English Synonyms and Antonyms — People to Perverse

commonwealth, nation, race, state, tribe.

community, population, A _community_ is in general terms the aggregate of persons inhabiting any territory in common and viewed as having common interests; a _commonwealth_ is such a body of persons having a common government, especially a republican government; as, the _commonwealth_ of Massachusetts.

A _community_ may be very small; a _commonwealth_ is ordinarily of considerable extent.

A _people_ is the aggregate of any public _community_, either in distinction from their rulers or as including them; a _race_ is a division of mankind in the line of origin and ancestry; the _people_ of the United States includes members of almost every _race_.

The use of _people_ as signifying persons collectively, as in the statement "The hall was full of _people_," has been severely criticized, but is old and accepted English, and may fitly be classed as idiomatic, and often better than _persons_, by reason of its collectivism.

As Dean Alford suggests, it would make a strange transformation of the old hymn "All _people_ that on earth do dwell" to sing "All _persons_ that on earth do dwell."

A _state_ is an organized political _community_ considered in its corporate capacity as "a body politic and corporate;" as, a legislative act is the act of the _state_;

every citizen is entitled to the protection of the _state_.

A _nation_ is an organized political _community_ considered with reference to the persons composing it as having certain definite boundaries, a definite number of citizens, etc. The members of a _people_ are referred to as persons or individuals; the individual members of a _state_ or _nation_ are called citizens or subjects.

The _population_ of a country is simply the aggregate of persons residing within its borders, without reference to _race_, organization, or allegiance; unnaturalized residents form part of the _population_, but not of the _nation_, possessing none of the rights and being subject to none of the duties of citizens.

In American usage _State_ signifies one _commonwealth_ of the federal union known as the United _States_.

_Tribe_ is now almost wholly applied to rude _peoples_ with very imperfect political organization; as, the Indian _tribes_; nomadic _tribes_.

Compare MOB.

* * * * * PERCEIVE.

Synonyms: apprehend, comprehend, conceive, understand.

We _perceive_ what is presented through the senses.

We _apprehend_ what is presented to the mind, whether through the senses or by any other means.

Yet _perceive_ is used in the figurative sense of seeing through to a conclusion, in a way for which usage would not allow us to substitute _apprehend_; as, "Sir, I _perceive_ that thou art a prophet," _John_ iv, 19. That which we _apprehend_ we catch, as with the hand;

that which we _conceive_ we are able to analyze and recompose in our mind; that which we _comprehend_, we, as it were, grasp around, take together, seize, embrace wholly within the mind.

Many things may be _apprehended_ which can not be _comprehended_; a child can _apprehend_ the distinction between right and wrong, yet the philosopher can not _comprehend_ it in its fulness.

We can _apprehend_ the will of God as revealed in conscience or the Scriptures; we can _conceive_ of certain attributes of Deity, as his truth and justice; but no finite intelligence can _comprehend_ the Divine Nature, in its majesty, power, and perfection.

Compare ANTICIPATE; ARREST; CATCH; KNOWLEDGE.

Antonyms: fail of, ignore, lose, misapprehend, misconceive, miss, overlook.

* * * * * PERFECT.

Synonyms: absolute, consummate, holy, spotless, accurate, correct, ideal, stainless, blameless, entire, immaculate, unblemished, complete, faultless, sinless, undefiled.

completed, finished, That is _perfect_ to which nothing can be added, and from which nothing can be taken without impairing its excellence, marring its symmetry, or detracting from its worth; in this fullest sense God alone is _perfect_, but in a limited sense anything may be _perfect_ in its kind; as a _perfect_ flower; a copy of a document is _perfect_ when it is _accurate_ in every particular; a vase may be called _perfect_ when _entire_ and _unblemished_, even tho not artistically _faultless_; the best judges never pronounce a work of art _perfect_, because they see always _ideal_ possibilities not 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, * * * * * 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, * * * * * 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 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.

* * * * * 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: