English Synonyms and Antonyms — Hinder to Hypothesis

baffle, clog, foil, obstruct, retard, balk, counteract, frustrate, oppose, stay, bar, delay, hamper, prevent, stop, block, embarrass, impede, resist, thwart.

check, encumber, interrupt, To _hinder_ is to keep from action, progress, motion, or growth, or to make such action, progress, motion, or growth later in beginning or completion than it would otherwise have been.

An action is _prevented_ by anything that comes in before it to make it impossible; it is _hindered_ by anything that keeps it from either beginning or ending so soon as it otherwise would, or as expected or intended.

It is more common, however, to say that the start is _delayed_, the progress _hindered_.

An action that is _hindered_ does not take place at the appointed or appropriate time; that which is _prevented_ does not take place at all; to _hinder_ a thing long enough may amount to _preventing_ it.

A railroad-train may be _hindered_ by a snow-storm from arriving on time; it may by special order be _prevented_ from starting.

To _retard_ is simply to make slow by any means whatever.

To _obstruct_ is to _hinder_, or possibly to _prevent_ advance or passage by putting something in the way; to _oppose_ or _resist_ is to _hinder_, or possibly to _prevent_ by directly contrary or hostile action, _resist_ being the stronger term and having more suggestion of physical force;

_obstructed_ roads _hinder_ the march of an enemy, tho there may be no force strong enough to _oppose_ it; one _opposes_ a measure, a motion, an amendment, or the like; it is a criminal offense to _resist_ an officer in the discharge of his duty; the physical system may _resist_ the attack of disease or the action of a remedy.

Compare CONQUER;

IMPEDIMENT; OBSTRUCT.

Antonyms: See synonyms for QUICKEN.

Prepositions: Hinder one _in_ his progress; _from_ acting promptly; _by_ opposition.

* * * * * HISTORY.

Synonyms: account, biography, muniment, record, annals, chronicle, narration, register, archives, memoir, narrative, story.

autobiography, memorial, recital, _History_ is a systematic record of past events.

_Annals_ and _chronicles_ relate events with little regard to their relative importance, and with complete subserviency to their succession in time.

_Annals_ are yearly records; _chronicles_ follow the order of time.

Both necessarily lack emphasis, selection, and perspective.

_Archives_ are public _records_, which may be _annals_, or _chronicles_, or deeds of property, etc. _Memoirs_ generally record the lives of individuals or facts pertaining to individual lives.

A _biography_ is distinctively a written _account_ of one person's life and actions; an _autobiography_ is a _biography_ written by the person whose life it records.

_Annals_, _archives_, _chronicles_, _biographies_, and _memoirs_ and other _records_ furnish the materials of _history_.

_History_ recounts events with careful attention to their importance, their mutual relations, their causes and consequences, selecting and grouping events on the ground of interest or importance.

_History_ is usually applied to such an _account_ of events affecting communities and nations, tho sometimes we speak of the _history_ of a single eminent life.

Compare RECORD.

Antonyms: See synonyms for FICTION.

* * * * * HOLY.

Synonyms: blessed, devoted, hallowed, saintly, consecrated, divine, sacred, set apart.

_Sacred_ is applied to that which is to be regarded as inviolable on any account, and so is not restricted to divine things; therefore in its lower applications it is less than _holy_.

That which is _sacred_ may be made so by institution, decree, or association; that which is _holy_ is so by its own nature, possessing intrinsic moral purity, and, in the highest sense, absolute moral perfection.

God is _holy_; his commands are _sacred_.

_Holy_ may be applied also to that which is _hallowed_;

as, "the place whereon thou standest is _holy_ ground," _Ex.

_ iii, 5. In such use _holy_ is more than _sacred_, as if the very qualities of a spiritual or divine presence were imparted to the place or object.

_Divine_ has been used with great looseness, as applying to anything eminent or admirable, in the line either of goodness or of mere power, as to eloquence, music, etc. , but there is a commendable tendency to restrict the word to its higher sense, as designating that which belongs to or is worthy of the Divine Being.

Compare PERFECT; PURE.

Antonyms: abominable, cursed, polluted, unconsecrated, unholy, wicked, common, impure, secular, unhallowed, unsanctified, worldly.

* * * * * HOME.

Synonyms: abode, dwelling, habitation, hearthstone, ingleside, domicil, fireside, hearth, house, residence.

_Abode_, _dwelling_, and _habitation_ are used with little difference of meaning to denote the place where one habitually lives; _abode_ and _habitation_ belong to the poetic or elevated style.

Even _dwelling_ is not used in familiar speech; a person says "my _house_," "my _home_," or more formally "my _residence_."

_Home_, from the Anglo-Saxon, denoting originally a _dwelling_, came to mean an endeared _dwelling_ as the scene of domestic love and happy and cherished family life, a sense to which there is an increasing tendency to restrict the word--desirably so, since we have other words to denote the mere dwelling-place; we say "The wretched tenement could not be called _home_," or "The humble cabin was dear to him as the _home_ of his childhood."

_Home_'s not merely four square walls, Tho with pictures hung and gilded;

_Home_ is where affection calls-- Where its shrine the heart has builded.

Thus the word comes to signify any place of rest and peace, and especially heaven, as the soul's peaceful and eternal dwelling-place.

* * * * * HONEST.

Synonyms: candid, frank, ingenuous, true, equitable, genuine, just, trustworthy, fair, good, sincere, trusty, faithful, honorable, straightforward, upright.

One who is _honest_ in the ordinary sense acts or is always disposed to act with careful regard for the rights of others, especially in matters of business or property; one who is _honorable_ scrupulously observes the dictates of a personal honor that is higher than any demands of mercantile law or public opinion, and will do nothing unworthy of his own inherent nobility of soul.

The _honest_ man does not steal, cheat, or defraud; the _honorable_ man will not take an unfair advantage that would be allowed him, or will make a sacrifice which no one could require of him, when his own sense of right demands it.

One who is _honest_ in the highest and fullest sense is scrupulously careful to adhere to all known truth and right even in thought.

In this sense _honest_ differs from _honorable_ as having regard rather to absolute truth and right than to even the highest personal honor.

Compare CANDID;

JUSTICE.

Antonyms: deceitful, faithless, hypocritical, perfidious, unfaithful, dishonest, false, lying, traitorous, unscrupulous, disingenuous, fraudulent, mendacious, treacherous, untrue.

* * * * * HORIZONTAL.

Synonyms: even, flat, level, plain, plane.

_Horizontal_ signifies in the direction of or parallel to the horizon.

For practical purposes _level_ and _horizontal_ are identical, tho _level_, as the more popular word, is more loosely used of that which has no especially noticeable elevations or inequalities; as, a _level_ road.

_Flat_, according to its derivation from the Anglo-Saxon _flet_, a floor, applies to a surface only, and, in the first and most usual sense, to a surface that is _horizontal_ or _level_ in all directions; a line may be _level_, a floor is _flat_; _flat_ is also applied in a derived sense to any _plane_ surface without irregularities or elevations, as a picture may be painted on the _flat_ surface of a perpendicular wall.

_Plane_ applies only to a surface, and is used with more mathematical exactness than _flat_.

The adjective _plain_, originally the same word as _plane_, is now rarely used except in the figurative senses, but the original sense appears in the noun, as we speak of "a wide _plain_."

We speak of a _horizontal_ line, a _flat_ morass, a _level_ road, a _plain_ country, a _plane_ surface (especially in the scientific sense).

That which is _level_ may not be _even_, and that which is _even_ may not be _level_; a _level_ road may be very rough; a slope may be _even_.

Antonyms: broken, inclined, rolling, rugged, sloping, hilly, irregular, rough, slanting, uneven.

* * * * * HUMANE.

Synonyms: benevolent, compassionate, human, pitying, benignant, forgiving, kind, sympathetic, charitable, gentle, kind-hearted, tender, clement, gracious, merciful, tender-hearted.

_Human_ denotes what pertains to mankind, with no suggestion as to its being good or evil; as, the _human_ race; _human_ qualities; we speak of _human_ achievements, virtues, or excellences, _human_ follies, vices, or crimes.

_Humane_ denotes what may rightly be expected of mankind at its best in the treatment of sentient beings; a _humane_ enterprise or endeavor is one that is intended to prevent or relieve suffering.

The _humane_ man will not needlessly inflict pain upon the meanest thing that lives; a _merciful_ man is disposed to withhold or mitigate the suffering even of the guilty.

The _compassionate_ man sympathizes with and desires to relieve actual suffering, while one who is _humane_ would forestall and prevent the suffering which he sees to be possible.

Compare MERCY; PITIFUL; PITY.

Antonyms: See synonyms for BARBAROUS.

* * * * * HUNT.

Synonyms: chase, hunting, inquisition, pursuit, search.

A _hunt_ may be either the act of pursuing or the act of seeking, or a combination of the two.

A _chase_ or _pursuit_ is after that which is fleeing or departing; a _search_ is for that which is hidden; a _hunt_ may be for that which is either hidden or fleeing; a _search_ is a minute and careful seeking, and is especially applied to a locality; we make a _search_ of or through a house, for an object, in which connection it would be colloquial to say a _hunt_.

_Hunt_ never quite loses its association with field-sports, where it includes both _search_ and _chase_; the _search_ till the game is hunted out, and the _chase_ till it is hunted down.

Figuratively, we speak of literary _pursuits_, or of the _pursuit_ of knowledge; a _search_ for reasons; the _chase_ of fame or honor; _hunt_, in figurative use, inclines to the unfavorable sense of _inquisition_, but with more of dash and aggressiveness; as, a _hunt_ for heresy.

* * * * * HYPOCRISY.

Synonyms: affectation, formalism, pretense, sanctimony, cant, pharisaism, sanctimoniousness, sham.

dissimulation, pietism, _Pretense_ (L. _prætendo_) primarily signifies the holding something forward as having certain rights or claims, whether truly or falsely; in the good sense, it is now rarely used except with a negative; as, there can be no _pretense_ that this is due; a false _pretense_ implies the possibility of a true _pretense_; but, alone and unlimited, _pretense_ commonly signifies the offering of something for what it is not.

_Hypocrisy_ is the false _pretense_ of moral excellence, either as a cover for actual wrong, or for the sake of the credit and advantage attaching to virtue.

_Cant_ (L. _cantus_, a song), primarily the singsong iteration of the language of any party, school, or sect, denotes the mechanical and pretentious use of religious phraseology, without corresponding feeling or character; _sanctimoniousness_ is the assumption of a saintly manner without a saintly character.

As _cant_ is _hypocrisy_ in utterance, so _sanctimoniousness_ is _hypocrisy_ in appearance, as in looks, tones, etc. _Pietism_, originally a word of good import, is now chiefly used for an unregulated emotionalism;

_formalism_ is an exaggerated devotion to forms, rites, and ceremonies, without corresponding earnestness of heart; _sham_ (identical in origin with _shame_) is a trick or device that puts one to shame, or that shamefully disappoints expectation or falsifies appearance.

_Affectation_ is in matters of intellect, taste, etc. , much what _hypocrisy_ is in morals and religion; _affectation_ might be termed petty _hypocrisy_.

Compare DECEPTION.

Antonyms: candor, genuineness, ingenuousness, sincerity, truth, frankness, honesty, openness, transparency, truthfulness.

* * * * * HYPOCRITE.

Synonyms: cheat, deceiver, dissembler, impostor, pretender.

A _hypocrite_ (Gr.

_hypokrites_, one who answers on the stage, an actor, especially a mimic actor) is one who acts a false part, or assumes a character other than the real.

_Deceiver_ is the most comprehensive term, including all the other words of the group.

The _deceiver_ seeks to give false impressions of any matter where he has an end to gain; the _dissembler_ or _hypocrite_ seeks to give false impressions in regard to himself.

The _dissembler_ is content if he can keep some base conduct or evil purpose from being discovered; the _hypocrite_ seeks not merely to cover his vices, but to gain credit for virtue.

The _cheat_ and _impostor_ endeavor to make something out of those they may deceive.

The _cheat_ is the inferior and more mercenary, as the thimble-rig gambler;

the _impostor_ may aspire to a fortune or a throne.

Compare HYPOCRISY.

Antonyms: The antonyms of _hypocrite_ are to be found only in phrases embodying the adjectives candid, honest, ingenuous, sincere, true, etc. * * * * * HYPOTHESIS.

Synonyms: conjecture, scheme, supposition, system, guess, speculation, surmise, theory.

A _hypothesis_ is a statement of what is deemed possibly true, assumed and reasoned upon as if certainly true, with a view of reaching truth not yet surely known; especially, in the sciences, a _hypothesis_ is a comprehensive tentative explanation of certain phenomena, which is meant to include all other facts of the same class, and which is assumed as true till there has been opportunity to bring all related facts into comparison; if the _hypothesis_ explains all the facts, it is regarded as verified; till then it is regarded as a working _hypothesis_, that is, one that may answer for present practical purposes.

A _hypothesis_ may be termed a comprehensive _guess_.

A _guess_ is a swift conclusion from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while one confessedly lacks material for absolute certainty.

A _conjecture_ is more methodical than a _guess_, while a _supposition_ is still slower and more settled; a _conjecture_, like a _guess_, is preliminary and tentative; a _supposition_ is more nearly final; a _surmise_ is more floating and visionary, and often sinister; as, a _surmise_ that a stranger may be a pickpocket.

_Theory_ is used of the mental coordination of facts and principles, that may or may not prove correct;

a machine may be perfect in _theory_, but useless in fact.

_Scheme_ may be used as nearly equivalent to _theory_, but is more frequently applied to proposed action, and in the sense of a somewhat visionary plan.

A

_speculation_ may be wholly of the brain, resting upon no facts worthy of consideration; _system_ is the highest of these terms, having most of assurance and fixity; a _system_ unites many facts, phenomena, or doctrines into an orderly and consistent whole; we speak of a _system_ of theology, of the Copernican _system_ of the universe.

Compare SYSTEM.

Antonyms: certainty, demonstration, discovery, evidence, fact, proof.

* * * * * IDEA.

Synonyms: apprehension, design, impression, plan, archetype, fancy, judgment, purpose, belief, fantasy, model, sentiment, conceit, ideal, notion, supposition, concept, image, opinion, theory, conception, imagination, pattern, thought.