Manser Student's Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms

1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4835-3381-0
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 352 Seiten

As a student of English, you may sometimes find it difficult to know which word to use in a particular context. Or you may have used a particular word several times already in what you are writing, and so you want to use a different expression. Most thesauruses or dictionaries of synonyms are not as helpful as they might first appear: to read a list of synonyms for a certain word is helpful only as far as it goes. This dictionary, however, goes beyond a mere listing of words with a similar meaning and helps distinguish them. The differences between similar words are shown by giving each one a definition and an example.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Manser, Martin H

Leseproben

B

BACK verb to give help and encouragement to someone, or to show approval and support for something: If you decided to oppose the management on this issue, we’d back you all the way.

advocate to argue in favour of a course of action or a cause: an MP who advocates capital punishment.

champion to support and defend a person or a cause: He championed the Cubist movement.

encourage to give someone emotional support and boost their confidence: He could always depend on his wife to encourage him when he felt low.

endorse to show strong approval of someone’s course of action or opinion: I heartily endorse your views on complementary medicine.

promote to speak or take action in order to encourage other people to adopt a particular course of action or to support a cause: The local authority promotes recycling by providing households with separate containers for different types of refuse.

second to speak in support of a motion made by a previous speaker in a meeting or debate: Kathy proposed that we accept the company’s offer, and Paul seconded the motion.

support to take action to help someone or something that you approve of: We support various charities, not only by giving money, but also by taking part in fund-raising events.

uphold to defend a belief or a decision, often against opposition: She always upheld the cause of women’s rights.

ANTONYMS: DISAPPROVE, DISCOURAGE, OPPOSE.

back See SUPPORT.

backpack See TRAVEL.

BAD adjective

1 doing things that are wicked or harmful: The bad fairy cast a spell on the princess.

corrupt committing acts that are morally wrong, usually for money: a corrupt police officer who accepts bribes.

criminal committing acts that are against the law: He is known to have criminal tendencies.

evil capable of committing extremely wicked acts, such as murder: an evil dictator.

immoral committing acts that are generally considered morally wrong: Many people consider prostitution immoral.

malicious intending to cause people harm: malicious gossip.

mischievous deliberately causing trouble, but not of a serious nature: The mischievous child rang the doorbell and ran away.

nasty unpleasant and cruel: By betraying his best friend, Craig has shown that he has a nasty streak.

naughty badly behaved, but not in a serious way: Tom was sent to bed early because he had been a naughty boy.

wicked deliberately causing harm to people: Stealing your sister’s boyfriend was a wicked thing to do.

ANTONYMS: GOOD 1, upright, virtuous, well-behaved

2 having a harmful effect: Smoking is bad for your health.

adverse causing difficulties or problems, or unfavourable to what you want to do: The adverse effects of using the drug were not pointed out in the report.

damaging causing usually non-physical damage, e.g., to someone’s health or reputation: This story could be seriously damaging to your chances of promotion.

detrimental having a harmful effect: Living in a damp flat would be detrimental to the children’s health.

harmful causing danger to people or damage to objects: substances that are harmful to the environment.

unhealthy harmful to your health: unhealthy living conditions.

ANTONYMS: beneficial, GOOD 2, harmless, healthy.

3 causing a lot of trouble, pain, or worry: She went to bed with a bad headache.

dreadful (informal) very unpleasant or severe: I had dreadful toothache.

major large in scale and causing great difficulties: major problems.

nasty unpleasant and troublesome, but not necessarily serious: a nasty cold.

serious causing, or likely to cause, a great deal of harm or trouble: a serious illness.

severe worse than serious, very threatening to people’s well-being: The man sustained severe burns in the explosion.

terrible (informal) very unpleasant or severe: He had a terrible hangover the morning after the party.

ANTONYMS: mild, minor, slight.

4 of low quality or lacking in skill: Bill is a really bad singer.

defective having a fault or defect: I returned the hairdryer to the shop because it was defective.

imperfect containing mistakes or flaws: He seemed to understand my imperfect French.

poor of a low standard or low quality: The leading man gave a poor performance on opening night.

shoddy done or made without skill: shoddy workmanship.

substandard not reaching the required or expected standard: an excellent CD with no substandard tracks.

See also INFERIOR.

ANTONYMS: EXCELLENT, fine, first-rate, good.

baffle See PUZZLE.

baffling See MYSTERIOUS.

balmy See WARM.

BAN verb to forbid someone, officially, to do something: She has been banned from driving for a year.

bar to forbid someone to enter a place, such as a pub or club: Wayne has been barred from the rugby club for starting a fight.

disallow to reject something, such as a score in a game, as being invalid because it breaks a rule: The last goal was disallowed because it was offside.

disqualify to stop a competitor from taking part in a race or competition because they have broken a rule: Johnson was disqualified after two false starts.

exclude to prevent someone from entering a place, especially a school, often as a punishment: Matthew was excluded from school for a week for persistent bad behaviour.

forbid not to allow someone to do something or to go somewhere: Children are forbidden to use the swimming pool unless accompanied by an adult.

prohibit not to allow an activity: Smoking is prohibited in the cinema.

veto to prevent something, such as a piece of legislation, being passed: The President vetoed the welfare-reform bill.

ANTONYMS: ADMIT 2, allow, authorize, permit, sanction, welcome.

band See GROUP 1.

BANISH verb to send a person away, especially to another country, because of something bad that they have done: The king banished the duke to Ireland following his involvement in a murder.

deport to force someone to leave the country where they are living, especially to return to their country of origin: She was deported because her working visa had expired.

eject to remove someone by force from a place, such as a night club or a party: The man was ejected from the theatre for causing a disturbance.

evict to force someone to leave their home, for example because they have broken a contract: The family was evicted because they had not been paying their rent.

exile to force someone to leave their country and go and live in another country, often for political reasons: Napoleon was exiled to St Helena for the rest of his life.

expel to force someone to leave a place, especially to force a pupil to leave a school as punishment for very bad behaviour: John was expelled for setting fire to the school.

bank on See EXPECT.

bankrupt See POOR.

banned See ILLEGAL.

bar See BAN.

bare See EMPTY; NAKED.

barking See MAD.

barmy See MAD.

bashful See SHY.

BASIC adjective simple but necessary and important, especially as a starting point for expansion or development: the basic qualifications for the job.

central being the main and most important one among several: the central theme of the film.

elementary very simple and easy to understand, or dealing with the simplest aspects of something: an evening class in elementary motor mechanics.

essential very important because it plays a part in determining the nature or identity of something: all the essential ingredients of a great party.

fundamental very important, often because it serves as a basis for other things: Food and shelter are fundamental human rights.

indispensable so important or so highly valued that you could...