English Synonyms and Antonyms — Clever to Congratulate

able, capable, happy, keen, sharp, adroit, dexterous, ingenious, knowing, skilful, apt, expert, intellectual, quick, smart, bright, gifted, intelligent, quick-witted, talented.

_Clever_, as used in England, especially implies an aptitude for study or learning, and for excellent tho not preeminent mental achievement.

The early New England usage as implying simple and weak good nature has largely affected the use of the word throughout the United States, where it has never been much in favor.

_Smart_, indicating dashing ability, is now coming to have a suggestion of unscrupulousness, similar to that of the word _sharp_, which makes its use a doubtful compliment.

The discriminating use of such words as _able_, _gifted_, _talented_, etc. , is greatly preferable to an excessive use of the word _clever_.

Compare ACUMEN; ASTUTE; POWER.

Antonyms: awkward, clumsy, foolish, ignorant, slow, thick-headed, bungling, dull, idiotic, senseless, stupid, witless.

* * * * * COLLISION.

Synonyms: clash, concussion, contact, impact, opposition, clashing, conflict, encounter, meeting, shock.

_Collision_, the act or fact of striking violently together, is the result of motion or action, and is sudden and momentary; _contact_ may be a condition of rest, and be continuous and permanent; _collision_ is sudden and violent _contact_.

_Concussion_ is often by transmitted force rather than by direct _impact_; two railway-trains come into _collision_; an explosion of dynamite shatters neighboring windows by _concussion_.

_Impact_ is the blow given by the striking body; as, the _impact_ of the cannon-shot upon the target.

An _encounter_ is always violent, and generally hostile.

_Meeting_ is neutral, and may be of the dearest friends or of the bitterest foes; of objects, of persons, or of opinions; of two or of a multitude.

_Shock_ is the result of _collision_.

In the figurative use, we speak of _clashing_ of views, _collision_ of persons.

_Opposition_ is used chiefly of persons, more rarely of opinions or interests; _conflict_ is used indifferently of all.

Antonyms: agreement, coincidence, concord, conformity, unison, amity, concert, concurrence, harmony, unity.

Prepositions: Collision _of_ one object _with_ another; _of_ or _between_ opposing objects.

* * * * * COMFORTABLE.

Synonyms: agreeable, cheery, genial, snug, at ease, commodious, pleasant, well-off, at rest, contented, satisfactory, well-provided, cheerful, convenient, satisfied, well-to-do.

A person is _comfortable_ in mind when _contented_ and measurably _satisfied_.

A little additional brightness makes him _cheerful_.

He is _comfortable_ in body when free from pain, quiet, _at ease_, _at rest_.

He is _comfortable_ in circumstances, or in _comfortable_ circumstances, when things about him are generally _agreeable_ and _satisfactory_, usually with the suggestion of sufficient means to secure that result.

Antonyms: cheerless, discontented, distressed, forlorn, uncomfortable, disagreeable, dissatisfied, dreary, miserable, wretched.

* * * * * COMMIT.

Synonyms: assign, confide, consign, entrust, relegate, trust.

_Commit_, in the sense here considered, is to give in charge, put into care or keeping; to _confide_ or _entrust_ is to _commit_ especially to one's fidelity, _confide_ being used chiefly of mental or spiritual, _entrust_ also of material things; we _assign_ a duty, _confide_ a secret, _entrust_ a treasure; we _commit_ thoughts to writing; _commit_ a paper to the flames, a body to the earth; a prisoner is _committed_ to jail.

_Consign_ is a formal word in mercantile use; as, to _consign_ goods to an agent.

Religiously, we _consign_ the body to the grave, _commit_ the soul to God.

Compare DO.

Prepositions: Commit _to_ a friend _for_ safe-keeping; in law, commit _to_ prison;

_for_ trial; _without_ bail; in default _of_ bail; _on_ suspicion.

* * * * * COMPANY.

Synonyms: assemblage, concourse, convocation, host, assembly, conference, crowd, meeting, collection, congregation, gathering, multitude, conclave, convention, group, throng.

_Company_, from the Latin _cum_, with, and _panis_, bread, denotes primarily the association of those who eat at a common table, or the persons so associated, table-companions, messmates, friends, and hence is widely extended to include any association of those united permanently or temporarily, for business, pleasure, festivity, travel, etc. , or by sorrow, misfortune, or wrong; _company_ may denote an indefinite number (ordinarily more than two), but less than a _multitude_; in the military sense a _company_ is a limited and definite number of men; _company_ implies more unity of feeling and purpose than _crowd_, and is a less formal and more familiar word than _assemblage_ or _assembly_.

An _assemblage_ may be of persons or of objects; an _assembly_ is always of persons.

An _assemblage_ is promiscuous and unorganized; an _assembly_ is organized and united in some common purpose.

A _conclave_ is a secret _assembly_.

A _convocation_ is an _assembly_ called by authority for a special purpose; the term _convention_ suggests less dependence upon any superior authority or summons.

A _group_ is small in number and distinct in outline, clearly marked off from all else in space or time.

_Collection_, _crowd_, _gathering_, _group_, and _multitude_ have the unorganized and promiscuous character of the _assemblage_; the other terms come under the general idea of _assembly_.

_Congregation_ is now almost exclusively religious; _meeting_ is often so used, but is less restricted, as we may speak of a _meeting_ of armed men.

_Gathering_ refers to a coming together, commonly of numbers, from far and near; as, the _gathering_ of the Scottish clans.

Antonyms: dispersion, loneliness, privacy, retirement, seclusion, solitude.

* * * * * COMPEL.

Synonyms: coerce, drive, make, oblige.

constrain, force, necessitate, To _compel_ one to an act is to secure its performance by the use of irresistible physical or moral force.

_Force_ implies primarily an actual physical process, absolutely subduing all resistance.

_Coerce_ implies the actual or potential use of so much force as may be necessary to secure the surrender of the will; the American secessionists contended that the Federal government had no right to _coerce_ a State.

_Constrain_ implies the yielding of judgment and will, and in some cases of inclination or affection, to an overmastering power; as, "the love of Christ _constraineth_ us," _2 Cor.

_ v, 14. Compare DRIVE; INFLUENCE.

Antonyms: See synonyms for HINDER.

Prepositions: The soldiers were compelled _to_ desertion: preferably with the infinitive, compelled _to_ desert.

* * * * * COMPLAIN.

Synonyms: croak, growl, grunt, remonstrate, find fault, grumble, murmur, repine.

To _complain_ is to give utterance to dissatisfaction or objection, express a sense of wrong or ill treatment.

One _complains_ of a real or assumed grievance; he may _murmur_ through mere peevishness or ill temper; he _repines_, with vain distress, at the irrevocable or the inevitable.

_Complaining_ is by speech or writing; _murmuring_ is commonly said of half-repressed utterance; _repining_ of the mental act alone.

One may _complain_ of an offense to the offender or to others; he _remonstrates_ with the offender only.

_Complain_ has a formal and legal meaning, which the other words have not, signifying to make a formal accusation, present a specific charge; the same is true of the noun _complaint_.

Antonyms: applaud, approve, commend, eulogize, laud, praise.

Prepositions: Complain _of_ a thing _to_ a person; _of_ one person _to_ another, _of_ or _against_ a person _for_ an act; _to_ an officer; _before_ the court;

_about_ a thing.

* * * * * COMPLEX.

Synonyms: abstruse, confused, intricate, mixed, complicated, conglomerate, involved, multiform, composite, entangled, manifold, obscure, compound, heterogeneous, mingled, tangled.

That is _complex_ which is made up of several connected parts.

That is _compound_ in which the parts are not merely connected, but fused, or otherwise combined into a single substance.

In a _composite_ object the different parts have less of unity than in that which is _complex_ or _compound_, but maintain their distinct individuality.

In a _heterogeneous_ body unlike parts or particles are intermingled, often without apparent order or plan.

_Conglomerate_ (literally, globed together) is said of a _confused_ mingling of masses or lumps of various substances.

The New England pudding-stone is a _conglomerate_ rock.

In a _complex_ object the arrangement and relation of parts may be perfectly clear; in a _complicated_ mechanism the parts are so numerous, or so combined, that the mind can not readily grasp their mutual relations; in an _intricate_ arrangement the parts are so intertwined that it is difficult to follow their windings; things are _involved_ which are rolled together so as not to be easily separated, either in thought or in fact; things which are _tangled_ or _entangled_ mutually hold and draw upon each other.

The conception of a material object is usually _complex_, involving form, color, size, and other elements; a clock is a _complicated_ mechanism; the Gordian knot was _intricate_; the twining serpents of the Laocoon are _involved_.

We speak of an _abstruse_ statement, a _complex_ conception, a _confused_ heap, a _heterogeneous_ mass, a _tangled_ skein, an _intricate_ problem; of _composite_ architecture, an _involved_ sentence; of the _complicated_ or _intricate_ accounts of a great business, the _entangled_ accounts of an incompetent or dishonest bookkeeper.

Antonyms: clear, homogeneous, plain, uncombined, uniform, direct, obvious, simple, uncompounded, unraveled.

* * * * * CONDEMN.

Synonyms: blame, convict, doom, reprove, censure, denounce, reprobate, sentence.

To _condemn_ is to pass judicial sentence or render judgment or decision against.

We may _censure_ silently; we _condemn_ ordinarily by open and formal utterance.

_Condemn_ is more final than _blame_ or _censure_; a _condemned_ criminal has had his trial; a _condemned_ building can not stand; a _condemned_ ship can not sail.

A person is _convicted_ when his guilt is made clearly manifest to others; in somewhat archaic use, a person is said to be _convicted_ when guilt is brought clearly home to his own conscience (_convict_ in this sense being allied with _convince_, which see under PERSUADE); in legal usage one is said to be _convicted_ only by the verdict of a jury.

In stating the penalty of an offense, the legal word _sentence_ is now more common than _condemn_;

as, he was _sentenced_ to imprisonment; but it is good usage to say, he was _condemned_ to imprisonment.

To _denounce_ is to make public or official declaration against, especially in a violent and threatening manner.

From the pulpits in the northern States Burr was _denounced_ as an assassin.

COFFIN _Building the Nation_ ch. 10, p. 137. [H.

'83. ] To _doom_ is to _condemn_ solemnly and consign to evil or destruction or to predetermine to an evil destiny; an inferior race in presence of a superior is _doomed_ to subjugation or extinction.

Compare ARRAIGN;

REPROVE.

Antonyms: absolve, applaud, exonerate, pardon, acquit, approve, justify, praise.

Prepositions: The bandit was condemned _to_ death _for_ his crime.

* * * * * CONFESS.

Synonyms: accept, allow, concede, grant, acknowledge, avow, disclose, own, admit, certify, endorse, recognize.

We _accept_ another's statement; _admit_ any point made against us;

_acknowledge_ what we have said or done, good or bad; _avow_ our individual beliefs or feelings; _certify_ to facts within our knowledge;

_confess_ our own faults; _endorse_ a friend's note or statement;

_grant_ a request; _own_ our faults or obligations; _recognize_ lawful authority; _concede_ a claim.

_Confess_ has a high and sacred use in the religious sense; as, to _confess_ Christ before men.

It may have also a playful sense (often with _to_); as, one _confesses to_ a weakness for confectionery.

The chief present use of the word, however, is in the sense of making known to others one's own wrong-doing; in this sense _confess_ is stronger than _acknowledge_ or _admit_, and more specific than _own_; a person _admits_ a mistake; _acknowledges_ a fault;

_confesses_ sin or crime.

Compare APOLOGY; AVOW.

Antonyms: cloak, deny, disown, hide, screen, conceal, disavow, dissemble, mask, secrete, cover, disguise, dissimulate, repudiate, veil.

* * * * * CONFIRM.

Synonyms: assure, fix, sanction, substantiate, corroborate, prove, settle, sustain, establish, ratify, strengthen, uphold.

_Confirm_ (L. _con_, together, and _firmus_, firm) is to add firmness or give stability to.

Both _confirm_ and _corroborate_ presuppose something already existing to which the confirmation or corroboration is added.

Testimony is _corroborated_ by concurrent testimony or by circumstances;

_confirmed_ by _established_ facts.

That which is thoroughly _proved_ is said to be _established_; so is that which is official and has adequate power behind it; as, the _established_ government; the _established_ church.

The continents are _fixed_.

A treaty is _ratified_; an appointment _confirmed_.

An act is _sanctioned_ by any person or authority that passes upon it approvingly.

A statement is _substantiated_; a report _confirmed_; a controversy _settled_; the decision of a lower court _sustained_ by a higher.

Just government should be _upheld_.

The beneficent results of Christianity _confirm_ our faith in it as a divine revelation.

Antonyms: abrogate, cancel, overthrow, shatter, upset, annul, destroy, shake, unsettle, weaken.

Prepositions: Confirm a statement _by_ testimony; confirm a person _in_ a belief.

* * * * * CONGRATULATE.

Synonym: felicitate.

To _felicitate_ is to pronounce one happy or wish one joy; to _congratulate_ is to express hearty sympathy in his joys or hopes.

_Felicitate_ is cold and formal.

We say one _felicitates_ himself; tho to _congratulate_ oneself, which is less natural, is becoming prevalent.

Antonyms: condole with, console.

Prepositions: Congratulate one _on_ or _upon_ his success.

* * * * * CONQUER.

Synonyms: