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10 matching synonym questions
Etymology: [atavus (Latin), "an ancestor"]
reappearance of a primitive instinct, a remote family trait, or a disease that has remained latent for one or more generations
The article maintained that fox hunting is an example of an atavism made respectable by the social position of the activity's participants.
Synonyms: recurrence; remembrance, renewal
Etymology: [rancere (Latin), "to be sour"]
intense ill will or malice
Having taken his oath of office, the new official pledged to give the people a government free from rancor.
Synonyms: resentment, spite, grudge
Antonyms: amity, good will, benignity, amenity, complaisance
Etymology: [vorax, voracis, from vorare (Latin), "to devour"]
eager to devour something; ravenous with hunger; greedy to eat
Amy is a voracious reader who loves to write.
Synonyms: gluttonous, rapacious, insatiable, omnivorous
Antonyms: abstemious, temperate, moderate
Etymology: [sinus (Latin), "a bent surface or curve"]
following a winding course; serpentine (that is, winding and turning this way and that) in form
The Charles River is so sinuous that Longfellow spoke of it as writing by its course the "last letter of its name."
Synonyms: winding, meandering, crooked
Antonyms: direct, straight
Etymology: [de (Latin prefix), "down" + notare, "to mark, to sign"]
to show; to communicate or express meaning by word or sign
Good manners in a child almost invariably denote proper training at home.
Synonyms: mark, signify, express, indicate
Antonyms: connote, suggest, imply
NOTE: The difference between denotation and connotation: "The denotation of a word is its actual meaning; its connotation, that which it suggests or implies in addition to its actual meaning."
Etymology: [French; from volare (Latin), "to fly"]
having the power to fly or fly away; hence, lively, fickle, changeable
Considering her volatile temperament, how could you expect constancy in her devotion?
Synonyms: mercurial, temperamental, capricious, inconstant
Antonyms: constant, fixed, steady, permanent, stable, grave, saturnine
NOTE: The technical term volatile as used in science means "easily vaporizable."
Etymology: [lucrativus (Latin), from lucrum, "gain"]
profitable
For three hundred years New England enjoyed a lucrative trade in cod and whale oil.
Synonyms: gainful, advantageous, remunerative
Antonyms: unprofitable, unremunerative
Etymology: [coercere (Latin); from co, "together" + arcere, "to confine or enclose"]
to compel a person to do something against his will by applying physical force or other means, such as intimidation
There are other ways of coercing a man besides pointing a gun at his head.
Synonyms: constrain, force, impel
Etymology: [alias (Latin), "in another manner"; from alius, "other"]
an assumed or false name
The criminal assumed several aliases in order to avoid detection by the police.
Synonyms: pen name, nom de plume, pseudonym
Antonyms: appellation (correct name)
NOTE 1: When used as an adverb, alias means "otherwise called."
Mary Ann Evans, alias George Eliot.
The first is the real name, the second the pen name.
NOTE 2: The assumption of an alias in order to avoid detection may not necessarily be for a wrongful purpose. Writers and actors frequently use names other than their own for any one of many reasons. For example, George Eliot and George Sand wrote under men's names because women novelists were frowned on at that time. The alias of a writer is called a pen name, nom de plume, or pseudonym (literally, "false name").
Etymology: [plebeius (Latin), from plebs, "the common people"]
pertaining to the common people; hence, common or vulgar
Because it is expensive, golf is not a plebeian sport.
Synonyms: bourgeois, commoner, undistinguished, low-born
Antonyms: patrician, aristocratic, distinguished