English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 95

REVOLUTION.

Synonyms:

anarchy, insurrection, revolt, confusion, lawlessness, riot, disintegration, mutiny, sedition, disorder, rebellion, tumult.

insubordination,

The essential idea of _revolution_ is a change in the form of government or const.i.tution, or a change of rulers, otherwise than as provided by the laws of succession, election, etc.; while such change is apt to involve armed hostilities, these make no necessary part of the _revolution_. The _revolution_ by which Dom Pedro was dethroned, and Brazil changed from an empire to a republic, was accomplished without a battle, and almost without a shot. _Anarchy_ refers to the condition of a state when human government is superseded or destroyed by factions or other causes. _Lawlessness_ is a temper of mind or condition of the community which may result in _anarchy_. _Confusion_, _disorder_, _riot_, and _tumult_ are incidental and temporary outbreaks of _lawlessness_, but may not be _anarchy_. _Insubordination_ is individual disobedience. _Sedition_ is the plotting, _rebellion_ the fighting, against the existing government, but always with the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng some other government in its place. When _rebellion_ is successful it is called _revolution_; but there may be _revolution_ without _rebellion_; as, the English _Revolution_ of 1688. A _revolt_ is an uprising against existing authority without the comprehensive views of change in the form or administration of government that are involved in _revolution_. _Anarchy_, when more than temporary _disorder_, is a proposed _disintegration_ of society, in which it is imagined that social order might exist without government. Slaves make _insurrection_; soldiers or sailors break out in _mutiny_; subject provinces rise in _revolt_. Compare SOCIALISM.

Antonyms:

authority, domination, government, obedience, sovereignty, command, dominion, law, order, submission, control, empire, loyalty, rule, supremacy.

REVOLVE.

Synonyms:

roll, rotate, turn.

Any round body _rolls_ which continuously touches with successive portions of its surface successive portions of another surface; a wagon-wheel _rolls_ along the ground. To _rotate_ is said of a body that has a circular motion about its own center or axis; to _revolve_ is said of a body that moves in a curving path, as a circle or an ellipse, about a center outside of itself, so as to return periodically to the same relative position that it held at some previous time. A _revolving_ body may also either _rotate_ or _roll_ at the same time; the earth _revolves_ around the sun, and _rotates_ on its own axis; in popular usage, the earth is often said to _revolve_ about its own axis, or to have a daily "revolution," but _rotate_ and "rotation" are the more accurate terms. A cylinder over which an endless belt is drawn is said to _roll_ as regards the belt, tho it _rotates_ as regards its own axis.

Any object that is in contact with or connected with a _rolling_ body is often said to _roll_; as, the car _rolls_ smoothly along the track.

Objects whose motion approximates or suggests a rotary motion along a supporting surface are also said to _roll_; as, ocean waves _roll_ in upon the sh.o.r.e, or the s.h.i.+p _rolls_ in the trough of the sea. _Turn_ is a conversational and popular word often used vaguely for _rotate_ or _revolve_, or for any motion about a fixed point, especially for a motion less than a complete "rotation" or "revolution;" a man _turns_ his head or _turns_ on his heel; the gate _turns_ on its hinges.

Antonyms:

bind, chafe, grind, slide, slip, stand, stick.

RIDDLE, _n._

Synonyms:

conundrum, enigma, paradox, problem, puzzle.

_Conundrum_, a word of unknown origin, signifies some question or statement in which some hidden and fanciful resemblance is involved, the answer often depending upon a pun; an _enigma_ is a dark saying; a _paradox_ is a true statement that at first appears absurd or contradictory; a _problem_ is something thrown out for solution; _puzzle_ (from _oppose_) referred originally to the intricate arguments by which disputants opposed each other in the old philosophic schools.

The _riddle_ is an ambiguous or paradoxical statement with a hidden meaning to be guessed by the mental acuteness of the one to whom it is proposed; the _riddle_ is not so petty as the _conundrum_, and may require much acuteness for its answer; a _problem_ may require simply study and scholars.h.i.+p, as a _problem_ in mathematics; a _puzzle_ may be in something other than verbal statement, as a dissected map or any perplexing mechanical contrivance. Both _enigma_ and _puzzle_ may be applied to any matter difficult of answer or solution, _enigma_ conveying an idea of greater dignity, _puzzle_ applying to something more commonplace and mechanical; there are many dark _enigmas_ in human life and in the course of providence; the location of a missing object is often a _puzzle_.

Antonyms:

answer, axiom, explanation, proposition, solution.

RIGHT, _n._

Synonyms:

claim, franchise, liberty, prerogative, exemption, immunity, license, privilege.

A _right_ is that which one may properly demand upon considerations of justice, morality, equity, or of natural or positive law. A _right_ may be either general or special, natural or artificial. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are the natural and inalienable _rights_ of all men; _rights_ of property, inheritance, etc., are individual and special, and often artificial, as the _right_ of inheritance by primogeniture. A _privilege_ is always special, exceptional, and artificial; it is something not enjoyed by all, or only to be enjoyed on certain special conditions, a peculiar benefit, favor, advantage, etc. A _privilege_ may be of doing or avoiding; in the latter case it is an _exemption_ or _immunity_; as, a _privilege_ of hunting or fis.h.i.+ng; _exemption_ from military service; _immunity_ from arrest. A _franchise_ is a specific _right_ or _privilege_ granted by the government or established as such by governmental authority; as, the elective _franchise_; a railroad _franchise_. A _prerogative_ is an official _right_ or _privilege_, especially one inherent in the royal or sovereign power; in a wider sense it is an exclusive and peculiar _privilege_ which one possesses by reason of being what he is; as, reason is the _prerogative_ of man; kings and n.o.bles have often claimed _prerogatives_ and _privileges_ opposed to the inherent _rights_ of the people. Compare DUTY; JUSTICE.

RISE.

Synonyms:

arise, ascend, emanate, flow, issue, proceed, spring.

To _rise_ is to move up or upward whether slowly or quickly, whether through the least or greatest distance; the waves _rise_; the mists _rise_; the river _rises_ after heavy rains; as said of persons, to _rise_ is to come to an erect position after kneeling, sitting, reclining, or lying down; as, to _rise_ from a sick-bed; my friend _rose_ as I entered; the guests _rose_ to depart; so a deliberative a.s.sembly or a committee is said to _rise_ when it breaks up a session; a sun or star _rises_ when to our apprehension it comes above the horizon and begins to go up the sky. To _ascend_ is to go far upward, and is often used in a stately sense; as, Christ _ascended_ to heaven. The shorter form _rise_ is now generally preferred to the longer form _arise_, except in poetic or elevated style. The sun _rises_ or _arises_; the river _springs_ at a bound from the foot of the glacier and _flows_ through the lands to the ocean. Smoke _issues_ from a chimney and _ascends_ toward the sky. Light and heat _emanate_ from the sun.

Antonyms:

decline, descend, drop, fall, go down, set, settle, sink.

Prepositions:

Rise _from_ slumber; rise _to_ duty; rise _at_ the summons; we rose _with_ the lark.

ROBBER.

Synonyms:

bandit, depredator, freebooter, pirate, brigand, despoiler, highwayman, plunderer, buccaneer, footpad, marauder, raider, burglar, forager, pillager, thief.

A _robber_ seeks to obtain the property of others by force or intimidation; a _thief_ by stealth and secrecy. In early English _thief_ was freely used in both senses, as in Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of the English Bible, which has "two _thieves_" (_Matt._ xxvii, 38), where the Revised Version more correctly subst.i.tutes "two _robbers_."

ROYAL.