English Synonyms and Antonyms — Repentence to Revelation

Synonyms: compunction, contriteness, regret, self-condemnation, contrition, penitence, remorse, sorrow.

_Regret_ is _sorrow_ for any painful or annoying matter.

One is moved with _penitence_ for wrong-doing.

To speak of _regret_ for a fault of our own marks it as slighter than one regarding which we should express _penitence_.

_Repentance_ is _sorrow_ for sin with _self-condemnation_, and complete turning from the sin.

_Penitence_ is transient, and may involve no change of character or conduct.

There may be _sorrow_ without _repentance_, as for consequences only, but not _repentance_ without _sorrow_.

_Compunction_ is a momentary sting of conscience, in view either of a past or of a contemplated act.

_Contrition_ is a subduing _sorrow_ for sin, as against the divine holiness and love.

_Remorse_ is, as its derivation indicates, a biting or gnawing back of guilt upon the heart, with no turning of heart from the sin, and no suggestion of divine forgiveness.

Antonyms: approval, content, obduracy, self-complacency, comfort, hardness, obstinacy, self-congratulation, complacency, impenitence, self-approval, stubbornness.

Prepositions: Repentance _of_ or _in_ heart, or _from_ the heart; repentance _for_ sins; _before_ or _toward_ God; _unto_ life.

* * * * * REPORT.

Synonyms: account, narrative, rehearsal, rumor, story, description, recital, relation, statement, tale.

narration, record, _Account_ carries the idea of a commercial summary.

A _statement_ is definite, confined to essentials and properly to matters within the personal knowledge of the one who states them; as, an ante-mortem _statement_.

A _narrative_ is a somewhat extended and embellished _account_ of events in order of time, ordinarily with a view to please or entertain.

A _description_ gives especial scope to the pictorial element.

A _report_ (L. _re_, back, and _porto_, bring), as its etymology implies, is something brought back, as by one sent to obtain information, and may be concise and formal or highly descriptive and dramatic.

Compare ALLEGORY; HISTORY; RECORD.

* * * * * REPROOF.

Synonyms: admonition, chiding, disapproval, reprimand, animadversion, comment, objurgation, reproach, blame, condemnation, rebuke, reproval, censure, criticism, reflection, upbraiding.

check, denunciation, reprehension, _Blame_, _censure_, and _disapproval_ may either be felt or uttered;

_comment_, _criticism_, _rebuke_, _reflection_, _reprehension_, and _reproof_ are always expressed.

The same is true of _admonition_ and _animadversion_.

_Comment_ and _criticism_ may be favorable as well as censorious; they imply no superiority or authority on the part of him who utters them; nor do _reflection_ or _reprehension_, which are simply turning the mind back upon what is disapproved.

_Reprehension_ is supposed to be calm and just, and with good intent; it is therefore a serious matter, however mild, and is capable of great force, as expressed in the phrase severe _reprehension_.

_Reflection_ is often from mere ill feeling, and is likely to be more personal and less impartial than _reprehension_; we often speak of unkind or unjust _reflections_.

_Rebuke_, literally a stopping of the mouth, is administered to a forward or hasty person; _reproof_ is administered to one intentionally or deliberately wrong; both words imply authority in the reprover, and direct expression of _disapproval_ to the face of the person _rebuked_ or _reproved_.

_Reprimand_ is official _censure_ formally administered by a superior to one under his command.

_Animadversion_ is _censure_ of a high, authoritative, and somewhat formal kind.

_Rebuke_ may be given at the outset, or in the midst of an action; _animadversion_, _reflection_, _reprehension_, _reproof_, always follow the act; _admonition_ is anticipatory, and meant to be preventive.

_Check_ is allied to _rebuke_, and given before or during action; _chiding_ is nearer to _reproof_, but with more of personal bitterness and less of authority.

Compare CONDEMN; REPROVE.

Antonyms: applause, approval, encomium, eulogy, panegyric, praise.

approbation, commendation, * * * * * REPROVE.

Synonyms: admonish, condemn, reprimand, blame, expostulate with, reproach, censure, find fault with, take to task, chasten, rebuke, upbraid, check, remonstrate with, warn.

chide, reprehend, To _censure_ is to pronounce an adverse judgment that may or may not be expressed to the person _censured_; to _reprove_ is to _censure_ authoritatively, openly, and directly to the face of the person _reproved_; to _rebuke_ is to _reprove_ with sharpness, and often with abruptness, usually in the midst of some action or course of action deemed censurable; to _reprimand_ is to _reprove_ officially; to _blame_ is a familiar word signifying to pass _censure_ upon, make answerable, as for a fault; _blame_ and _censure_ apply either to persons or acts;

_reprove_ and _rebuke_ are applied chiefly, and _reprimand_ exclusively to persons.

To _reproach_ is to _censure_ openly and vehemently, and with intense personal feeling as of grief or anger; as, to _reproach_ one for ingratitude; _reproach_ knows no distinction of rank or character; a subject may _reproach_ a king or a criminal judge.

To _expostulate_ or _remonstrate with_ is to mingle reasoning and appeal with _censure_ in the hope of winning one from his evil way, _expostulate_ being the gentler, _remonstrate_ the severer word.

_Admonish_ is the mildest of _reproving_ words, and may even be used of giving a caution or warning where no wrong is implied, or of simply reminding of duty which might be forgotten.

_Censure_, _rebuke_, and _reprove_ apply to wrong that has been done; _warn_ and _admonish_ refer to anticipated error or fault.

When one is _admonished_ because of wrong already done, the view is still future, that he may not repeat or continue in the wrong.

Compare CONDEMN; REPROOF.

Antonyms: abet, approve, countenance, impel, instigate, applaud, cheer, encourage, incite, urge on.

* * * * * REQUITE.

Synonyms: avenge, punish, remunerate, revenge, compensate, quit, repay, reward, pay, reciprocate, retaliate, satisfy, pay off, recompense, return, settle with.

To _repay_ or to _retaliate_, to _punish_ or to _reward_, may be to make some return very inadequate to the benefit or injury received, or the right or wrong done; but to _requite_ (according to its etymology) is to make so full and adequate a _return_ as to _quit_ oneself of all obligation of favor or hostility, of punishment or _reward_.

_Requite_ is often used in the more general sense of _recompense_ or _repay_, but always with the suggestion, at least, of the original idea of full equivalent; when one speaks of _requiting_ kindness with ingratitude, the expression gains force from the comparison of the actual with the proper and appropriate _return_.

Compare PAY.

Antonyms: absolve, excuse, forgive, overlook, pass over, acquit, forget, neglect, pardon, slight.

Preposition: To requite injury _with_ injury is human, but not Christian.

* * * * * REST.

Synonyms: calm, pause, quietness, slumber, calmness, peace, quietude, stay, cessation, peacefulness, recreation, stillness, ease, quiescence, repose, stop, intermission, quiet, sleep, tranquillity.

_Ease_ denotes freedom from cause of disturbance, whether external or internal.

_Quiet_ denotes freedom from agitation, or especially from annoying sounds.

_Rest_ is a _cessation_ of activity especially of wearying or painful activity.

_Recreation_ is some pleasing activity of certain organs or faculties that affords _rest_ to other parts of our nature that have become weary.

_Repose_ is a laying down, primarily of the body, and figuratively a similar freedom from toil or strain of mind.

_Repose_ is more complete than _rest_; a _pause_ is a momentary _cessation_ of activity; a black-smith finds a temporary _rest_ while the iron is heating, but he does not yield to _repose_; in a _pause_ of battle a soldier _rests_ on his arms; after the battle the victor _reposes_ on his laurels.

_Sleep_ is the perfection of _repose_, the most complete _rest_; _slumber_ is a light and ordinarily pleasant form of _sleep_.

In the figurative sense, _rest_ of mind, soul, conscience, is not mere _cessation_ of activity, but a pleasing, tranquil relief from all painful and wearying activity; _repose_ is even more deep, tranquil, and complete.

Antonyms: agitation, disturbance, movement, stir, tumult, commotion, excitement, restlessness, strain, unrest, disquiet, motion, rush, toil, work.

* * * * * RESTIVE.

Synonyms: balky, impatient, rebellious, restless, fidgety, intractable, recalcitrant, skittish, fractious, mulish, refractory, stubborn, fretful, mutinous, resentful, unruly, frisky, obstinate, restiff, vicious.

_Balky_, _mulish_, _obstinate_, and _stubborn_ are synonyms of _restive_ only in an infrequent if not obsolete use; the supposed sense of "tending to rest," "standing stubbornly still," is scarcely supported by any examples, and those cited to support that meaning often fail to do so.

The disposition to offer active resistance to control by any means whatever is what is commonly indicated by _restive_ in the best English speech and literature.

Dryden speaks of "the pampered colt" as "_restiff_ to the rein;" but the rein is not used to propel a horse forward, but to hold him in, and it is against this that he is "_restiff_."

A horse may be made _restless_ by flies or by martial music, but with no refractoriness; the _restive_ animal impatiently resists or struggles to break from control, as by bolting, flinging his rider, or otherwise.

With this the metaphorical use of the word agrees, which is always in the sense of such terms as _impatient_, _intractable_, _rebellious_, and the like; a people _restive_ under despotism are not disposed to "rest" under it, but to resist it and fling it off.

Antonyms: docile, manageable, passive, quiet, tractable, gentle, obedient, peaceable, submissive, yielding.

* * * * * RESTRAIN.

Synonyms: abridge, constrain, hold in, keep under, bridle, curb, keep, repress, check, hinder, keep back, restrict, circumscribe, hold, keep down, suppress, confine, hold back, keep in, withhold.

To _restrain_ is to _hold back_ from acting, proceeding, or advancing, either by physical or moral force.

_Constrain_ is positive; _restrain_ is negative; one is _constrained_ to an action; he is _restrained_ from an action.

_Constrain_ refers almost exclusively to moral force, _restrain_ frequently to physical force, as when we speak of putting one under restraint.

To _restrain_ an action is to hold it partially or wholly in check, so that it is under pressure even while it acts; to _restrict_ an action is to fix a limit or boundary which it may not pass, but within which it is free.

To _repress_, literally to press back, is to hold in check, and perhaps only temporarily, that which is still very active; it is a feebler word than _restrain_; to _suppress_ is finally and effectually to put down; _suppress_ is a much stronger word than _restrain_; as, to _suppress_ a rebellion.

Compare ARREST;

BIND; KEEP.

Antonyms: aid, arouse, encourage, free, incite, release, animate, emancipate, excite, impel, let loose, set free.

* * * * * RETIREMENT.

Synonyms: loneliness, privacy, seclusion, solitude.

In _retirement_ one withdraws from association he has had with others;

we speak of the _retirement_ of a public man to private life, tho he may still be much in company.

In _seclusion_ one shuts himself away from the society of all except intimate friends or attendants; in _solitude_ no other person is present.

While _seclusion_ is ordinarily voluntary, _solitude_ may be enforced; we speak of the _solitude_ rather than the _seclusion_ of a prisoner.

As "private" denotes what concerns ourselves individually, _privacy_ denotes freedom from the presence or observation of those not concerned or whom we desire not to have concerned in our affairs; _privacy_ is more commonly temporary than _seclusion_; we speak of a moment's _privacy_.

There may be _loneliness_ without _solitude_, as amid an unsympathizing crowd, and _solitude_ without _loneliness_, as when one is glad to be alone.

Antonyms: association, companionship, company, converse, fellowship, society.

* * * * * REVELATION.

Synonyms: apocalypse, disclosure, manifestation.

_Revelation_ (L. _re_, back, and _velum_, veil), literally an unveiling, is the act or process of making known what was before secret or hidden, or what may still be future.

_Apocalypse_ (Gr.

_apo_, from, and _kalypto_, cover), literally an uncovering, comes into English as the name of the closing book of the Bible.

The _Apocalypse_ unveils the future, as if to the very gaze of the seer; the whole gospel is a _disclosure_ of the mercy of God; the character of Christ is a _manifestation_ of the divine holiness and love; all Scripture is a _revelation_ of the divine will.

Or we might say that nature is a _manifestation_ of the divine character and will, of which Scripture is the fuller and more express _revelation_.

Antonyms: cloud, concealment, mystery, shrouding, cloudiness, hiding, obscuration, veiling.

* * * * * REVENGE.

Synonyms: