English Synonyms and Antonyms — Physical to Poetry

bodily, corporeal, natural, tangible, corporal, material, sensible, visible.

Whatever is composed of or pertains to matter may be termed _material_;

_physical_ (Gr.

_physis_, nature) applies to _material_ things considered as parts of a system or organic whole; hence, we speak of _material_ substances, _physical_ forces, _physical_ laws.

_Bodily_, _corporal_, and _corporeal_ apply primarily to the human body; _bodily_ and _corporal_ both denote pertaining or relating to the body;

_corporeal_ signifies of the nature of or like the body; _corporal_ is now almost wholly restricted to signify applied to or inflicted upon the body; we speak of _bodily_ sufferings, _bodily_ presence, _corporal_ punishment, the _corporeal_ frame.

Antonyms: hyperphysical, intangible, invisible, moral, unreal, immaterial, intellectual, mental, spiritual, unsubstantial.

* * * * * PIQUE.

Synonyms: displeasure, irritation, offense, resentment, umbrage.

grudge, _Pique_, from the French, signifies primarily a prick or a sting, as of a nettle; the word denotes a sudden feeling of mingled pain and anger, but slight and usually transient, arising from some neglect or _offense_, real or imaginary.

_Umbrage_ is a deeper and more persistent _displeasure_ at being overshadowed (L. _umbra_, a shadow) or subjected to any treatment that one deems unworthy of him.

It may be said, as a general statement, that _pique_ arises from wounded vanity or sensitiveness, _umbrage_ from wounded pride or sometimes from suspicion.

_Resentment_ rests on more solid grounds, and is deep and persistent.

Compare ANGER.

Antonyms: approval, contentment, gratification, pleasure, satisfaction.

complacency, delight, * * * * * PITIFUL.

Synonyms: abject, lamentable, paltry, sorrowful, base, miserable, pathetic, touching, contemptible, mournful, piteous, woful, despicable, moving, pitiable, wretched.

_Pitiful_ originally signified full of pity; as, "the Lord is very _pitiful_ and of tender mercy," _James_ v, 11; but this usage is now archaic, and the meaning in question is appropriated by such words as merciful and compassionate.

_Pitiful_ and _pitiable_ now refer to what may be deserving of pity, _pitiful_ being used chiefly for that which is merely an object of thought, _pitiable_ for that which is brought directly before the senses; as, a _pitiful_ story; a _pitiable_ object;

a _pitiable_ condition.

Since pity, however, always implies weakness or inferiority in that which is pitied, _pitiful_ and _pitiable_ are often used, by an easy transition, for what might awaken pity, but does awaken contempt; as, a _pitiful_ excuse; he presented a _pitiable_ appearance.

_Piteous_ is now rarely used in its earlier sense of feeling pity, but in its derived sense applies to what really excites the emotion; as, a _piteous_ cry.

Compare HUMANE; MERCY; PITY.

Antonyms: august, dignified, grand, lofty, sublime, beneficent, exalted, great, mighty, superb, commanding, glorious, helpful, noble, superior.

* * * * * PITY.

Synonyms: commiseration, condolence, sympathy, tenderness.

compassion, mercy, _Pity_ is a feeling of grief or pain aroused by the weakness, misfortunes, or distresses of others, joined with a desire to help or relieve.

_Sympathy_ (feeling or suffering with) implies some degree of equality, kindred, or union; _pity_ is for what is weak or unfortunate, and so far, at least, inferior to ourselves; hence, _pity_ is often resented where _sympathy_ would be welcome.

We have _sympathy_ with one in joy or grief, in pleasure or pain, _pity_ only for those in suffering or need; we may have _sympathy_ with the struggles of a giant or the triumphs of a conqueror; we are moved with _pity_ for the captive or the slave.

_Pity_ may be only in the mind, but _mercy_ does something for those who are its objects.

_Compassion_, like _pity_, is exercised only with respect to the suffering or unfortunate, but combines with the tenderness of _pity_ the dignity of _sympathy_ and the active quality of _mercy_.

_Commiseration_ is as tender as _compassion_, but more remote and hopeless; we have _commiseration_ for sufferers whom we can not reach or can not relieve.

_Condolence_ is the expression of _sympathy_.

Compare MERCY.

Antonyms: barbarity, ferocity, harshness, pitilessness, severity, brutality, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, rigor, sternness, cruelty, hardness, mercilessness, ruthlessness, truculence.

Prepositions: Pity _on_ or _upon_ that which we help or spare; pity _for_ that which we merely contemplate; "have pity _upon_ me, O ye my friends," _Job_ xix, 21; "pity _for_ a horse o'erdriven," TENNYSON _In Memoriam_ lxii, st. 1. * * * * * PLANT.

Synonyms: seed, seed down, set, set out, sow.

We _set_ or _set out_ slips, cuttings, young trees, etc. , tho we may also be said to _plant_ them; we _plant_ corn, potatoes, etc. , which we put in definite places, as in hills, with some care; we _sow_ wheat or other small grains and seeds which are scattered in the process.

Tho by modern agricultural machinery the smaller grains are almost as precisely _planted_ as corn, the old word for broadcast scattering is retained.

Land is _seeded_ or _seeded down_ to grass.

Antonyms: eradicate, extirpate, root up, uproot, weed out.

* * * * * PLEAD.

Synonyms: advocate, ask, beseech, implore, solicit, argue, beg, entreat, press, urge.

To _plead_ for one is to employ argument or persuasion, or both in his behalf, usually with earnestness or importunity; similarly one may be said to _plead_ for himself or for a cause, etc. , or with direct object, to _plead_ a case; in legal usage, _pleading_ is argumentative, but in popular usage, _pleading_ always implies some appeal to the feelings.

One _argues_ a case solely on rational grounds and supposably with fair consideration of both sides; he _advocates_ one side for the purpose of carrying it, and under the influence of motives that may range all the way from cold self-interest to the highest and noblest impulses; he _pleads_ a cause, or _pleads_ for a person with still more intense feeling.

_Beseech_, _entreat_, and _implore_ imply impassioned earnestness, with direct and tender appeal to personal considerations.

_Press_ and _urge_ imply more determined or perhaps authoritative insistence.

_Solicit_ is a weak word denoting merely an attempt to secure one's consent or cooperation, sometimes by sordid or corrupt motives.

Prepositions: Plead _with_ the tyrant _for_ the captive; plead _against_ the oppression or the oppressor; plead _to_ the indictment; _at_ the bar;

_before_ the court; _in_ open court.

* * * * * PLEASANT.

Synonyms: agreeable, good-natured, kindly, pleasing, attractive, kind, obliging, pleasurable.

That is _pleasing_ from which pleasure is received, or may readily be received, without reference to any action or intent in that which confers it; as, a _pleasing_ picture; a _pleasing_ landscape.

Whatever has active qualities adapted to give pleasure is _pleasant_; as, a _pleasant_ breeze; a _pleasant_ (not a _pleasing_) day.

As applied to persons, _pleasant_ always refers to a disposition ready and desirous to please; one is _pleasant_, or in a _pleasant_ mood, when inclined to make happy those with whom he is dealing, to show kindness and do any reasonable favor.

In this sense _pleasant_ is nearly akin to _kind_, but _kind_ refers to act or intent, while _pleasant_ stops with the disposition; many persons are no longer in a _pleasant_ mood if asked to do a troublesome kindness.

_Pleasant_ keeps always something of the sense of actually giving pleasure, and thus surpasses the meaning of _good-natured_; there are _good-natured_ people who by reason of rudeness and ill-breeding are not _pleasant_ companions.

A _pleasing_ face has good features, complexion, expression, etc. ; a _pleasant_ face indicates a _kind_ heart and an _obliging_ disposition, as well as _kindly_ feelings in actual exercise; we can say of one usually _good-natured_, "on that occasion he did not meet me with a _pleasant_ face."

_Pleasant_, in the sense of gay, merry, jocose (the sense still retained in _pleasantry_), is now rare, and would not be understood outside of literary circles.

Compare AMIABLE; COMFORTABLE; DELIGHTFUL.

Antonyms: arrogant, displeasing, glum, ill-humored, repelling, austere, dreary, grim, ill-natured, repulsive, crabbed, forbidding, harsh, offensive, unkind, disagreeable, gloomy, hateful, repellent, unpleasant.

Prepositions: Pleasant _to_, _with_, or _toward_ persons, _about_ a matter.

* * * * * PLENTIFUL.

Synonyms: abounding, bountiful, generous, plenteous, abundant, complete, large, profuse, adequate, copious, lavish, replete, affluent, enough, liberal, rich, ample, exuberant, luxuriant, sufficient, bounteous, full, overflowing, teeming.

_Enough_ is relative, denoting a supply equal to a given demand.

A

temperature of 70° Fahrenheit is _enough_ for a living-room; of 212° _enough_ to boil water; neither is _enough_ to melt iron.

_Sufficient_, from the Latin, is an equivalent of the Saxon _enough_, with no perceptible difference of meaning, but only of usage, _enough_ being the more blunt, homely, and forcible word, while _sufficient_ is in many cases the more elegant or polite.

_Sufficient_ usually precedes its noun; _enough_ usually and preferably follows.

That is _ample_ which gives a safe, but not a large, margin beyond a given demand; that is _abundant_, _affluent_, _bountiful_, _liberal_, _plentiful_, which is largely in excess of manifest need.

_Plentiful_ is used of supplies, as of food, water, etc. ; as, "a _plentiful_ rain," _Ps.

_ lxviii, 9. We may also say a _copious_ rain; but _copious_ can be applied to thought, language, etc. , where _plentiful_ can not well be used.

_Affluent_ and _liberal_ both apply to riches, resources; _liberal_, with especial reference to giving or expending.

(Compare synonyms for ADEQUATE.

) _Affluent_, referring especially to riches, may be used of thought, feeling, etc. Neither _affluent_, _copious_, nor _plentiful_ can be used of time or space; a field is sometimes called _plentiful_, not with reference to its extent, but to its productiveness.

_Complete_ expresses not excess or overplus, and yet not mere sufficiency, but harmony, proportion, fitness to a design, or ideal.

_Ample_ and _abundant_ may be applied to any subject.

We have time _enough_, means that we can reach our destination without haste, but also without delay; if we have _ample_ time, we may move leisurely, and note what is by the way; if we have _abundant_ time, we may pause to converse with a friend, to view the scenery, or to rest when weary.

_Lavish_ and _profuse_ imply a decided excess, oftenest in the ill sense.

We rejoice in _abundant_ resources, and honor _generous_ hospitality; _lavish_ or _profuse_ expenditure suggests extravagance and wastefulness.

_Luxuriant_ is used especially of that which is _abundant_ in growth; as, a _luxuriant_ crop.

Antonyms: deficient, inadequate, narrow, scanty, small, drained, insufficient, niggardly, scarce, sparing, exhausted, mean, poor, scrimped, stingy, impoverished, miserly, scant, short, straitened.

Preposition: Plentiful _in_ resources.

* * * * * POETRY.

Synonyms: meter, numbers, poesy, song, metrical composition, poem, rime, verse.

_Poetry_ is that form of literature that embodies beautiful thought, feeling, or action in melodious, rhythmical, and (usually) metrical language, in imaginative and artistic constructions.

_Poetry_ in a very wide sense may be anything that pleasingly addresses the imagination;

as, the _poetry_ of motion.

In ordinary usage, _poetry_ is both imaginative and metrical.

There may be _poetry_ without _rime_, but hardly without _meter_, or what in some languages takes its place, as the Hebrew parallelism; but _poetry_ involves, besides the artistic form, the exercise of the fancy or imagination in a way always beautiful, often lofty or even sublime.

Failing this, there may be _verse_, _rime_, and _meter_, but not _poetry_.

There is much in literature that is beautiful and sublime in thought and artistic in construction, which is yet not _poetry_, because quite devoid of the element of _song_, whereby _poetry_ differs from the most lofty, beautiful, or impassioned prose.

Compare METER.

Antonyms: prosaic speech, prosaic writing, prose.

* * * * * POLITE.