English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 66

_Impertinence_ primarily denotes what does not pertain or belong to the occasion or the person, and hence comes to signify interference by word or act not consistent with the age, position, or relation of the person interfered with or of the one who interferes; especially, forward, presumptuous, or meddlesome speech. _Impudence_ is shameless _impertinence_. What would be arrogance in a superior becomes _impertinence_ or _impudence_ in an inferior. _Impertinence_ has less of intent and determination than _impudence_. We speak of thoughtless _impertinence_, shameless _impudence_. _Insolence_ is literally that which is against custom, _i. e._, the violation of customary respect and courtesy. _Officiousness_ is thrusting upon others unasked and undesired service, and is often as well-meant as it is annoying. _Rudeness_ is the behavior that might be expected from a thoroughly uncultured person, and may be either deliberate and insulting or unintentional and even unconscious. Compare ARROGANCE; a.s.sURANCE; EFFRONTERY; PERTNESS.

Antonyms:

bashfulness, diffidence, lowliness, modesty, coyness, humility, meekness, submissiveness.

Prepositions:

The impudence _of_, or impudence _from_, a subordinate _to_ a superior.

INCONGRUOUS.

Synonyms:

absurd, ill-matched, inharmonious, conflicting, inapposite, irreconcilable, contradictory, inappropriate, mismatched, contrary, incommensurable, mismated, discordant, incompatible, repugnant, discrepant, inconsistent, unsuitable.

Two or more things that do not fit well together, or are not adapted to each other, are said to be _incongruous_; a thing is said to be _incongruous_ that is not adapted to the time, place, or occasion; the term is also applied to a thing made up of ill-a.s.sorted parts or _inharmonious_ elements. _Discordant_ is applied to all things that jar in a.s.sociation like musical notes that are not in accord; _inharmonious_ has the same original sense, but is a milder term. _Incompatible_ primarily signifies unable to sympathize or feel alike; _inconsistent_ means unable to stand together. Things are _incompatible_ which can not exist together in harmonious relations, and whose action when a.s.sociated tends to ultimate extinction of one by the other. _Inconsistent_ applies to things that can not be made to agree in thought with each other, or with some standard of truth or right; slavery and freedom are _inconsistent_ with each other in theory, and _incompatible_ in fact.

_Incongruous_ applies to relations, _unsuitable_ to purpose or use; two colors are _incongruous_ which can not be agreeably a.s.sociated; either may be _unsuitable_ for a person, a room, or an occasion.

_Incommensurable_ is a mathematical term, applying to two or more quant.i.ties that have no common measure or aliquot part.

Antonyms:

accordant, agreeing, compatible, consistent, harmonious, suitable.

Preposition:

The ill.u.s.trations were incongruous _with_ the theme.

INDUCTION.

Synonyms:

deduction, inference.

_Deduction_ is reasoning from the general to the particular; _induction_ is reasoning from the particular to the general. _Deduction_ proceeds from a general principle through an admitted instance to a conclusion.

_Induction_, on the other hand, proceeds from a number of collated instances, through some attribute common to them all, to a general principle. The proof of an _induction_ is by using its conclusion as the premise of a new _deduction_. Thus what is ordinarily known as scientific _induction_ is a constant interchange of _induction_ and _deduction_. In _deduction_, if the general rule is true, and the special case falls under the rule, the conclusion is certain; _induction_ can ordinarily give no more than a probable conclusion, because we can never be sure that we have collated all instances. An _induction_ is of the nature of an _inference_, but while an _inference_ may be partial and hasty, an _induction_ is careful, and aims to be complete. Compare DEMONSTRATION; HYPOTHESIS.

INDUSTRIOUS.

Synonyms:

active, busy, employed, occupied, a.s.siduous, diligent, engaged, sedulous.

_Industrious_ signifies zealously or habitually applying oneself to any work or business. _Busy_ applies to an activity which may be temporary, _industrious_ to a habit of life. We say a man is _busy_ just now; that is, _occupied_ at the moment with something that takes his full attention. It would be ridiculous or satirical to say, he is _industrious_ just now. But _busy_ can be used in the sense of _industrious_, as when we say he is a _busy_ man. _Diligent_ indicates also a disposition, which is ordinarily habitual, and suggests more of heartiness and volition than _industrious_. We say one is a _diligent_, rather than an _industrious_, reader of the Bible. In the use of the nouns, we speak of plodding _industry_, but not of plodding _diligence_.

Compare ACTIVE; INDUSTRY.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for IDLE.

INDUSTRY.

Synonyms:

application, diligence, labor, persistence, a.s.siduity, effort, pains, sedulousness.

attention, exertion, patience, constancy, intentness, perseverance,

_Industry_ is the quality, action, or habit of earnest, steady, and continued attention or devotion to any useful or productive work or task, manual or mental. _a.s.siduity_ (L. _ad_, to, and _sedeo_, sit), as the etymology suggests, sits down to a task until it is done.

_Diligence_ (L. _diligo_, love, choose) invests more effort and exertion, with love of the work or deep interest in its accomplishment; _application_ (L. _ad_, to, and _plico_, fold) bends to its work and concentrates all one's powers upon it with utmost intensity; hence, _application_ can hardly be as unremitting as _a.s.siduity_. _Constancy_ is a steady devotion of heart and principle. _Patience_ works on in spite of annoyances; _perseverance_ overcomes hindrances and difficulties; _persistence_ strives relentlessly against opposition; _persistence_ has very frequently an unfavorable meaning, implying that one persists in spite of considerations that should induce him to desist. _Industry_ is _diligence_ applied to some avocation, business, or profession. _Labor_ and _pains_ refer to the _exertions_ of the worker and the tax upon him, while _a.s.siduity_, _perseverance_, etc., refer to his continuance in the work.

Antonyms:

changeableness, idleness, inconstancy, neglect, remissness, fickleness, inattention, indolence, negligence, sloth.

INFINITE.

Synonyms:

absolute, illimitable, limitless, unconditioned, boundless, immeasurable, measureless, unfathomable, countless, innumerable, numberless, unlimited, eternal, interminable, unbounded, unmeasured.

_Infinite_ (L. _in_, not, and _finis_, limit) signifies without bounds or limits in any way, and may be applied to s.p.a.ce, time, quant.i.ty, or number. _Countless_, _innumerable_, and _numberless_, which should be the same as _infinite_, are in common usage vaguely employed to denote what it is difficult or practically impossible to count or number, tho perhaps falling far short of _infinite_; as, _countless_ leaves, the _countless_ sands on the seash.o.r.e, _numberless_ battles, _innumerable_ delays. So, too, _boundless_, _illimitable_, _limitless_, _measureless_, and _unlimited_ are loosely used in reference to what has no apparent or readily determinable limits in s.p.a.ce or time; as, we speak of the _boundless_ ocean. _Infinite_ s.p.a.ce is without bounds, not only in fact, but in thought; _infinite_ time is truly _eternal_. Compare synonyms for ETERNAL.

Antonyms:

bounded, finite, measurable, restricted, small, brief, limited, moderate, shallow, transient, circ.u.mscribed, little, narrow, short, transitory.

evanescent,