English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 59

GOVERN.

Synonyms:

command, curb, influence, mold, reign over, rule, control, direct, manage, reign, restrain, sway.

_Govern_ carries the idea of authoritative administration or some exercise of authority that is at once effective and continuous; _control_ is effective, but may be momentary or occasional. One _controls_ what he holds or can hold at will absolutely in check; as, a skilful horseman _controls_ a spirited horse; a person _controls_ his temper; we say to one who is excited, "_control_ yourself." A person _commands_ another when he has, or claims, the right to make that other do his will, with power of inflicting penalty if not obeyed; he _controls_ another whom he can effectually prevent from doing anything contrary to his will; he _governs_ one whom he actually does cause, regularly or constantly, to obey his will; a parent may _command_ a child whom he can not _govern_ or _control_. The best teachers are not greatly p.r.o.ne to _command_, but _govern_ or _control_ their pupils largely by other means. _Command_ is, however, often used in the sense of securing, as well as requiring, submission or obedience, as when we speak of a _commanding_ influence; a man _commands_ the situation when he can shape events as he pleases; a fortress _commands_ the region when no enemy can pa.s.s against its resistance. _Govern_ implies the exercise of knowledge and judgment as well as power. To _rule_ is more absolute and autocratic than to _govern_; to _sway_ is to move by quiet but effectual influence; to _mold_ is not only to influence feeling and action, but to shape character; to _manage_ is to secure by skilful contrivance the doing of one's will by those whom one can not directly _control_; a wise mother, by gentle means, _sways_ the feelings and _molds_ the lives of her children; to be able to _manage_ servants is an important element of good housekeeping. The word _reign_, once so absolute, now simply denotes that one holds the official station of sovereign in a monarchy, with or without effective power; the Queen of England _reigns_; the Czar of Russia both _reigns_ and _rules_.

Antonyms:

be in subjection, be subject, comply, obey, submit, yield.

GRACEFUL.

Synonym:

beautiful.

That which is _graceful_ is marked by elegance and harmony, with ease of action, att.i.tude, or posture, or delicacy of form. _Graceful_ commonly suggests motion or the possibility of motion; _beautiful_ may apply to absolute fixity; a landscape or a blue sky is _beautiful_, but neither is _graceful_. _Graceful_ commonly applies to beauty as addressed to the eye, tho we often speak of a _graceful_ poem or a _graceful_ compliment. _Graceful_ applies to the perfection of motion, especially of the lighter motions, which convey no suggestion of stress or strain, and are in harmonious curves. Apart from the thought of motion, _graceful_ denotes a pleasing harmony of outline, proportion, etc., with a certain degree of delicacy; a Hercules is ma.s.sive, an Apollo is _graceful_. We speak of a _graceful_ att.i.tude, _graceful_ drapery.

Compare BEAUTIFUL; BECOMING.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for AWKWARD.

GRIEF.

Synonyms:

affliction, melancholy, regret, sorrow, trouble, distress, mourning, sadness, tribulation, wo.

_Grief_ is acute mental pain resulting from loss, misfortune, or deep disappointment. _Grief_ is more acute and less enduring than _sorrow_.

_Sorrow_ and _grief_ are for definite cause; _sadness_ and _melancholy_ may arise from a vague sense of want or loss, from a low state of health, or other ill-defined cause; _sadness_ may be momentary; _melancholy_ is more enduring, and may become chronic. _Affliction_ expresses a deep heart-sorrow and is applied also to the misfortune producing such _sorrow_; _mourning_ most frequently denotes sorrow publicly expressed, or the public expression of such _sorrow_ as may reasonably be expected; as, it is common to observe thirty days of _mourning_ on the death of an officer of state.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for HAPPINESS.

Prepositions:

Grief _at_ a loss; _for_ a friend.

HABIT.

Synonyms:

custom, habitude, routine, system, use, fas.h.i.+on, practise, rule, usage, wont.

_Habit_ is a tendency or inclination toward an action or condition, which by repet.i.tion has become easy, spontaneous, or even unconscious, or an action or regular series of actions, or a condition so induced.

_Custom_ is the uniform doing of the same act in the same circ.u.mstance for a definite reason; _routine_ is the doing of customary acts in a regular and uniform sequence and is more mechanical than _custom_. It is the _custom_ of tradesmen to open at a uniform hour, and to follow a regular _routine_ of business until closing-time. _Habit_ always includes an involuntary tendency, natural or acquired, greatly strengthened by frequent repet.i.tion of the act, and may be uncontrollable, or even unconscious. _Habitude_ is habitual relation or a.s.sociation. _Custom_ is chiefly used of the action of many; _habit_ of the action of one; we speak of the _customs_ of society, the _habits_ of an individual. _Fas.h.i.+on_ is the generally recognized _custom_ in the smaller matters, especially in dress. A _rule_ is prescribed either by some external authority or by one's own will; as, it is the _rule_ of the house; or, I make it my invariable _rule_. _System_ is the coordination of many acts or things into a unity, and is more and better than _routine_. _Use_ and _usage_ denote the manner of using something; we speak of one person's _use_ of language, but of the _usage_ of many; a _use_ or _usage_ is almost always a _habit_. _Practise_ is the active doing of something in a systematic way; we do not speak of the _practise_, but of the _habit_ of going to sleep; we speak of a tradesman's _custom_, a lawyer's or a physician's _practise_.

Educationally, _practise_ is the voluntary and persistent attempt to make skill a _habit_; as, _practise_ in penmans.h.i.+p. _Wont_ is blind and instinctive _habit_ like that which attaches an animal to a locality: the word is now almost wholly poetic. Compare DRESS.

HAPPEN.

Synonyms:

bechance, chance, fall out, supervene, befall, come to pa.s.s, occur, take place.

betide, fall,

A thing is said to _happen_ when no design is manifest, or none especially thought of; it is said to _chance_ when it appears to be the result of accident (compare synonyms for ACCIDENT). An incident _happens_ or _occurs_; something external or actual _happens_ to one; a thought or fancy _occurs_ to him. _Befall_ and _betide_ are transitive; _happen_ is intransitive; something _befalls_ or _betides_ a person or _happens_ to him. _Betide_ is especially used for antic.i.p.ated evil, thought of as waiting and coming at its appointed time; as, wo _betide_ him! One event _supervenes_ upon another event, one disease upon another, etc. ["Transpire," in the sense of _happen_, is not authorized by good usage: a thing that has _happened_ is properly said to _transpire_ when it becomes known.]

Prepositions:

An event happens _to_ a person; a person happens _on_ or _upon_ a fact, discovery, etc.

HAPPINESS.

Synonyms:

blessedness, delight, gladness, pleasure, bliss, ecstasy, gratification, rapture, cheer, enjoyment, joy, rejoicing, comfort, felicity, merriment, satisfaction, contentment, gaiety, mirth, triumph.

_Gratification_ is the giving any mental or physical desire something that it craves; _satisfaction_ is the giving such a desire all that it craves. _Happiness_ is the positively agreeable experience that springs from the possession of good, the _gratification_ or _satisfaction_ of the desires or the relief from pain and evil. _Comfort_ may be almost wholly negative, being found in security or relief from that which pains or annoys; there is _comfort_ by a warm fireside on a wintry night; the sympathy of a true friend affords _comfort_ in sorrow. _Enjoyment_ is more positive, always implying something to be definitely and consciously delighted in; a sick person finds _comfort_ in relief from pain, while he may be far from a state of _enjoyment_. _Pleasure_ is still more vivid, being an arousing of the faculties to an intensely agreeable activity; _satisfaction_ is more tranquil than _pleasure_, being the agreeable consciousness of having all that our faculties demand or crave; when a worthy _pleasure_ is past, a worthy _satisfaction_ remains. As referring to a mental state, _gratification_ is used to denote a mild form of _happiness_ resulting from some incident not of very great importance; _satisfaction_ should properly express a _happiness_ deeper, more complete, and more abiding; but as intellect or sensibilities of a low order may find _satisfaction_ in that which is very poor or unworthy, the word has come to be feeble and tame in ordinary use. _Happiness_ is more positive than _comfort_, _enjoyment_, or _satisfaction_, more serene and rational than _pleasure_; _pleasure_ is of necessity transient; _happiness_ is abiding, and may be eternal; thus, we speak of _pleasures_, but the plural of _happiness_ is scarcely used. _Happiness_, in the full sense, is mental or spiritual or both, and is viewed as resulting from some worthy _gratification_ or _satisfaction_; we may speak of a brute as experiencing _comfort_ or _pleasure_, but scarcely as in possession of _happiness_; we speak of vicious _pleasure_, _delight_, or _joy_, but not of vicious _happiness_. _Felicity_ is a philosophical term, colder and more formal than _happiness_. _Gladness_ is _happiness_ that overflows, expressing itself in countenance, voice, manner, and action.

_Joy_ is more intense than _happiness_, deeper than _gladness_, to which it is akin, n.o.bler and more enduring than _pleasure_. _Gaiety_ is more superficial than _joy_, more demonstrative than _gladness_. _Rejoicing_ is _happiness_ or _joy_ that finds utterance in word, song, festivity, etc. _Delight_ is vivid, overflowing _happiness_ of a somewhat transient kind; _ecstasy_ is a state of extreme or extravagant _delight_ so that the one affected by it seems almost beside himself with _joy_; _rapture_ is closely allied to _ecstasy_, but is more serene, exalted, and enduring. _Triumph_ is such _joy_ as results from victory, success, achievement. _Blessedness_ is at once the state and the sense of being divinely blessed; as, the _blessedness_ of the righteous. _Bliss_ is ecstatic, perfected _happiness_; as, the _bliss_ of heaven. Compare COMFORT.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for GRIEF.