English Synonyms and Antonyms — Polite to Predestination

Synonyms: accomplished, courtly, genteel, urbane, civil, cultivated, gracious, well-behaved, complaisant, cultured, obliging, well-bred, courteous, elegant, polished, well-mannered.

A _civil_ person observes such propriety of speech and manner as to avoid being rude; one who is _polite_ (literally _polished_) observes more than the necessary proprieties, conforming to all that is graceful, becoming, and thoughtful in the intercourse of refined society.

A man may be _civil_ with no consideration for others, simply because self-respect forbids him to be rude; but one who is _polite_ has at least some care for the opinions of others, and if _polite_ in the highest and truest sense, which is coming to be the prevailing one, he cares for the comfort and happiness of others in the smallest matters.

_Civil_ is a colder and more distant word than _polite_; _courteous_ is fuller and richer, dealing often with greater matters, and is used only in the good sense.

_Courtly_ suggests that which befits a royal court, and is used of external grace and stateliness without reference to the prompting feeling; as, the _courtly_ manners of the ambassador.

_Genteel_ refers to an external elegance, which may be showy and superficial, and the word is thus inferior to _polite_ or _courteous_.

_Urbane_ refers to a politeness that is genial and successful in giving others a sense of ease and cheer.

_Polished_ refers to external elegancies of speech and manner without reference to spirit or purpose;

as, a _polished_ gentleman or a _polished_ scoundrel; _cultured_ refers to a real and high development of mind and soul, of which the external manifestation is the smallest part.

_Complaisant_ denotes a disposition to please or favor beyond what _politeness_ would necessarily require.

Antonyms: awkward, clownish, ill-mannered, insulting, uncouth, bluff, coarse, impertinent, raw, unmannerly, blunt, discourteous, impolite, rude, unpolished, boorish, ill-behaved, impudent, rustic, untaught, brusk, ill-bred, insolent, uncivil, untutored.

* * * * * POLITY.

Synonyms: constitution, policy, form _or_ system of government.

_Polity_ is the permanent system of government of a state, a church, or a society; _policy_ is the method of management with reference to the attainment of certain ends; the national _polity_ of the United States is republican; each administration has a _policy_ of its own.

_Policy_ is often used as equivalent to expediency; as, many think honesty to be good _policy_.

_Polity_ used in ecclesiastical use serves a valuable purpose in distinguishing that which relates to administration and government from that which relates to faith and doctrine; two churches identical in faith may differ in _polity_, or those agreeing in _polity_ may differ in faith.

Compare LAW.

* * * * * PORTION.

Synonyms: lot, parcel, part, proportion, share.

When any whole is divided into _parts_, any _part_ that is allotted to some person, thing, subject or purpose is called a _portion_, tho the division may be by no fixed rule or relation; a father may divide his estate by will among his children so as to make their several _portions_ great or small, according to his arbitrary and unreasonable caprice.

When we speak of a _part_ as a _proportion_, we think of the whole as divided according to some rule or scale, so that the different _parts_ bear a contemplated and intended relation or ratio to one another; thus, the _portion_ allotted to a child by will may not be a fair _proportion_ of the estate.

_Proportion_ is often used where _part_ or _portion_ would be more appropriate.

Compare PART.

* * * * * POVERTY.

Synonyms: beggary, distress, mendicancy, pauperism, privation, destitution, indigence, need, penury, want.

_Poverty_ denotes strictly lack of property or adequate means of support, but in common use is a relative term denoting any condition below that of easy, comfortable living; _privation_ denotes a condition of painful lack of what is useful or desirable, tho not to the extent of absolute _distress_; _indigence_ is lack of ordinary means of subsistence; _destitution_ is lack of the comforts, and in part even of the necessaries of life; _penury_ is especially cramping _poverty_, possibly not so sharp as _destitution_, but continuous, while that may be temporary; _pauperism_ is such _destitution_ as throws one upon organized public charity for support; _beggary_ and _mendicancy_ denote _poverty_ that appeals for indiscriminate private charity.

* * * * * POWER.

Synonyms: ability, competency, expertness, readiness, aptitude, dexterity, faculty, skill, capability, efficacy, force, strength, capacity, efficiency, might, susceptibility, cleverness, energy, qualification, talent.

cogency, _Power_ is the most general term of this group, including every quality, property, or _faculty_ by which any change, effect, or result is, or may be, produced; as, the _power_ of the legislature to enact laws, or of the executive to enforce them; the _power_ of an acid to corrode a metal; the _power_ of a polished surface to reflect light.

_Ability_ is nearly coextensive with _power_, but does not reach the positiveness and vigor that may be included in the meaning of _power_, _ability_ often implying latent, as distinguished from active _power_; we speak of an exertion of _power_, but not of an exertion of _ability_.

_Power_ and _ability_ include _capacity_, which is _power_ to receive; but _ability_ is often distinguished from _capacity_, as power that may be manifested in doing, as _capacity_ is in receiving; one may have great _capacity_ for acquiring knowledge, and yet not possess _ability_ to teach.

_Efficiency_ is active _power_ to effect a definite result, the _power_ that actually does, as distinguished from that which may do.

_Competency_ is equal to the occasion, _readiness_ prompt for the occasion.

_Faculty_ is an inherent quality of mind or body; _talent_, some special mental _ability_.

_Dexterity_ and _skill_ are readiness and facility in action, having a special end; _talent_ is innate, _dexterity_ and _skill_ are largely acquired.

Our _abilities_ include our natural _capacity_, _faculties_, and _talents_, with all the _dexterity_, _skill_, and _readiness_ that can be acquired.

_Efficacy_ is the power to produce an intended effect as shown in the production of it; as, the _efficacy_ of a drug.

_Efficiency_ is effectual agency, competent _power_; _efficiency_ is applied in mechanics as denoting the ratio of the effect produced to the _power_ expended in producing it;

but this word is chiefly used of intelligent agents as denoting the quality that brings all one's _power_ to bear promptly and to the best purpose on the thing to be done.

Compare ADDRESS; DEXTERITY; SKILFUL.

Antonyms: awkwardness, helplessness, inability, incompetence, stupidity, dulness, imbecility, inaptitude, inefficiency, unskilfulness, feebleness, impotence, incapacity, maladroitness, weakness.

* * * * * PRAISE.

Synonyms: acclaim, approbation, compliment, laudation, acclamation, approval, encomium, panegyric, adulation, cheering, eulogy, plaudit, applause, cheers, flattery, sycophancy.

_Praise_ is the hearty approval of an individual, or of a number or multitude considered individually, and is expressed by spoken or written words; _applause_, the spontaneous outburst of many at once.

_Applause_ is expressed in any way, by stamping of feet, clapping of hands, waving of handkerchiefs, etc. , as well as by the voice; _acclamation_ is the spontaneous and hearty approval of many at once, and strictly by the voice alone.

Thus one is chosen moderator by _acclamation_ when he receives a unanimous _viva voce_ vote; we could not say he was nominated by _applause_.

_Acclaim_ is the more poetic term for _acclamation_, commonly understood in a loftier sense; as, a nation's _acclaim_.

_Plaudit_ is a shout of _applause_, and is commonly used in the plural;

as, the _plaudits_ of a throng.

_Applause_ is also used in the general sense of _praise_.

_Approbation_ is a milder and more qualified word than _praise_; while _praise_ is always uttered, _approbation_ may be silent.

"_Approbation_ speaks of the thing or action....

_Praise_ is always personal."

A.

W.

AND J.

C.

HARE _Guesses at Truth_ first series, p. 549. [MACM.

'66. ] _Acceptance_ refers to an object or action;

_approbation_ may refer to character or natural traits.

_Approval_ always supposes a testing or careful examination, and frequently implies official sanction; _approbation_ may be upon a general view.

The industry and intelligence of a clerk win his employer's _approbation_;

his decision in a special instance receives his _approval_.

_Praise_ is always understood as genuine and sincere, unless the contrary is expressly stated; _compliment_ is a light form of _praise_ that may or may not be sincere; _flattery_ is insincere and ordinarily fulsome _praise_.

Antonyms: abuse, contempt, hissing, repudiation, animadversion, denunciation, ignominy, scorn, blame, disapprobation, obloquy, slander, censure, disapproval, reproach, vilification, condemnation, disparagement, reproof, vituperation.

* * * * * PRAY.

Synonyms: ask, bid, entreat, invoke, request, beg, call upon, implore, petition, supplicate.

beseech, conjure, importune, plead, To _pray_, in the religious sense, is devoutly to address the Supreme Being with reverent petition for divine grace or any favor or blessing, and in the fullest sense with thanksgiving and praise for the divine goodness and mercy; the once common use of the word to express any earnest _request_, as "I _pray_ you to come in," is now rare, unless in writings molded on older literature, or in certain phrases, as "_Pray_ sit down;" even in these "please" is more common; "I _beg_ you" is also frequently used, as expressing a polite humility of _request_.

_Beseech_ and _entreat_ express great earnestness of _petition_; _implore_ and _supplicate_ denote the utmost fervency and intensity, _supplicate_ implying also humility.

Compare ASK; PLEAD.

* * * * * PRECARIOUS.

Synonyms: doubtful, hazardous, risky, unsettled, dubious, insecure, unassured, unstable, equivocal, perilous, uncertain, unsteady.

_Uncertain_ is applied to things that human knowledge can not certainly determine or that human power can not certainly control; _precarious_ originally meant dependent on the will of another, and now, by extension of meaning, dependent on chance or hazard, with manifest unfavorable possibility verging toward probability; as, one holds office by a _precarious_ tenure, or land by a _precarious_ title; the strong man's hold on life is _uncertain_, the invalid's is _precarious_.

Antonyms: actual, immutable, real, steady, undeniable, assured, incontestable, settled, strong, undoubted, certain, infallible, stable, sure, unquestionable.

firm, * * * * * PRECEDENT.

Synonyms: antecedent, case, instance, pattern, authority, example, obiter dictum, warrant.

A _precedent_ is an authoritative _case_, _example_, or _instance_.

The communism of the early Christians in Jerusalem is a wonderful _example_ or _instance_ of Christian liberality, but not a _precedent_ for the universal church through all time.

_Cases_ decided by irregular or unauthorized tribunals are not _precedents_ for the regular administration of law.

An _obiter dictum_ is an opinion outside of the _case_ in hand, which can not be quoted as an authoritative _precedent_.

Compare CAUSE; EXAMPLE.

* * * * * PREDESTINATION.

Synonyms: fate, foreknowledge, foreordination, necessity.

_Predestination_ is a previous determination or decision, which, in the divine action, reaches on from eternity.

_Fate_ is heathen, an irresistible, irrational power determining all events with no manifest connection with reason or righteousness; _necessity_ is philosophical, a blind something in the nature of things binding the slightest action or motion in the chain of inevitable, eternal sequence; _foreordination_ and _predestination_ are Christian, denoting the rational and righteous order or decree of the supreme and all-wise God.

_Foreknowledge_ is simply God's antecedent knowledge of all events, which some hold to be entirely separable from his _foreordination_, while others hold _foreordination_ to be inseparably involved in _foreknowledge_.

Antonyms: accident, choice, freedom, independence, chance, free agency, free will, uncertainty.

Prepositions: Predestination _of_ believers _to_ eternal life.

* * * * * PREJUDICE.

Synonyms: