English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 94

Synonyms:

calm, pause, quietness, slumber, calmness, peace, quietude, stay, cessation, peacefulness, recreation, stillness, ease, quiescence, repose, stop, intermission, quiet, sleep, tranquillity.

_Ease_ denotes freedom from cause of disturbance, whether external or internal. _Quiet_ denotes freedom from agitation, or especially from annoying sounds. _Rest_ is a _cessation_ of activity especially of wearying or painful activity. _Recreation_ is some pleasing activity of certain organs or faculties that affords _rest_ to other parts of our nature that have become weary. _Repose_ is a laying down, primarily of the body, and figuratively a similar freedom from toil or strain of mind. _Repose_ is more complete than _rest_; a _pause_ is a momentary _cessation_ of activity; a black-smith finds a temporary _rest_ while the iron is heating, but he does not yield to _repose_; in a _pause_ of battle a soldier _rests_ on his arms; after the battle the victor _reposes_ on his laurels. _Sleep_ is the perfection of _repose_, the most complete _rest_; _slumber_ is a light and ordinarily pleasant form of _sleep_. In the figurative sense, _rest_ of mind, soul, conscience, is not mere _cessation_ of activity, but a pleasing, tranquil relief from all painful and wearying activity; _repose_ is even more deep, tranquil, and complete.

Antonyms:

agitation, disturbance, movement, stir, tumult, commotion, excitement, restlessness, strain, unrest, disquiet, motion, rush, toil, work.

RESTIVE.

Synonyms:

balky, impatient, rebellious, restless, fidgety, intractable, recalcitrant, skittish, fractious, mulish, refractory, stubborn, fretful, mutinous, resentful, unruly, frisky, obstinate, restiff, vicious.

_Balky_, _mulish_, _obstinate_, and _stubborn_ are synonyms of _restive_ only in an infrequent if not obsolete use; the supposed sense of "tending to rest," "standing stubbornly still," is scarcely supported by any examples, and those cited to support that meaning often fail to do so. The disposition to offer active resistance to control by any means whatever is what is commonly indicated by _restive_ in the best English speech and literature. Dryden speaks of "the pampered colt" as "_restiff_ to the rein;" but the rein is not used to propel a horse forward, but to hold him in, and it is against this that he is "_restiff_." A horse may be made _restless_ by flies or by martial music, but with no refractoriness; the _restive_ animal impatiently resists or struggles to break from control, as by bolting, flinging his rider, or otherwise. With this the metaphorical use of the word agrees, which is always in the sense of such terms as _impatient_, _intractable_, _rebellious_, and the like; a people _restive_ under despotism are not disposed to "rest" under it, but to resist it and fling it off.

Antonyms:

docile, manageable, pa.s.sive, quiet, tractable, gentle, obedient, peaceable, submissive, yielding.

RESTRAIN.

Synonyms:

abridge, constrain, hold in, keep under, bridle, curb, keep, repress, check, hinder, keep back, restrict, circ.u.mscribe, hold, keep down, suppress, confine, hold back, keep in, withhold.

To _restrain_ is to _hold back_ from acting, proceeding, or advancing, either by physical or moral force. _Constrain_ is positive; _restrain_ is negative; one is _constrained_ to an action; he is _restrained_ from an action. _Constrain_ refers almost exclusively to moral force, _restrain_ frequently to physical force, as when we speak of putting one under restraint. To _restrain_ an action is to hold it partially or wholly in check, so that it is under pressure even while it acts; to _restrict_ an action is to fix a limit or boundary which it may not pa.s.s, but within which it is free. To _repress_, literally to press back, is to hold in check, and perhaps only temporarily, that which is still very active; it is a feebler word than _restrain_; to _suppress_ is finally and effectually to put down; _suppress_ is a much stronger word than _restrain_; as, to _suppress_ a rebellion. Compare ARREST; BIND; KEEP.

Antonyms:

aid, arouse, encourage, free, incite, release, animate, emanc.i.p.ate, excite, impel, let loose, set free.

RETIREMENT.

Synonyms:

loneliness, privacy, seclusion, solitude.

In _retirement_ one withdraws from a.s.sociation he has had with others; we speak of the _retirement_ of a public man to private life, tho he may still be much in company. In _seclusion_ one shuts himself away from the society of all except intimate friends or attendants; in _solitude_ no other person is present. While _seclusion_ is ordinarily voluntary, _solitude_ may be enforced; we speak of the _solitude_ rather than the _seclusion_ of a prisoner. As "private" denotes what concerns ourselves individually, _privacy_ denotes freedom from the presence or observation of those not concerned or whom we desire not to have concerned in our affairs; _privacy_ is more commonly temporary than _seclusion_; we speak of a moment's _privacy_. There may be _loneliness_ without _solitude_, as amid an unsympathizing crowd, and _solitude_ without _loneliness_, as when one is glad to be alone.

Antonyms:

a.s.sociation, companions.h.i.+p, company, converse, fellows.h.i.+p, society.

REVELATION.

Synonyms:

apocalypse, disclosure, manifestation.

_Revelation_ (L. _re_, back, and _velum_, veil), literally an unveiling, is the act or process of making known what was before secret or hidden, or what may still be future. _Apocalypse_ (Gr. _apo_, from, and _kalypto_, cover), literally an uncovering, comes into English as the name of the closing book of the Bible. The _Apocalypse_ unveils the future, as if to the very gaze of the seer; the whole gospel is a _disclosure_ of the mercy of G.o.d; the character of Christ is a _manifestation_ of the divine holiness and love; all Scripture is a _revelation_ of the divine will. Or we might say that nature is a _manifestation_ of the divine character and will, of which Scripture is the fuller and more express _revelation_.

Antonyms:

cloud, concealment, mystery, shrouding, cloudiness, hiding, obscuration, veiling.

REVENGE.

Synonyms:

avenging, retaliation, retribution, vengeance.

requital,

_Revenge_ is the act of making return for an injury done to oneself by doing injury to another person. _Retaliation_ and _revenge_ are personal and often bitter. _Retaliation_ may be partial; _revenge_ is meant to be complete, and may be excessive. _Vengeance_, which once meant an indignant vindication of justice, now signifies the most furious and unsparing _revenge_. _Revenge_ emphasizes more the personal injury in return for which it is inflicted, _vengeance_ the ill desert of those upon whom it is inflicted. A _requital_ is strictly an even return, such as to quit one of obligation for what has been received, and even if poor or unworthy is given as complete and adequate. _Avenging_ and _retribution_ give a solemn sense of exact justice, _avenging_ being more personal in its infliction, whether by G.o.d or man, and _retribution_ the impersonal visitation of the doom of righteous law.

Compare AVENGE; HATRED; REQUITE.

Antonyms:

compa.s.sion, forgiveness, mercy, pardon, pity, reconciliation.

excuse, grace,

Prepositions:

To take revenge _upon_ the enemy, _for_ the injury.