English Synonyms and Antonyms — Daily to Delicious

* * * * * DAILY.

Synonym: diurnal.

_Daily_ is the Saxon and popular, _diurnal_ the Latin and scientific term.

In strict usage, _daily_ is the antonym of _nightly_ as _diurnal_ is of _nocturnal_.

_Daily_ is not, however, held strictly to this use; a physician makes _daily_ visits if he calls at some time within each period of twenty-four hours.

_Diurnal_ is more exact in all its uses; a _diurnal_ flower opens or blooms only in daylight; a _diurnal_ bird or animal flies or ranges only by day: in contradistinction to _nocturnal_ flowers, birds, etc. A _diurnal_ motion exactly fills an astronomical day or the time of one rotation of a planet on its axis, while a _daily_ motion is much less definite.

Antonyms: nightly, nocturnal.

* * * * * DANGER.

Synonyms: hazard, insecurity, jeopardy, peril, risk.

_Danger_ is exposure to possible evil, which may be either near and probable or remote and doubtful; _peril_ is exposure to imminent and sharply threatening evil, especially to such as results from violence.

An invalid may be in _danger_ of consumption; a disarmed soldier is in _peril_ of death.

_Jeopardy_ is nearly the same as _peril_, but involves, like _risk_, more of the element of chance or uncertainty; a man tried upon a capital charge is said to be put in _jeopardy_ of life.

_Insecurity_ is a feeble word, but exceedingly broad, applying to the placing of a dish, or the possibilities of a life, a fortune, or a government.

Compare HAZARD.

Antonyms: defense, immunity, protection, safeguard, safety, security, shelter.

* * * * * DARK.

Synonyms: black, dusky, mysterious, sable, somber, dim, gloomy, obscure, shadowy, swart, dismal, murky, opaque, shady, swarthy.

Strictly, that which is _black_ is absolutely destitute of color; that which is _dark_ is absolutely destitute of light.

In common speech, however, a coat is _black_, tho not optically colorless; the night is _dark_, tho the stars shine.

That is _obscure_, _shadowy_, or _shady_ from which the light is more or less cut off.

_Dusky_ is applied to objects which appear as if viewed in fading light; the word is often used, as are _swart_ and _swarthy_, of the human skin when quite _dark_, or even verging toward _black_.

_Dim_ refers to imperfection of outline, from distance, darkness, mist, etc. , or from some defect of vision.

_Opaque_ objects, as smoked glass, are impervious to light.

_Murky_ is said of that which is at once _dark_, _obscure_, and _gloomy_; as, a _murky_ den; a _murky_ sky.

Figuratively, _dark_ is emblematic of sadness, agreeing with _somber_, _dismal_, _gloomy_, also of moral evil;

as, a _dark_ deed.

Of intellectual matters, _dark_ is now rarely used in the old sense of a _dark_ saying, etc. See MYSTERIOUS; OBSCURE.

Antonyms: bright, crystalline, glowing, lucid, shining, brilliant, dazzling, illumined, luminous, transparent, clear, gleaming, light, radiant, white.

Compare synonyms for LIGHT.

* * * * * DECAY.

Synonyms: corrupt, decompose, molder, putrefy, rot, spoil.

_Rot_ is a strong word, ordinarily esteemed coarse, but on occasion capable of approved emphatic use; as, "the name of the wicked shall _rot_," _Prov.

_ x, 7; _decay_ and _decompose_ are now common euphemisms.

A substance is _decomposed_ when resolved into its original elements by any process; it is _decayed_ when resolved into its original elements by natural processes; it _decays_ gradually, but may be instantly _decomposed_, as water into oxygen and hydrogen; to say that a thing is _decayed_ may denote only a partial result, but to say it is _decomposed_ ordinarily implies that the change is complete or nearly so.

_Putrefy_ and the adjectives _putrid_ and _putrescent_, and the nouns _putridity_ and _putrescence_, are used almost exclusively of animal matter in a state of decomposition, the more general word _decay_ being used of either animal or vegetable substances.

* * * * * DECEPTION.

Synonyms: craft, dissimulation, finesse, lie, cunning, double-dealing, fraud, lying, deceit, duplicity, guile, prevarication, deceitfulness, fabrication, hypocrisy, trickery, delusion, falsehood, imposition, untruth.

_Deceit_ is the habit, _deception_ the act; _guile_ applies to the disposition out of which _deceit_ and _deception_ grow, and also to their actual practise.

A _lie_, _lying_, or _falsehood_, is the uttering of what one knows to be false with intent to deceive.

The novel or drama is not a _lie_, because not meant to deceive; the ancient teaching that the earth was flat was not a _lie_, because not then known to be false.

_Untruth_ is more than lack of accuracy, implying always lack of veracity; but it is a somewhat milder and more dignified word than _lie_.

_Falsehood_ and _lying_ are in utterance; _deceit_ and _deception_ may be merely in act or implication.

_Deception_ may be innocent, and even unintentional, as in the case of an optical illusion;

_deceit_ always involves injurious intent.

_Craft_ and _cunning_ have not necessarily any moral quality; they are common traits of animals, but stand rather low in the human scale.

_Duplicity_ is the habitual speaking or acting with intent to appear to mean what one does not.

_Dissimulation_ is rather a concealing of what is than a pretense of what is not.

_Finesse_ is simply an adroit and delicate management of a matter for one's own side, not necessarily involving _deceit_.

Compare ARTIFICE; FICTION; FRAUD; HYPOCRISY.

Antonyms: candor, frankness, honesty, simplicity, truth, fair dealing, guilelessness, openness, sincerity, veracity.

* * * * * DEFENSE.

Synonyms: apology, guard, rampart, shelter, bulwark, justification, resistance, shield, fortress, protection, safeguard, vindication.

The weak may speak or act in _defense_ of the strong; none but the powerful can assure others of _protection_.

A _defense_ is ordinarily against actual attack; _protection_ is against possible as well as actual dangers.

We speak of _defense_ against an assault, _protection_ from the cold.

_Vindication_ is a triumphant _defense_ of character and conduct against charges of error or wrong.

Compare APOLOGY.

Antonyms: abandonment, betrayal, capitulation, desertion, flight, surrender.

Prepositions: Defense _against_ assault or assailants; in law, defense _to_ an action, _from_ the testimony.

* * * * * DEFILE.

Synonyms: befoul, corrupt, pollute, spoil, sully, tarnish, contaminate, infect, soil, stain, taint, vitiate.

The hand may be _defiled_ by a touch of pitch; swine that have been wallowing in the mud are _befouled_.

_Contaminate_ and _infect_ refer to something evil that deeply pervades and permeates, as the human body or mind.

_Pollute_ is used chiefly of liquids; as, water _polluted_ with sewage.

_Tainted_ meat is repulsive; _infected_ meat contains germs of disease.

A _soiled_ garment may be cleansed by washing; a _spoiled_ garment is beyond cleansing or repair.

Bright metal is _tarnished_ by exposure; a fair sheet is _sullied_ by a dirty hand.

In figurative use, _defile_ may be used merely in the ceremonial sense; "they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be _defiled_," _John_ xviii, 28; _contaminate_ refers to deep spiritual injury.

_Pollute_ has also a reference to sacrilege; as, to _pollute_ a sanctuary, an altar, or an ordinance.

The innocent are often _contaminated_ by association with the wicked; the vicious are more and more _corrupted_ by their own excesses.

We speak of a _vitiated_ taste or style; fraud _vitiates_ a title or a contract.

Antonyms: clean, cleanse, disinfect, hallow, purify, sanctify, wash.

Prepositions: The temple was defiled _with_ blood; defiled _by_ sacrilegious deeds.

* * * * * DEFINITION.

Synonyms: comment, description, exposition, rendering, commentary, explanation, interpretation, translation.

A _definition_ is exact, an _explanation_ general; a _definition_ is formal, a _description_ pictorial.

A _definition_ must include all that belongs to the object defined, and exclude all that does not; a _description_ may include only some general features; an _explanation_ may simply throw light upon some point of special difficulty.

An _exposition_ undertakes to state more fully what is compactly given or only implied in the text; as, an _exposition_ of Scripture.

_Interpretation_ is ordinarily from one language into another, or from the language of one period into that of another; it may also be a statement giving the doubtful or hidden meaning of that which is recondite or perplexing; as, the _interpretation_ of a dream, a riddle, or of some difficult passage.

_Definition_, _explanation_, _exposition_, and _interpretation_ are ordinarily blended in a _commentary_, which may also include _description_.

A _comment_ is upon a single passage; a _commentary_ may be the same, but is usually understood to be a volume of _comments_.

* * * * * DELEGATE.

Synonyms: deputy, legate, proxy, representative, substitute.

These words agree in designating one who acts in the place of some other or others.

The _legate_ is an ecclesiastical officer representing the Pope.

In strict usage the _deputy_ or _delegate_ is more limited in functions and more closely bound by instructions than a _representative_.

A single officer may have a _deputy_; many persons combine to choose a _delegate_ or _representative_.

In the United States informal assemblies send _delegates_ to nominating conventions with no legislative authority; _representatives_ are legally elected to Congress and the various legislatures, with lawmaking power.

* * * * * DELIBERATE.

Synonyms: confer, consult, meditate, reflect, consider, debate, ponder, weigh.

An individual _considers_, _meditates_, _ponders_, _reflects_, by himself; he _weighs_ a matter in his own mind, and is sometimes said even to _debate_ with himself.

_Consult_ and _confer_ always imply two or more persons, as does _debate_, unless expressly limited as above.

_Confer_ suggests the interchange of counsel, advice, or information;

_consult_ indicates almost exclusively the receiving of it.

A man _confers_ with his associates about a new investment; he _consults_ his physician about his health; he may _confer_ with him on matters of general interest.

He _consults_ a dictionary, but does not _confer_ with it.

_Deliberate_, which can be applied to a single individual, is also the word for a great number, while _consult_ is ordinarily limited to a few; a committee _consults_; an assembly _deliberates_.

_Deliberating_ always carries the idea of slowness; _consulting_ is compatible with haste; we can speak of a hasty consultation, not of a hasty deliberation.

_Debate_ implies opposing views; _deliberate_, simply a gathering and balancing of all facts and reasons.

We _consider_ or _deliberate_ with a view to action, while _meditation_ may be quite purposeless.

Prepositions: We deliberate _on_ or _upon_, also _about_ or _concerning_ a matter: the first two are preferable.

* * * * * DELICIOUS.

Synonyms: dainty, delightful, exquisite, luscious, savory.

That is _delicious_ which affords a gratification at once vivid and delicate to the senses, especially to those of taste and smell; as, _delicious_ fruit; a _delicious_ odor; _luscious_ has a kindred but more fulsome meaning, inclining toward a cloying excess of sweetness or richness.

_Savory_ is applied chiefly to cooked food made palatable by spices and condiments.

_Delightful_ may be applied to the higher gratifications of sense, as _delightful_ music, but is chiefly used for that which is mental and spiritual.

_Delicious_ has a limited use in this way; as, a _delicious_ bit of poetry; the word is sometimes used ironically for some pleasing absurdity; as, this is _delicious_!

Compare DELIGHTFUL.

Antonyms: acrid, loathsome, nauseous, repulsive, unpalatable, unsavory.

bitter, * * * * * DELIGHTFUL.