English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 42

Synonyms:

acceptable, delicious, pleasant, refres.h.i.+ng, agreeable, grateful, pleasing, satisfying, congenial, gratifying, pleasurable, welcome.

_Agreeable_ refers to whatever gives a mild degree of pleasure; as, an _agreeable_ perfume. _Acceptable_ indicates a thing to be worthy of acceptance; as, an _acceptable_ offering. _Grateful_ is stronger than _agreeable_ or _gratifying_, indicating whatever awakens a feeling akin to grat.i.tude. A _pleasant_ face and _pleasing_ manners arouse _pleasurable_ sensations, and make the possessor an _agreeable_ companion; if possessed of intelligence, vivacity, and goodness, such a person's society will be _delightful_. Criminals may find each other's company _congenial_, but scarcely _delightful_. _Satisfying_ denotes anything that is received with calm acquiescence, as substantial food, or established truth. That is _welcome_ which is received with joyful heartiness; as, _welcome_ tidings. Compare BEAUTIFUL; CHARMING; DELICIOUS.

Antonyms:

depressing, hateful, miserable, painful, woful, disappointing, horrible, mournful, saddening, wretched.

distressing, melancholy,

DELUSION.

Synonyms:

error, fallacy, hallucination, illusion, phantasm.

A _delusion_ is a mistaken conviction, an _illusion_ a mistaken perception or inference. An _illusion_ may be wholly of the senses; a _delusion_ always involves some mental error. In an optical _illusion_ the observer sees either what does not exist, or what exists otherwise than as he sees it, as when in a mirage distant springs and trees appear close at hand. We speak of the _illusions_ of fancy or of hope, but of the _delusions_ of the insane. A _hallucination_ is a false image or belief which has nothing, outside of the disordered mind, to suggest it; as, the _hallucinations_ of delirium tremens. Compare DECEPTION; INSANITY.

Antonyms:

actuality, certainty, fact, reality, truth, verity.

DEMOLISH.

Synonyms:

destroy, overthrow, overturn, raze, ruin.

A building, monument, or other structure is _demolished_ when reduced to a shapeless ma.s.s; it is _razed_ when leveled with the ground; it is _destroyed_ when its structural unity is gone, whether or not its component parts remain. An edifice is _destroyed_ by fire or earthquake; it is _demolished_ by bombardment; it is _ruined_ when, by violence or neglect, it has become unfit for human habitation. Compare ABOLISH; BREAK.

Antonyms:

build, construct, create, make, repair, restore.

DEMONSTRATION.

Synonyms:

certainty, consequence, evidence, inference, conclusion, deduction, induction, proof.

_Demonstration_, in the strict and proper sense, is the highest form of _proof_, and gives the most absolute _certainty_, but can not be applied outside of pure mathematics or other strictly deductive reasoning; there can be _proof_ and _certainty_, however, in matters that do not admit of _demonstration_. A _conclusion_ is the absolute and necessary result of the admission of certain premises; an _inference_ is a probable _conclusion_ toward which known facts, statements, or admissions point, but which they do not absolutely establish; sound premises, together with their necessary _conclusion_, const.i.tute a _demonstration_.

_Evidence_ is that which tends to show a thing to be true; in the widest sense, as including self-_evidence_ or consciousness, it is the basis of all knowledge. _Proof_ in the strict sense is complete, irresistible _evidence_; as, there was much _evidence_ against the accused, but not amounting to _proof_ of guilt. Moral _certainty_ is a conviction resting on such _evidence_ as puts a matter beyond reasonable doubt, while not so irresistible as _demonstration_. Compare HYPOTHESIS; INDUCTION.

DESIGN.

Synonyms:

aim, final cause, object, proposal, device, intent, plan, purpose, end, intention, project, scheme.

_Design_ refers to the adaptation of means to an _end_, the correspondence and coordination of parts, or of separate acts, to produce a result; _intent_ and _purpose_ overleap all particulars, and fasten on the _end_ itself. _Intention_ is simply the more familiar form of the legal and philosophical _intent_. _Plan_ relates to details of form, structure, and action, in themselves; _design_ considers these same details all as a means to an _end_. The _plan_ of a campaign may be for a series of sharp attacks, with the _design_ of thus surprising and overpowering the enemy. A man comes to a fixed _intention_ to kill his enemy; he forms a _plan_ to entrap him into his power, with the _design_ of then compa.s.sing his death; as the law can not read the heart, it can only infer the _intent_ from the evidences of _design_. _Intent_ denotes a straining, stretching forth toward an _object_; _purpose_ simply the placing it before oneself; hence, we speak of the _purpose_ rather than the _intent_ or _intention_ of G.o.d. We hold that the marks of _design_ in nature prove it the work of a great Designer. _Intention_ contemplates the possibility of failure; _purpose_ looks to a.s.sured success; _intent_ or _intention_ refers especially to the state of mind of the actor; _purpose_ to the result of the action. Compare AIM; CAUSE; IDEA; MODEL.

Prepositions:

The design _of_ defrauding; the design _of_ a building; a design _for_ a statue.

DESIRE.

Synonyms:

appetency, concupiscence, hankering, proclivity, appet.i.te, coveting, inclination, propensity, aspiration, craving, longing, wish.

_Inclination_ is the mildest of these terms; it is a quiet, or even a vague or unconscious, tendency. Even when we speak of a strong or decided _inclination_ we do not express the intensity of _desire_.

_Desire_ has a wide range, from the highest objects to the lowest; _desire_ is for an object near at hand, or near in thought, and viewed as attainable; a _wish_ may be for what is remote or uncertain, or even for what is recognized as impossible. _Craving_ is stronger than _hankering_; _hankering_ may be the result of a fitful and capricious _appet.i.te_; _craving_ may be the imperious and reasonable demand of the whole nature. _Longing_ is a reaching out with deep and persistent demand for that which is viewed as now distant but at some time attainable; as, the captive's _longing_ for release. _Coveting_ ordinarily denotes wrong _desire_ for that which is another's. Compare APPEt.i.tE.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ANTIPATHY.

Prepositions:

The desire _of_ fame; a desire _for_ excellence.

DESPAIR.