Word Power 8

Word

Synonyms

Antonyms

abandon

desert, forsake

keep

ability

skill, aptitude incompetence,

inability

abundant

ample, sufficient scanty,

insufficient

achieve

accomplish, attain

fail

adjourn

postpone, recess

recommence, continue

amateur

beginner, novice

professional

artificial

fake, synthetic

real, authentic

barren

unproductive, infertile fertile,

productive

bashful

shy, timid outgoing, assured

beginning

start, initiate

finish, end

blend

combine, mix

separate

broad

wide, expansive

narrow

calm

quiet, tranquil, still

excited, turbulent

chubby

plump, pudgy

thin, skinny

coarse

bumpy, rough

fine, smooth

competent

capable, qualified

incompetent, inept

complex

complicated, intricate

simple

condemn

censure, denounce

approve

conflict

fight, battle, struggle

peace, harmony

congested

overcrowded, stuffed

empty, unfilled

conscientious

scrupulous, virtuous

neglectful, careless

consecutive

successive, continuous

interrupted

contaminate

pollute, defile, infect

purify

conventional

customary, traditional

unusual

courteous

polite, civil

rude

cranky

cross, irritable

good-humored

daring

bold, audacious

cautious

decay

rot, spoil bloom, flourish

delicate

fragile, dainty

sturdy

desolate

barren, forsaken

dense, verdant

despise

hate, detest, loathe

love

detach

separate, unfasten, remove

attach

difficult

hard, challenging

easy

diminish

curtail, lessen, decrease

increase, amplify

dormant

sleeping, inactive

awake, active

drastic

severe, extreme, tough

mild,moderate

dumb

stupid, dense

smart

eccentric

peculiar, unusual

normal

ecstasy

joy, rapture, elation

sadness, depression

enormous

vast, immense, colossal

tiny, microscopic

eternal

always, perpetual, everlasting

temporary, passing

exhilarated

overjoyed, ecstatic, elated

depressed, dejected, sad

extravagant

extreme, excessive, luxurious

meagre

fabulous

marvelous, amazing

unexciting

face

confront, meet

avoid

fantastic

incredible, extra-ordinary,

ordinary, normal

feasible

possible, attainable, practical

impossible

ferocious

fierce, savage, brutal,

tame, gentle

flaw

defect, fault, blemish

perfection

flimsy

frail, fragile, delicate

sturdy, strong

flippant

impudent, sassy

polite, respectful

fluid

liquid

solid

foe

enemy, adversary, opponent

friend

follow

succeed, trail lead,

precede

forbid

prohibit, ban, bar

permit

frivolous

trivial, unimportant, silly

important, serious

furious

angry, enraged, infuriated

calm, placid

gaudy

showy, garish, vulgar

tasteful, refined

gaunt

scrawny, skinny, thin

overweight, plump

generous

giving, selfless, big-hearted

selfish, stingy

gentle

tender, mild

rough, harsh

genuine

real, authentic, sincere

fake, phony

gigantic

immense, colossal, enormous

tiny, minute

gloomy

dark, dismal, depressing

cheery, bright

glorious

splendid, magnificent, superb

terrible, awful

good

nice, fine, well-behaved

bad, awful

gorgeous

ravishing, dazzling, stunning

hideous, unattractive

gratitude

thankfulness, appreciation

ungratefulness

hold

grasp, grip, retain

release, discharge

honest

truthful, sincere, frank

untruthful, dishonest

hospitable

welcoming, cordial, gracious

rude, unfriendly

hostile

antagonistic, aggressive, militant

friendly, cordial

huge

vast, immense, great

small, tiny

humble

modest, unpretentious

vain, showy

humiliate

embarrass, disgrace, dishonour

honour, dignify

immaculate

spotless, pure

dirty, filthy

immature

childish, inexperienced

mature, adult

immune

resistant, exempt

susceptible

impartial

neutral, unbiased, fair

prejudiced, partial

impatient

eager, anxious, intolerant

patient

imperfect

marred, defective, faulty

perfect, flawless

impetuous

impulsive, rash, reckless

restrained, careful

join

connect, unite, link

separate, disconnect, detach

jolly

merry, jovial, joyful

sad, grim, glum

jubilant

overjoyed, delighted, elated

dejected, depressed

keep

save, protect, guard

discard, lose

kind

considerate, tender, thoughtful

mean, cruel, inconsiderate

lenient

kind, unrestrained, easy

harsh, strict

listless

lethargic, tired

active, energetic

logical

sensible, sane, rational

illogical, unreasonable

migrant

drifting, traveling, transient

stationary, immovable

militant

combative, aggressive,warlike

peaceful

minor

lesser, inferior,

secondary major

mirth

merriment, fun, laughter

gloom, sadness

mischievous

naughty, impish

well-behaved, angelic

misfortune

hardship, catastrophe, mishap

good luck, fortune

mobile

moveable, changeable

immobile, stationary

moderate

temperate, lenient, medium

extreme, harsh

momentous

important, powerful, outstanding

unimportant, insignificant

monotonous

boring, tedious,

humdrum, interesting

1.

To give up a throne or another office of dignity

 Abdicate

2.

A diplomatic minister of the highest order sent by one country to another

 Ambassador

3.

Absence of government

 Anarchy

4.

A person who is out to destroy all government and order

 Anarchist

5.

A person liable to be called to account for his actions

 Answerable

6.

Government by one Autocracy

 Despotism

7.

Government by the officials/ departments of state

 Bureaucracy

8.

Government by the nobles

 Aristocracy

9.

The right of self-government

 Autonomy

10.

Government of the people, for the people, by the people

 Democracy

1.

The study of all heavenly bodies and the earth in relation to them

Astronomy

2.

One who studies the sky and stars

Astronomer

3.

The study of mankind/ the science which treats of man

Anthropology

4.

The study of physical life or living matter

Biology

5.

The study of plants

Botany

6.

The art of beautiful hand-writing

Calligraphy

7.

The art of practicing by statesman and ambassadors

Diplomacy

8.

One who thinks of the welfare of women

Feminist

9.

The study of coins

Numismatics

10.

The study of birds/ the science which treats of the birds

Ornithology

1.

 A work whose writer is unknown

 synonymous

2.

 A record of one’s life written by himself

 Autobiography

3.

 The history of the life of a person

 Biography

4.

 A humorous play, having a happy ending

 Comedy

5.

 A list of books in a library

 Catalog

6.

 A book in which the events of each day are recorded

 Diary

7.

 A book containing the words of a language with their definitions, in alphabetical order

 Dictionary

8.

 A book of names and address

 Directory

9.

 A book containing information on all branches of knowledge

 Encyclopedia

10.

 A speech delivered without earlier preparation

 Extempore

1.

 One who is not sure of the existence of God

 Agnostic

2.

 One who renounces his religious vows or forsakes his religious principles

 Apostate

3.

 One who does not believe in the existence of God

 Atheist

4.

 One who believes in the existence of God

 Theist

5.

 One who has narrow and prejudiced religious views

 Bigot

6.

 One who is present everywhere

 Omnipresent

7.

 One who knows everything

 Omniscient

8.

 One who is all-powerful

 Omnipotent

9.

 One who serves the public interest and feels very sympathetic towards human beings

 Humanitarian

1.

 To destroy completely

 Annihilate

2.

 Dead and decaying flesh especially of animals

 Carrion

3.

 A monument set up for persons who are buried elsewhere

 Cenotaph

4.

 To preserve a dead body from decaying

 Embalm

5.

 Words inscribed on a tomb

 Epitaph

6.

 An examination of a dead body

 Autopsy/Postmortem

7.

 An article in the newspaper about the life of the deceased

 of one Obituary

8.

 The property left to someone by a will

 Legacy

9.

 Something occurring after death

 Posthumous

10.

 The act of killing a human being

 Homicide

1.

 One who marries a second wife/ husband while the legal spouse is alive

 Bigamist

2.

 One vowed to a single or unmarried life

 Celibate

3.

 One engaged to be married

 Fiancee

4.

 Children whose parents are dead

 Orphan

5.

 A hater of marriage

 Misogamist

6.

 One has more than one wife or husband at a time

 Polygamist

7.

 State of growth between boyhood and youth

 Adolescence

8.

 Marrying more than one husband/ wife at a time

 Polygamy

9.

 Marrying more than one husband at a time

 Polyandry

10.

 Hater of mankind

 Misanthrope

1.

 One who writer books

 Author

2.

 One who makes or sells candles

 Chandler

3.

 One who drives a motor car

 Chauffeur

4.

 One skilled in the care of hands and feet

 Chiropodist

5.

 One who sells sweets and pastries

 Confectioner

6.

 One who works in a coal mine

 Collier

7.

 One who attends to the teeth

 Dentist

8.

 One who shoes horses

 Ferrier

9.

 One who studies rocks and soils

 Geologist

10.

 One who travels from place to place selling articles

 Hawker

1.

 A collection of poems

 Anthology

2.

 A number of merchant ships protected by warships

 Convoy

3.

 A number of stars grouped together

 Constellation

4.

 A number of hired applauders, i.e., persons paid to clap

 Claque

5.

 A number of people at church

 Congregation

6.

 A number of people gathered together for some common purpose

 Gathering, assembly

7.

 People who get together to work for some cause of common interest

 Coterie

8.

 A number of workmen, prisoners, thieves

 Gang

9.

 A number of sheep

 Flock

10.

 A number of ships

 Fleet

1.

 Loud enough to be heard

 Audible

2.

 Not distinct enough to be heard

 Inaudible

3.

 Fit to be eaten

 Edible

4.

 Unfit for human consumption

 Inedible

5.

 Fit to be chosen or selected

 Eligible

6.

 Not having the qualities of being chosen

 Ineligible

7.

 Writing that is easy to read

 Legible

8.

 Writing that is easy to decipher

 Illegible

9.

 Able to read

 Literate

10.

 Unable to read

 Illiterate

11.

 Born of married parents

 Legitimate

12.

 Born of unmarried parents

 Illegitimate

13.

 To send back a person to his own country

 Repatriate

14.

 To banish from one’s country

 Expatriate

15.

 To move from one country to another

 Migrate

16.

 One who leaves his country to settle in another

 Emigrant

17.

 One who comes into a foreign country to settle there

 Immigrant

18.

 Incapable of being redeemed from evil, i.e., beyond correction

 Incorrigible

19.

 That which cannot be rubbed out or blotted out

 Ineffaceable

20.

 That which cannot be conquered

 Invincible

Cry for the moon

 Ask for the impossible

To in a tight corner

 In a very difficult situation

Cock and bull story

 Made up story that one should not believe

Cat and dog life

 Life full of quarrels

Like a cat on hot bricks

 Very nervous

Have a card up one’s sleeve

 Have a secret plan in reserve

Tell against

 To prove adverse to; to go against

Run through

 to squander or waste

Run over

 to drive over

Alive and kicking

 Active and healthy

To burn one’s fingers

 To lose on account of foolish behaviour

At sea

 Confused or lost

Behind one’s back

 In the absence of

To call a spade a spade

 To be frank and truthful

To break the ice

 To break the silence

To bell the cat

 To face the risk

A cold fish

 A person devoid of emotions

To cross the Rubicon

To take a decisive step

Double

dealing – Deceiving

To die hard

 Change with great difficulty

To eat humble pie

 To apologize in a humble manner

To fight a losing battle

 Struggle without hope of success

A deadlock

 A position where no progress can be made

A daredevil

 A person who does not care for any consequences

Once in a blue moon

 Very rarely

At a premium

 Difficult to get or obtain

To play the game

 To act honestly

To die in harness

 To work till the last day of one’s life

To plough a lonely furrow

 To work without help or support

Lock, stock and barrel

 Completely

The long and the short

 The main point

Bring to light

 Disclose

The bottom line

 The final criteria

To kick one’s heels

 To wait with nothing to do

Rain cats and dogs

 Rain heavily

A hard nut to crack

 A difficult problem

In high spirits

 Very happy

Like a fish out of water

 In a strange situation

Smell a rat

 Suspect something foul

Read between the lines

 Understand the hidden meaning

Tooth and nail

 With all one’s power

Spread like wild fire

 Spread quickly

Hit the nail on the head

 Do or say the exact thing

Burn the midnight oil

 Work or study hard

Under his thumb

 Under his control

With a high hand

 Oppressively

Gain ground

 Become popular

By leaps and bounds

 Rapidly

Make off with

 to run away with

Pass away

 to die

To make a pig of oneself

 To overeat

Donkey’s years

 A very long time

To pull one’s leg

 to joke; tease someone

To keep one’s fingers crossed

 To hope fervently

To call in question

 To doubt

To talk through one’s hat

To talk ignorantly

To make up one’s mind

To decide

Hard and fast rules

 Rigid rules

To make one’s mouth water

 To stimulate one’s appetite

By word of mouth

 By spoken message

To get the better of someone

To take advantage of someone

To rub shoulders

 To come into close contact

A snake in the grass

 A hidden enemy

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

 Between two dangers

Chew the cud

 To discuss matters in a ponderous manner, especially reminiscing

To kill two birds with one stone

 To achieve two results with one effort

A close shave

 A narrow escape

Chip off the old block

 someone as good as one’s father

To pull a long face

 To look sad

Above board

 Open and honest

To turn a deaf ear

 To ignore

To turn the tables

 To reverse the situation

To call someone names

 To abuse or insult someone

Above board

 Honest and open

At arm’s length

 To keep at a distance

At the eleventh hour

 At the last moment

An apple of discord

 A cause of quarrel

To burn one’s boats

 Make a final decision, destroy all possible ways of going back a situation

To build castles in the air

 Make imaginary schemes

A burning question

 An important topic

A brown study

 Daydreaming

Sitting on the fence

 Hesitate between two decisions