside from its musical use, tone is chiefly applied to that quality of the human voice by which feeling is expressed; as, he spoke in a cheery tone; the word is similarly applied to the voices of birds and other animals, and sometimes to inanimate objects. As used of a musical instrument, tone denotes the general quality of its sounds collectively considered.

SPEAK. Synonyms: announce, converse, discourse, say, articulate, declaim, enunciate, talk, chat, declare, express, tell, chatter, deliver, pronounce, utter.

To utter is to give forth as an audible sound, articulate or not. To talk is to utter a succession of connected words, ordinarily with the expectation of being listened to. To speak is to give articulate utterance even to a single word; the officer speaks the word of command, but does not talk it. To speak is also to utter words with the ordinary intonation, as distinguished from singing. To chat is ordinarily to utter in a familiar, conversational way; to chatter is to talk in an empty, ceaseless way like a magpie.

Prepositions:

Speak to (address) a person; speak with a person (converse with him); speak of or about a thing (make it the subject of remark); speak on or upon a subject; in parliamentary language, speak to the question.

SPEECH. Synonyms: address, dissertation, oration, speaking, discourse, harangue, oratory, talk, disquisition, language, sermon, utterance.

Speech is the general word for utterance of thought in language. A speech may be the delivering of one's sentiments in the simplest way; an oration is an elaborate and prepared speech; a harangue is a vehement appeal to passion, or a speech that has[340] something disputatious and combative in it. A discourse is a set speech on a definite subject, intended to convey instruction. Compare CONVERSATION; DICTION; LANGUAGE.

Antonyms: hush, silence, speechlessness, stillness, taciturnity. SPONTANEOUS. Synonyms: automatic, impulsive, involuntary, voluntary, free, instinctive, unbidden, willing.

That is spontaneous which is freely done, with no external compulsion and, in human actions, without special premeditation or distinct determination of the will; that is voluntary which is freely done with distinct act of will; that is involuntary which is independent of the will, and perhaps in opposition to it; a willing act is not only in accordance with will, but with desire. Thus voluntary and involuntary, which are antonyms of each other, are both partial synonyms of spontaneous. We speak of spontaneous generation, spontaneous combustion, spontaneous sympathy, an involuntary start, an unbidden tear, voluntary agreement, willing submission. A babe's smile in answer to that of its mother is spontaneous; the smile of a pouting child wheedled into good humor is involuntary. In physiology the action of the heart and lungs is called involuntary; the growth of the hair and nails is spontaneous; the action of swallowing is voluntary up to a certain point, beyond which it becomes involuntary or automatic. In the fullest sense of that which is not only without the will but distinctly in opposition to it, or compulsory, involuntary becomes an antonym, not only of voluntary but of spontaneous; as, involuntary servitude. A spontaneous outburst of applause is of necessity an act of volition, but so completely dependent on sympathetic impulse that it would seem frigid to call it voluntary, while to call it involuntary would imply some previous purpose or inclination not to applaud.

SPY. Synonyms: detective, emissary, scout.

The scout and the spy are both employed to obtain information of the numbers, movements, etc., of an enemy. The scout lurks on the outskirts of the hostile army with such concealment as the case admits of, but without disguise; a spy enters in disguise[341] within the enemy's lines. A scout, if captured, has the rights of a prisoner of war; a spy is held to have forfeited all rights, and is liable, in case of capture, to capital punishment. An emissary is rather political than military; sent rather to secretly influence opponents than to bring information concerning them; so far as he does the latter, he is not only an emissary, but a spy.

STAIN. Synonyms: blot, discolor, dishonor, soil, sully, tinge, color, disgrace, dye, spot, tarnish, tint.

To color is to impart a color desired or undesired, temporary or permanent, or, in the intransitive use, to assume a color in any way; as, he colored with shame and vexation. To dye is to impart a color intentionally and with a view to permanence, and especially so as to pervade the substance or fiber of that to which it is applied. To stain is primarily to discolor, to impart a color undesired and perhaps unintended, and which may or may not be permanent. Thus, a character "dyed in the wool" is one that has received some early, permanent, and pervading influence; a character stained with crime or guilt is debased and perverted. Stain is, however, used of giving an intended and perhaps pleasing color to wood, glass, etc., by an application of coloring-matter which enters the substance a little below the surface, in distinction from painting, in which coloring-matter is spread upon the surface; dyeing is generally said of wool, yarn, cloth, or similar materials which are dipped into the coloring liquid. Figuratively, a standard or a garment may be dyed with blood in honorable warfare; an assassin's weapon is stained with the blood of his victim. To tinge is to color slightly, and may also be used of giving a slight flavor, or a slight admixture of one ingredient or quality with another that is more pronounced.

STATE. Synonyms: affirm, aver, declare, predicate, set forth, allege, avouch, depose, pronounce, specify, assert, avow, express, propound, swear, asseverate, certify, inform, protest, tell, assure, claim, maintain, say, testify.

To state (L. sto, stand) is to set forth explicitly, formally, or particularly in speech or writing. Assert (L. ad, to, and sero, bind) is strongly personal, signifying to state boldly and positively what[342] the one making the statement has not attempted and may not attempt to prove. Affirm has less of egotism than assert (as seen in the word self-assertion), coming nearer to aver. It has more solemnity than declare, and more composure and dignity than asseverate, which is to assert excitedly. In legal usage, affirm has a general agreement with depose and testify; it differs from swear in not invoking the name of God. To assure is to state with such authority and confidence as the speaker feels ought to make the hearer sure. Certify is more formal, and applies rather to written documents or legal processes. Assure, certify, inform, apply to the person; affirm, etc., to the thing. Assert is combative; assure is conciliatory. I assert my right to cross the river; I assure my friend it is perfectly safe. To aver is to state positively what is within one's own knowledge or matter of deep conviction. One may assert himself, or assert his right to what he is willing to contend for; or he may assert in discussion what he is ready to maintain by argument or evidence. To assert without proof is always to lay oneself open to the suspicion of having no proof to offer, and seems to arrogate too much to one's personal authority, and hence in such cases both the verb assert and its noun assertion have an unfavorable sense; we say a mere assertion, a bare assertion, his unsupported assertion; he asserted his innocence has less force than he affirmed or maintained his innocence. Affirm, state, and tell have not the controversial sense of assert, but are simply declarative. To vindicate is to defend successfully what is assailed. Almost every criminal will assert his innocence; the honest man will seldom lack means to vindicate his integrity.

Antonyms: contradict, controvert, disprove, gainsay, refute, retract, contravene, deny, dispute, oppose, repudiate, waive. STEEP. Synonyms: abrupt, high, precipitous, sharp, sheer.

High is used of simple elevation; steep is said only of an incline where the vertical measurement is sufficiently great in proportion to the horizontal to make it difficult of ascent. Steep is relative; an ascent of 100 feet to the mile on a railway is a steep grade; a rise of 500 feet to the mile makes a steep wagon-road; a roof is steep when it makes with the horizontal line an angle of more than 45°. A high mountain may be climbed by a winding road nowhere steep, while a little hill may be accessible only by a[343] steep path. A sharp ascent or descent is one that makes a sudden, decided angle with the plane from which it starts; a sheer ascent or descent is perpendicular, or nearly so; precipitous applies to that which is of the nature of a precipice, and is used especially of a descent; abrupt is as if broken sharply off, and applies to either acclivity or declivity. Compare HIGH.

Antonyms: easy, flat, gentle, gradual, horizontal, level, low, slight. STORM. Synonyms: agitation, disturbance, tempest.

A storm is properly a disturbance of the atmosphere, with or without rain, snow, hail, or thunder and lightning. Thus we have rain-storm, snow-storm, etc., and by extension, magnetic storm. A tempest is a storm of extreme violence, always attended with some precipitation, as of rain, from the atmosphere. In the moral and figurative use, storm and tempest are not closely discriminated, except that tempest commonly implies greater intensity. We speak of agitation of feeling, disturbance of mind, a storm of passion, a tempest of rage.

Antonyms: calm, fair weather, hush, peace, serenity, stillness, tranquillity. STORY. Synonyms: account, legend, narrative, recital, relation, anecdote, myth, novel, record, tale. incident, narration,

A story is the telling of some series of connected incidents or events, whether real or fictitious, in prose or verse, orally or in writing; or the series of incidents or events thus related may be termed a story. In children's talk, a story is a common euphemism for a falsehood. Tale is nearly synonymous with story, but is somewhat archaic; it is used for an imaginative, legendary, or fictitious recital, especially if of ancient date; as, a fairy tale; also, for an idle or malicious report; as, do not tell tales; "where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceaseth." Prov. xxvi, 20. An anecdote tells briefly some incident, assumed to be fact. If it passes close limits of brevity, it ceases to be an anecdote, and becomes a narrative or narration. A traditional or mythical story of ancient times is a legend. A history is often somewhat poetically[344] called a story; as, the story of the American civil war. Compare ALLEGORY; FICTION; HISTORY.

Antonyms: annals, biography, chronicle, history, memoir. STUPIDITY. Synonyms: apathy, insensibility, slowness, stupefaction, dulness, obtuseness, sluggishness, stupor.

Stupidity is sometimes loosely used for temporary dulness or partial stupor, but chiefly for innate and chronic dulness and sluggishness of mental action, obtuseness of apprehension, etc. Apathy may be temporary, and be dispelled by appeal to the feelings or by the presentation of an adequate motive, but stupidity is inveterate and commonly