English Synonyms and Antonyms — Prowess to Quote

bravery, gallantry, intrepidity, courage, heroism, valor.

_Bravery_, _courage_, _heroism_, and _intrepidity_ may be silent, spiritual, or passive; they may be exhibited by a martyr at the stake.

_Prowess_ and _valor_ imply both daring and doing; we do not speak of the _prowess_ of a martyr, a child, or a passive sufferer.

_Valor_ meets odds or perils with courageous action, doing its utmost to conquer at any risk or cost; _prowess_ has power adapted to the need; dauntless _valor_ is often vain against superior _prowess_.

_Courage_ is a nobler word than _bravery_, involving more of the deep, spiritual, and enduring elements of character; such an appreciation of peril as would extinguish _bravery_ may only intensify _courage_, which is resistant and self-conquering; _courage_ applies to matters in regard to which _valor_ and _prowess_ can have no place, as submission to a surgical operation, or the facing of censure or detraction for conscience' sake.

Compare BRAVE; FORTITUDE.

Antonyms: cowardice, cowardliness, effeminacy, fear, pusillanimity, timidity.

* * * * * PRUDENCE.

Synonyms: care, discretion, judgment, carefulness, forecast, judiciousness, caution, foresight, providence, circumspection, forethought, wisdom.

consideration, frugality, _Prudence_ may be briefly defined as good _judgment_ and _foresight_, inclining to _caution_ and _frugality_ in practical affairs.

_Care_ may respect only the present; _prudence_ and _providence_ look far ahead and sacrifice the present to the future, _prudence_ watching, saving, guarding, _providence_ planning, doing, preparing, and perhaps expending largely to meet the future demand.

_Frugality_ is in many cases one form of _prudence_.

In a besieged city _prudence_ will reduce the rations, _providence_ will strain every nerve to introduce supplies and to raise the siege.

_Foresight_ merely sees the future, and may even lead to the recklessness and desperation to which _prudence_ and _providence_ are so strongly opposed.

_Forethought_ is thinking in accordance with wise views of the future, and is nearly equivalent to _providence_, but it is a more popular and less comprehensive term; we speak of man's _forethought_, God's _providence_.

Compare CARE; FRUGALITY; WISDOM.

Antonyms: folly, imprudence, rashness, thoughtlessness, heedlessness, indiscretion, recklessness, wastefulness.

improvidence, prodigality, * * * * * PURCHASE.

Synonyms: acquire, barter for, get, procure, secure.

bargain for, buy, obtain, _Buy_ and _purchase_ are close synonyms, signifying to _obtain_ or _secure_ as one's own by paying or promising to pay a price; in numerous cases the two words are freely interchangeable, but with the difference usually found between words of Saxon and those of French or Latin origin.

The Saxon _buy_ is used for all the homely and petty concerns of common life, the French _purchase_ is often restricted to transactions of more dignity; yet the Saxon word _buy_ is commonly more emphatic, and in the higher ranges of thought appeals more strongly to the feelings.

One may either _buy_ or _purchase_ fame, favor, honor, pleasure, etc. , but when our feelings are stirred we speak of victory or freedom as dearly _bought_.

"_Buy_ the truth, and sell it not" (_Prov.

_ xxiii, 23) would be greatly weakened by the rendering "_Purchase_ the truth, and do not dispose of it."

Compare BUSINESS; GET; PRICE; SALE.

Antonyms: barter, dispose of, exchange, put to sale, sell.

Prepositions: Purchase _at_ a price; _at_ a public sale; _of_ or _from_ a person;

_for_ cash; _with_ money; _on_ time.

* * * * * PURE.

Synonyms: absolute, guiltless, simple, unmixed, chaste, holy, spotless, unpolluted, classic, immaculate, stainless, unspotted, classical, incorrupt, true, unstained, clean, innocent, unadulterated, unsullied, clear, mere, unblemished, untainted, continent, perfect, uncorrupted, untarnished, genuine, real, undefiled, upright, guileless, sheer, unmingled, virtuous.

That is _pure_ which is free from mixture or contact with anything that weakens, impairs, or pollutes.

Material substances are called _pure_ in the strict sense when free from foreign admixture of any kind; as, _pure_ oxygen; the word is often used to signify free from any defiling or objectionable admixture (the original sense); we speak of water as _pure_ when it is bright, clear, and refreshing, tho it may contain mineral salts in solution; in the medical and chemical sense, only distilled water (_aqua pura_) is _pure_.

In moral and religious use _pure_ is a strong word, denoting positive excellence of a high order;

one is _innocent_ who knows nothing of evil, and has experienced no touch of temptation; one is _pure_ who, with knowledge of evil and exposure to temptation, keeps heart and soul _unstained_.

_Virtuous_ refers primarily to right action; _pure_ to right feeling and motives;

as, "Blessed are the _pure_ in heart: for they shall see God," _Matt.

_ v, 8. Compare FINE; INNOCENT.

Antonyms: adulterated, foul, indecent, obscene, tainted, defiled, gross, indelicate, polluted, tarnished, dirty, immodest, lewd, stained, unchaste, filthy, impure, mixed, sullied, unclean.

* * * * * PUT.

Synonyms: deposit, lay, place, set.

_Put_ is the most general term for bringing an object to some point or within some space, however exactly or loosely; we may _put_ a horse in a pasture, or _put_ a bullet in a rifle or into an enemy.

_Place_ denotes more careful movement and more exact location; as, to _place_ a crown on one's head, or a garrison in a city.

To _lay_ is to _place_ in a horizontal position; to _set_ is to _place_ in an upright position; we _lay_ a cloth, and _set_ a dish upon a table.

To _deposit_ is to _put_ in a place of security for future use; as, to _deposit_ money in a bank;

the original sense, to _lay_ down or let down (quietly), is also common;

as, the stream _deposits_ sediment.

* * * * * QUEER.

Synonyms: anomalous, erratic, odd, strange, bizarre, extraordinary, peculiar, uncommon, comical, fantastic, preposterous, unique, crotchety, funny, quaint, unmatched, curious, grotesque, ridiculous, unusual, droll, laughable, singular, whimsical.

eccentric, ludicrous, _Odd_ is unmated, as an _odd_ shoe, and so uneven, as an _odd_ number.

_Singular_ is alone of its kind; as, the _singular_ number.

What is _singular_ is _odd_, but what is _odd_ may not be _singular_; as, a drawerful of _odd_ gloves.

A _strange_ thing is something hitherto unknown in fact or in cause.

A _singular_ coincidence is one the happening of which is unusual; a _strange_ coincidence is one the cause of which is hard to explain.

That which is _peculiar_ belongs especially to a person as his own; as, Israel was called Jehovah's "_peculiar_ people," _i.

e. _, especially chosen and cherished by him; in its ordinary use there is the implication that the thing _peculiar_ to one is not common to the majority nor quite approved by them, though it may be shared by many; as, the Shakers are _peculiar_.

_Eccentric_ is off or aside from the center, and so off or aside from the ordinary and what is considered the normal course; as, genius is commonly _eccentric_.

_Eccentric_ is a higher and more respectful word than _odd_ or _queer_.

_Erratic_ signifies wandering, a stronger and more censorious term than _eccentric_.

_Queer_ is transverse or oblique, aside from the common in a way that is _comical_ or perhaps slightly _ridiculous_.

_Quaint_ denotes that which is pleasingly _odd_ and fanciful, often with something of the antique; as, the _quaint_ architecture of medieval towns.

That which is _funny_ is calculated to provoke laughter; that which is _droll_ is more quietly amusing.

That which is _grotesque_ in the material sense is irregular or misshapen in form or outline or ill-proportioned so as to be somewhat _ridiculous_; the French _bizarre_ is practically equivalent to _grotesque_.

Antonyms: common, familiar, normal, regular, customary, natural, ordinary, usual.

* * * * * QUICKEN.

Synonyms: accelerate, drive on, hasten, promote, advance, expedite, hurry, speed, despatch, facilitate, make haste, urge, drive, further, press forward, urge on.

To _quicken_, in the sense here considered, is to increase speed, move or cause to move more rapidly, as through more space or with, a greater number of motions in the same time.

To _accelerate_ is to increase the speed of action or of motion.

A motion whose speed increases upon itself is said to be _accelerated_, as the motion of a falling body, which becomes swifter with every second of time.

To _accelerate_ any work is to _hasten_ it toward a finish, commonly by _quickening_ all its operations in orderly unity toward the result.

To _despatch_ is to do and be done with, to get a thing off one's hands.

To _despatch_ an enemy is to kill him outright and quickly; to _despatch_ a messenger is to send him in haste; to _despatch_ a business is to bring it quickly to an end.

_Despatch_ is commonly used of single items.

To _promote_ a cause is in any way to bring it forward, _advance_ it in power, prominence, etc. To _speed_ is really to secure swiftness; to _hasten_ is to attempt it, whether successfully or unsuccessfully.

_Hurry_ always indicates something of confusion.

The _hurried_ man forgets dignity, appearance, comfort, courtesy, everything but speed; he may forget something vital to the matter in hand; yet, because reckless haste may attain the great object of speed, _hurry_ has come to be the colloquial and popular word for acting quickly.

To _facilitate_ is to _quicken_ by making easy; to _expedite_ is to _quicken_ by removing hindrances.

A good general will improve roads to _facilitate_ the movements of troops, _hasten_ supplies and perfect discipline to _promote_ the general efficiency of the force, _despatch_ details of business, _expedite_ all preparations, in order to _accelerate_ the advance and victory of his army.

Antonyms: check, clog, delay, drag, hinder, impede, obstruct, retard.

* * * * * QUOTE.

Synonyms: cite, extract, plagiarize, repeat.

excerpt, paraphrase, recite, To _quote_ is to give an author's words, either exactly, as in direct quotation, or in substance, as in indirect quotation; to _cite_ is, etymologically, to call up a passage, as a witness is summoned.

In _citing_ a passage its exact location by chapter, page, or otherwise, must be given, so that it can be promptly called into evidence; in _quoting_, the location may or may not be given, but the words or substance of the passage must be given.

In _citing_, neither the author's words nor his thought may be given, but simply the reference to the location where they may be found.

To _quote_, in the proper sense, is to give credit to the author whose words are employed.

To _paraphrase_ is to state an author's thought more freely than in indirect quotation, keeping the substance of thought and the order of statement, but changing the language, and commonly interweaving more or less explanatory matter as if part of the original writing.

One may _paraphrase_ a work with worthy motive for homiletic, devotional, or other purposes (as in the metrical versions of the Psalms), or he may _plagiarize_ atrociously in the form of _paraphrase_, appropriating all that is valuable in another's thought, with the hope of escaping detection by change of phrase.

To _plagiarize_ is to _quote_ without credit, appropriating another's words or thought as one's own.

To _recite_ or _repeat_ is usually to _quote_ orally, tho _recite_ is applied in legal phrase to a particular statement of facts which is not a quotation; a kindred use obtains in ordinary speech; as, to _recite_ one's misfortunes.

* * * * * RACY.