English Synonyms and Antonyms — State to Subvert

affirm, aver, declare, predicate, set forth, allege, avouch, depose, pronounce, specify, assert, avow, express, propound, swear, asseverate, certify, inform, protest, tell, assure, claim, maintain, say, testify.

To _state_ (L. _sto_, stand) is to _set forth_ explicitly, formally, or particularly in speech or writing.

_Assert_ (L. _ad_, to, and _sero_, bind) is strongly personal, signifying to _state_ boldly and positively what the one making the statement has not attempted and may not attempt to prove.

_Affirm_ has less of egotism than _assert_ (as seen in the word _self-assertion_), coming nearer to _aver_.

It has more solemnity than _declare_, and more composure and dignity than _asseverate_, which is to _assert_ excitedly.

In legal usage, _affirm_ has a general agreement with _depose_ and _testify_; it differs from _swear_ in not invoking the name of God.

To _assure_ is to _state_ with such authority and confidence as the speaker feels ought to make the hearer sure.

_Certify_ is more formal, and applies rather to written documents or legal processes.

_Assure_, _certify_, _inform_, apply to the person;

_affirm_, etc. , to the thing.

_Assert_ is combative; _assure_ is conciliatory.

I _assert_ my right to cross the river; I _assure_ my friend it is perfectly safe.

To _aver_ is to _state_ positively what is within one's own knowledge or matter of deep conviction.

One may _assert_ himself, or _assert_ his right to what he is willing to contend for; or he may _assert_ in discussion what he is ready to maintain by argument or evidence.

To _assert_ without proof is always to lay oneself open to the suspicion of having no proof to offer, and seems to arrogate too much to one's personal authority, and hence in such cases both the verb _assert_ and its noun _assertion_ have an unfavorable sense; we say a mere _assertion_, a bare _assertion_, his unsupported _assertion_; he _asserted_ his innocence has less force than he _affirmed_ or _maintained_ his innocence.

_Affirm_, _state_, and _tell_ have not the controversial sense of _assert_, but are simply declarative.

To _vindicate_ is to defend successfully what is assailed.

Almost every criminal will _assert_ his innocence; the honest man will seldom lack means to _vindicate_ his integrity.

Antonyms: contradict, controvert, disprove, gainsay, refute, retract, contravene, deny, dispute, oppose, repudiate, waive.

* * * * * STEEP.

Synonyms: abrupt, high, precipitous, sharp, sheer.

_High_ is used of simple elevation; _steep_ is said only of an incline where the vertical measurement is sufficiently great in proportion to the horizontal to make it difficult of ascent.

_Steep_ is relative; an ascent of 100 feet to the mile on a railway is a _steep_ grade; a rise of 500 feet to the mile makes a _steep_ wagon-road; a roof is _steep_ when it makes with the horizontal line an angle of more than 45°.

A

_high_ mountain may be climbed by a winding road nowhere _steep_, while a little hill may be accessible only by a _steep_ path.

A _sharp_ ascent or descent is one that makes a sudden, decided angle with the plane from which it starts; a _sheer_ ascent or descent is perpendicular, or nearly so; _precipitous_ applies to that which is of the nature of a precipice, and is used especially of a descent; _abrupt_ is as if broken sharply off, and applies to either acclivity or declivity.

Compare HIGH.

Antonyms: easy, flat, gentle, gradual, horizontal, level, low, slight.

* * * * * STORM.

Synonyms: agitation, disturbance, tempest.

A _storm_ is properly a _disturbance_ of the atmosphere, with or without rain, snow, hail, or thunder and lightning.

Thus we have rain-_storm_, snow-_storm_, etc. , and by extension, magnetic _storm_.

A _tempest_ is a _storm_ of extreme violence, always attended with some precipitation, as of rain, from the atmosphere.

In the moral and figurative use, _storm_ and _tempest_ are not closely discriminated, except that _tempest_ commonly implies greater intensity.

We speak of _agitation_ of feeling, _disturbance_ of mind, a _storm_ of passion, a _tempest_ of rage.

Antonyms: calm, fair weather, hush, peace, serenity, stillness, tranquillity.

* * * * * STORY.

Synonyms: account, legend, narrative, recital, relation, anecdote, myth, novel, record, tale.

incident, narration, A _story_ is the telling of some series of connected incidents or events, whether real or fictitious, in prose or verse, orally or in writing; or the series of incidents or events thus related may be termed a _story_.

In children's talk, a _story_ is a common euphemism for a falsehood.

_Tale_ is nearly synonymous with _story_, but is somewhat archaic; it is used for an imaginative, legendary, or fictitious _recital_, especially if of ancient date; as, a fairy _tale_; also, for an idle or malicious report; as, do not tell _tales_; "where there is no _tale_-bearer, the strife ceaseth."

_Prov.

_ xxvi, 20. An _anecdote_ tells briefly some _incident_, assumed to be fact.

If it passes close limits of brevity, it ceases to be an _anecdote_, and becomes a _narrative_ or _narration_.

A traditional or mythical _story_ of ancient times is a _legend_.

A history is often somewhat poetically called a _story_; as, the _story_ of the American civil war.

Compare ALLEGORY;

FICTION; HISTORY.

Antonyms: annals, biography, chronicle, history, memoir.

* * * * * STUPIDITY.

Synonyms: apathy, insensibility, slowness, stupefaction, dulness, obtuseness, sluggishness, stupor.

_Stupidity_ is sometimes loosely used for temporary _dulness_ or partial _stupor_, but chiefly for innate and chronic _dulness_ and _sluggishness_ of mental action, _obtuseness_ of apprehension, etc. _Apathy_ may be temporary, and be dispelled by appeal to the feelings or by the presentation of an adequate motive, but _stupidity_ is inveterate and commonly incurable.

Compare APATHY; IDIOCY; STUPOR.

Antonyms: acuteness, brilliancy, keenness, sagacity, alertness, cleverness, quickness, sense, animation, intelligence, readiness, sensibility.

* * * * * STUPOR.

Synonyms: apathy, fainting, stupefaction, syncope, asphyxia, insensibility, swoon, torpor, coma, lethargy, swooning, unconsciousness.

_Stupor_ is a condition of the body in which the action of the senses and faculties is suspended or greatly dulled--weakness or loss of sensibility.

The _apathy_ of disease is a mental affection, a state of morbid indifference; _lethargy_ is a morbid tendency to heavy and continued sleep, from which the patient may perhaps be momentarily aroused.

_Coma_ is a deep, abnormal sleep, from which the patient can not be aroused, or is aroused only with difficulty, a state of profound _insensibility_, perhaps with full pulse and deep, stertorous breathing, and is due to brain-oppression.

_Syncope_ or _swooning_ is a sudden loss of sensation and of power of motion, with suspension of pulse and of respiration, and is due to failure of heart-action, as from sudden nervous shock or intense mental emotion.

_Insensibility_ is a general term denoting loss of feeling from any cause, as from cold, intoxication, or injury.

_Stupor_ is especially profound and confirmed _insensibility_, properly comatose.

_Asphyxia_ is a special form of _syncope_ resulting from partial or total suspension of respiration, as in strangulation, drowning, or inhalation of noxious gases.

* * * * * SUBJECTIVE.

Synonym: objective.

_Subjective_ and _objective_ are synonyms in but one point of view, being, for the most part, strictly antonyms.

_Subjective_ signifies relating to the subject of mental states, that is, to the person who experiences them; _objective_ signifies relating to the object of mental states, that is, to something outside the perceiving mind; in brief phrase it may be said that _subjective_ relates to something within the mind, _objective_ to something without.

A mountain, as a mass of a certain size, contour, color, etc. , is an _objective_ fact; the impression our mind receives, the mental picture it forms of the mountain, is _subjective_.

But this _subjective_ impression may become itself the object of thought (called "subject-object"), as when we compare our mental picture of the mountain with our idea of a plain or river.

The direct experiences of the soul, as joy, grief, hope, fear, are purely _subjective_; the outward causes of these experiences, as prosperity, bereavement, disappointment, are _objective_.

That which has independent existence or authority apart from our experience or thought is said to have _objective_ existence or authority; thus we speak of the _objective_ authority of the moral law.

Different individuals may receive different _subjective_ impressions from the same _objective_ fact, that which to one is a cause of hope being to another a cause of fear, etc. The style of a writer is called _objective_ when it derives its materials mainly from or reaches out toward external objects; it is called _subjective_ when it derives its materials mainly from or constantly tends to revert to the personal experience of the author.

Compare INHERENT.

* * * * * SUBSIDY.

Synonyms: aid, bounty, indemnity, reward, support, allowance, gift, pension, subvention, tribute.

bonus, grant, premium, A _subsidy_ is pecuniary aid directly granted by government to an individual or commercial enterprise, or money furnished by one nation to another to aid it in carrying on war against a common enemy.

A nation grants a _subsidy_ to an ally, pays a _tribute_ to a conqueror.

An _indemnity_ is in the nature of things limited and temporary, while a _tribute_ might be exacted indefinitely.

A nation may also grant a _subsidy_ to its own citizens as a means of promoting the public welfare; as, a _subsidy_ to a steamship company.

The somewhat rare term _subvention_ is especially applied to a _grant_ of governmental aid to a literary or artistic enterprise.

Governmental _aid_ to a commercial or industrial enterprise other than a transportation company is more frequently called a _bounty_ than a _subsidy_; as, the sugar _bounty_.

The word _bounty_ may be applied to almost any regular or stipulated _allowance_ by a government to a citizen or citizens; as, a _bounty_ for enlisting in the army; a _bounty_ for killing wolves.

A _bounty_ is offered for something to be done; a _pension_ is granted for something that has been done.

* * * * * SUBVERT.

Synonyms: destroy, overthrow, ruin, supplant, extinguish, overturn, supersede, suppress.

To _subvert_ is to overthrow from or as from the very foundation;

utterly destroy; bring to ruin.

The word is now generally figurative, as of moral or political ruin.

To _supersede_ implies the putting of something that is wisely or unwisely preferred in the place of that which is removed; to _subvert_ does not imply substitution.

To _supplant_ is more often personal, signifying to take the place of another, usually by underhanded means; one is _superseded_ by authority, _supplanted_ by a rival.

Compare ABOLISH.

Antonyms: conserve, keep, perpetuate, preserve, sustain, uphold.

* * * * * SUCCEED.