acting, n. personation, impersonation, simulation, feigning, stage-playing, histrionicism, histrionism, affectation mimicry, pantomime (acting without speaking).

action, n. agency, operation, movement, activity; pl. conduct, behavior, deportment, deeds; (Law) lawsuit, litigation, suit. Antonyms: inaction, stagnation, inactivity, inertia.

active, a. brisk, nimble, agile, sprightly, spirited; strenuous, diligent, enterprising; operative, efficacious, drastic; effective; transitive. Antonyms: inactive, passive, latent, quiescent, sedentary.

activity, n. operation, action; liveliness, briskness, agility, sprightliness, strenuousness. Antonyms: inactivity, passiveness, quiescence.

actor, n. doer, participant, performer; comedian; tragedian; thespian; impersonator, personator, mime, mimic; pantomimist; barnstormer; hamfatter; supernumerary.

actress, n. tragedienne; comedienne; ingenue, soubrette, understudy; star.

actual, a. real, veritable. Antonyms: potential, nominal, hypothetical.

actuality, n. reality, veritableness.

actuate, v. instigate, impel, incite.

actuation, n. instigation, incitement, animation.

acumen, n. astuteness, shrewdness, discernment, sharpness. Antonyms: dullness, stupidity, short-sightedness.

adage, n. See saying.

Adam, n. Associated words: Adamic, adamite, preadamic, preadamite, preadamitic.

adapt, v. adjust, conform.

adaptable, a. conformable, adjustable.

adaptation, n. adjustment, conformability.

add, v. sum up, foot up; append, supplement, subjoin, affix, adjoin, superadd, annex. Antonyms: subtract, deduct, detract, remove.

addict, v. habituate, accustom.

addition, n. annexation, annex, appendage, supplement, appendix, postscript, wing, augmentation, adjunct, rider. Antonyms: subtraction, deduction, detraction.

additional, a. supplemental, adscititious, supplementary.

addle, v. muddle, confuse; spoil, rot.

address, n. discourse, speech, lecture, oration, allocution; direction, superscription, delivery. Associated word: vocative.

address, v. accost, speak to; direct, superscribe.

adept, n. See expert.

adequacy, n. sufficiency. Antonyms: inadequacy, insufficiency.

adequate, a. sufficient, commensurate, equal, proportionate. Antonyms: inadequate, insufficient.

adjacent, a. adjoining, contiguous.

adjoining, a. contiguous, adjacent, neighboring.

adjustment, n. adaptation, regulation, settlement.

admissible, a. allowable, permissible. Antonym: inadmissible.

admit, v. acknowledge, confess, concede; allow, permit. Antonyms: repulse, reject, refuse.

admittance, n. admission.

ado, n. fuss, bustle, stir, excitement, pother.

adolescence, n. nonage, juniority, minority, youth.

adopt, v. father, affiliate; espouse, support, maintain.

adoption, n. affiliation, fathering; espousal.

adorn, v. decorate, beautify, embellish, deck, ornament, grace, garnish, bedizen, bedeck, bestud, beset, emblazon. Antonyms: disfigure, mar, deform.

adornment, n. ornamentation, decoration. Antonyms: disfigurement, defacement.

adrift, a. and adv. drifting, derelict, lost.

adulterate, v. sophisticate.

adulterated, a. adulterate, impure, sophisticated.

adulteration, n. sophistication.

adultery, n. infidelity, criminal conversation.

advance, n. progress, progression, march, advancement, promotion, preferment, elevation, appreciation, enhancement; overture, tender, proposal, proffer, offer. Antonyms: retreat, retrogression, decline, retrogradation, deterioration.

advance, v. progress, increase; promote, elevate; enhance, augment. Antonyms: retreat, retrograde, decline, deteriorate.

advance guard. vanguard, van.

advancement, n. progress, progression; promotion, preferment, exaltation, aggrandizement, furtherance.

advantage, n. vantage-ground; superiority, mastery, ascendency; benefit, avail, profit. Antonym: disadvantage.

adventurous, a. adventuresome, temerarious, venturous.

adversary, n. enemy, foe, antagonist, opponent.

adversity, n. misfortune, buffeting, disaster, affliction, reverses, trouble.

, v. announce, publish, proclaim, trumpet.

, n. announcement.

advice, n. counsel, admonition, monition, recommendation; information, tidings, report. Associated words: admonitory, mentorial, monitorial.

advisable, a. expedient, desirable, befitting. Antonym: inadvisable.

advise, v. counsel, admonish, warn; apprise, inform, notify, acquaint, tell; advise with, consult, confer.

advisedly, adv. purposely, intentionally, designedly, deliberately, knowingly.

advisement, n. consideration, deliberation, consultation.

adviser, n. counselor, mentor, monitor, admonitor.

advocate, n. defender, apologist, vindicator, propagandist, upholder, promoter.

aërial, a. atmospheric; aëriform, vaporous, ethereal, empyreal, empyrean.

affability, n. courteousness, civility, complaisance, sociability, graciousness.

affable, a. courteous, sociable, gracious, cordial, benign, complaisant, accessible. Antonyms: inaffable, discourteous.

affect, v. act upon, move, touch, influence, melt; concern, bear upon, interest; dispose, turn, incline.

affectation, n. mannerism, pretension, puppetry, simulation.

affected, a. assumed, feigned, simulated, unnatural. Antonyms: unaffected, sincere, natural, unfeigned.

affecting, a. touching, moving, pathetic, piteous.

affectionate, a. devoted, fond, loving, ardent.

affidavit, n. deposition. Associated words: affiant, deponent, jurant, depose.

affiliation, n. adoption, connection, association.

affirm, v. assert (positively), aver, asseverate, state.

affirmation, n. assertion, averment, asseveration.

affirmative, a. confirmative, ratifying, approving.

affix, v. subjoin, annex, append.

afflict, v. persecute, distress, scourge, trouble, harass.

affliction, n. tribulation, adversity, trouble, buffeting, bereavement, hardship, visitation, scourge, distress, misfortune.

affront, n. indignity, insult, outrage, contumely, offense.

aflutter, a. agitated, perturbed, discomposed, excited. Antonyms: calm, composed.

aforethought, a. designed, prepense, premeditated, deliberate, intentional.

aforethought, n. premeditation.

afraid, a. alarmed, fearful, timid, timorous, apprehensive, scared, diffident. Antonyms: fearless, unafraid, intrepid, bold, undaunted, temerarious.

afresh, adv. again, anew, de novo, newly.

after, a. next, subsequent, succeeding, following, later.

after all. nevertheless.

afterbirth, n. secundines; heam (afterbirth of a beast).

after-birth, a. post-natal.

after-death, a. post-mortem, posthumous.

after-dinner, a. post-prandial.

after-marriage, a. post-nuptial, post-connubial.

aftermath, n. rowen, eddish, lattermath, eagrass, etch rowett.

afternoon, a. post-meridian.

after the flood. post-diluvian, post-diluvial.

after the war. post-bellum.

age, n. maturity, seniority; epoch, period, time; century; eon; climacteric; old age, dotage, senescence, senility, decrepitude, superannuation; longevity. Associated words: nostology, geratology, geromorphism, coetaneous, coeval, contemporaneous.

agency, n. instrumentality, operation, action, mediation, means.

agent, n. representative, canvasser, substitute, deputy, factor, procurator, syndic, go-between, commissioner, proctor, emissary, envoy, solicitor, negotiator. Antonyms: principal, chief.

aggrandize, v. exalt.

aggrandizement, n. exaltation.

aggravate, v. intensify, heighten, enhance, increase; exasperate, irritate, provoke.

aggravation, n. enhancement, heightening; (Colloq.) exasperation, provocation, irritation.

aggregate, n. mass, whole, total.

aggregation, n. collection, accumulation, mass.

aghast, a. astounded, terrified, dismayed, horror-struck.

agile, a. nimble, spry, active, lively.

agility, n. spryness, nimbleness, activity.

agitate, v. disturb, shake, unsettle; excite, perturb, disconcert; discuss, consider.

agitation, n. commotion, disturbance, perturbation, excitement, flustration, discomposure, unrest, turmoil, estuation; discussion, ventilation.

agitator, n. incendiary, firebrand.

agree, v. concur, accord, chime, acquiesce, harmonize; accede, comply, assent, consent, grant; stipulate, promise, compromise; correspond, coincide, comport, tally, conform, match. Antonyms: disagree, differ, higgle, chaffer. See disagree.

agreeable, a. pleasant, grateful, gratifying, pleasurable, enjoyable, congenial; suitable, conformable to, compatible, consonant, befitting. Antonyms: See disagreeable.

agreement, n. concurrence, consensus, harmony, compatibility, acquiescence, accord, concord, conformity, coincidence, unanimity, unison, corroboration, correspondence; contract, treaty, stipulation, protocol, compact, collusion, cartel (Mil.). Antonyms: disagreement, dissension, discrepancy, variance, opposition, incompatibility.

agriculture, n. husbandry, farming, terra-culture, geoponics, agronomy.

agriculturist, n. husbandman, farmer, agriculturalist, agronomist.

aground, adv. stranded.

aid, n. assistance, coöperation, succor, relief, furtherance, help, subsidy, subvention, patronage; assistant, helper; aid-de-camp.

aid, v. assist, succor, coöperate, befriend, promote, abet, help.

aider, n. assistant, coadjutor, auxiliary, accessory, abettor, coöperator, helper.

ailment, n. malady, disorder, complaint, illness.

aim, n. object, purpose, design, aspiration, end, goal.

aimless, a. drifting, purposeless, random, objectless, desultory.

air, n. atmosphere. Associated words: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ether, aërology, aërologist, aërometry, aëroscopy, aërometer, aërography, aëriferous, aërodynamics, aërial, aërophobia, azote, barograph, barometer, cyanometry, hermetic, hermetically, meteorology, ozone, neon, pneumatic, aërator, pneumatics, pneumotherapy, hygrometry, pneumatology, xenon, ventilator, aërostat, ariel, aëronautics, aëronautical.

air, n. melody, tune, descant, aria, song; publicity, vent; appearance, look, bearing, mien, demeanor, aspect, deportment; semblance, style.

air, v. ventilate; aërate, aërify; display, expose, flaunt.

airhole, n. vent, vent hole, bung, spile hole; spiracle.

airiness, n. aëriality, unsubstantiality; gayety, vivacity, buoyancy, sprightliness.

airing, n. ventilation; aëration, aërification; display, flaunting, exposure.

air plant. aërophyte epiphyte.

airy, a. aërial, aëriform, ethereal, atmospheric, pneumatic, unsubstantial; breezy, windy, ventilated; visionary, unreal; vivacious, sprightly; garish, jaunty, flaunting.

akin, a. (Used after the noun) consanguineous, kindred, cognate, agnate, related, congenial.

alarm, v. terrify, frighten, scare, appall, daunt, unnerve, intimidate.

alarm, n. warning, signal; apprehension, terror, consternation trepidation, fright, panic, dismay.

alarm-bell, n. tocsin, alarum.

alarming, a. startling, ominous, terrifying, frightful. Antonym: reassuring.

albinoism, n. albinism, leucopathy.

alcohol, n. ethyl alcohol, methol, spirit of wine, rectified spirit. Associated words: alcoholism, spirituous, alcoholic, vinification, vinificator, methilepsia, dipsomania, dipsomaniac, fusel, methyl, methylate, methylated.

ale inspector. aleconner, aletaster.

alert, a. vigilant, watchful, wary, attentive.

alien, n. foreigner.

alien, a. foreign; adverse, inconsistent, unallied, incongruous remote.

alienate, v. transfer, demise, assign; estrange, disaffect, wean.

alienation, n. transfer (of title), demise; estrangement, disaffection.

alight, v. dismount.

alike, a. similar, analogous, homogeneous, resemblant uniform, homologous.

alimentary canal. enteron.

alive, a. living, quick, animated, instinct.

alkali flat. playa.

all, n. the whole, totality, aggregate, total, entirety.

allay, v. appease, alleviate, pacify, mollify, mitigate, moderate, assuage, soothe, temper, palliate, abate, lessen, reduce, ease. Antonyms: intensify, aggravate, heighten, rouse.

all-creating, a. omnific.

all-devouring, a. omnivorous.

allegiance, n. fealty, loyalty, devotion, fidelity.

alleviate, v. mitigate, mollify, lessen, allay, assuage moderate, relieve.

alleviation, n. mitigation, palliation, assuagement, relief, moderation.

alleviative, a. palliative, mitigative, assuasive.

alley, n. passage; lane, byway; cul-de-sac (blind alley).

all hollow. (Slang) completely, entirely.

alliance, n. union, coalition, federation, confederacy, league; affinity, affiliation, connection, relationship.

all-knowing, a. omniscient.

allot, v. apportion, mete out, assign.

allotment, n. apportionment, assignment.

allow, v. permit, consent to; tolerate, suffer, endure.