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TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW
The synonym groups are organized in a table of contents under the following SECTIONS:
SECTION 1. INTELLECTUAL PROCESSES; REALITY
SECTION 2. BEHAVIOR-PSYCHOLOGY: HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS
SECTION 3. THE HUMAN CONDITION
SECTION 4. THE SPIRITUAL and the SUPERNATURAL
SECTION 5. HUMAN INTERACTION: SOCIAL
SECTION 6. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION and WORLD VIEW
SECTION 7.
QUANTITY-MEASURE-ASSESSMENT-GRADATION-SPECTRUM-CHANGE
SECTION 8: ORIGIN-DETERMINATION-ORGANIZATION-LOSS-DISINTEGRATION-EVOLUTION-CHANGE
SECTION 9: LANGUAGE and COMMUNICATION
SECTION 10 PHYSICAL: THE NATURAL WORLD
SAMPLE PORTIONS OF SYNONYM GROUPS:
SECTION 1: INTELLECTUAL PROCESSES and REALITY:
BEING-ESSENCE
REALITY-MEANING-PRACTICE
REVELATION-REVEAL-CLARIFY-POINT OUT-DEMONSTRATE
FANTASY-APPARITION
DELUSION
WISDOM-ENLIGHTENMENT
TRUTH-CONFIRMATION-CONCLUSION
POINT-COUNTERPOINT-LEAD-RESPONSE-ANSWER-MANEUVER-CYCLE-
RECIPROCAL
CHALLENGE-CALL INTO QUESTION-OPPOSE BY ARGUMENT-DISPUTE-
DEBATE-CONTRADICT
CERTAINTY
VALID-VALIDITY-FIDELITY TO IDEAL or TRUTH
REFUTATION-FALSEHOOD-REFUTE-PROVE FALSE
ARTIFICIAL-NOT AUTHENTIC-FAKE-COUNTERFEIT-IMITATION
INVALID-FAULTY REASONING-CONTRADICTION
ERROR
SUPPOSITION-THEORY-POSSIBLE-UNCERTAIN-SEEMING
EVIDENCE-CONCLUDE-DRAW a CONCLUSION-REASON-REASONING
IDEA-THOUGHT-THOUGHTFUL-INTELLECT
PHILOSOPHY
IMAGINATION-CREATIVITY-VISIONARY-FANCY-WHIM
CAUSE-EFFECT
CHANCE-WITHOUT CAUSE
KNOWLEDGE-SKILL-SKILLFUL-CLEVER-TALENT-EXPERT
LOGIC-REASON-REASONING
IGNORANCE
SCHOLARSHIP
TEACHING-SCHOOL-INSTRUCTION
AWARENESS-HEED-ATTENTION
DRAW FROM-DRAW OUT-EXTRACT
CALL UPON-BRING FORTH-SUMMON-APPEAL TO
PUT INTO-INSTILL-IMPRINT-PERMEATE-SPREAD THROUGH
INTRODUCE-SET FORTH-PUT FORWARD
AFFIRM-AFFIRMATION-ASSERT-EMPHASIZE-PROFESS-DECLARE-STATE
POSITIVELY-POLICY
OCCULT-SECRET-HIDDEN-CONCEALED-CLOSED-MYSTERIOUS-INSCRUTABLE
PUZZLE
ILLUSION
REVEAL-REVEALED-KNOWN-OBVIOUS-OPEN-MAKE KNOWN-
EXPOSE-DISPLAY-KNOWABLE
BLOT OUT-STRIKE FROM-DELETE-ERADICATE-OBLIVION
EXAMINE-SEARCH-ANALYZE-INVESTIGATE
OBSERVE-DISCOVER-DETECT
CLEAR-TRANSPARENT
OBSCURE-INDISTINCT-VAGUE
IMAGE-SYMBOLISM-REPRESENT-REPRESENTATIONAL
(Section 1 has forty-seven synonym groups, as listed above. Here is a word from one of those groups. To save space for this sampling, I will list the synonym groups in only a few Sections, arbitrarily 1, 3, 10, and 11 of the ten sections)
BEING-ESSENCE (cf. Essential-Substantial)
decoction (see EXTRACT)
gravamen (see SUBSTANCE)
ontology
quiddity (cf. Fastidious; Quibble)
quintessence (cf. Representation)
reify
simulacrum (see NOT AUTHENTIC)
solipsism (cf. Self;
Individual-Singularity)
sui generis (see UNIQUE)
Ontology:
< Gk. Einei = to be, = On-Ontos > Onto- = being, existence + Logos: a word, saying, speech, etc. < -logy = discourse, spoken or written.
Def. 1. the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of reality, existence or being as such, as distinct from material existence, spiritual existence, etc., [as opposed to Phenomenology]. 2. metaphysics.
-It is logical to pursue both disarmament and civil rights, provided the two don't get into each other's way for ontological reasons. Witness their peaceful coexistence in Japan and West Germany. 1977.
-Jim Bakker learned a lot from Disneyworld, but the architectural and ontological confusion of Heritage-USA would not have been tolerated by Disney. Nothing in Heritage was quite what it seemed.
- If they [political faction] rely on this kind of faith in the people and in the ontological power of the truth—and refuse to be distracted by the antics of demagogues—they can complete their ascendancy.
-For [important newspaper] to criticize itself is ontologically inconceivable.
Section 2: BEHAVIOR-PSYCHOLOGY-HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS
(Section 2 has fifty-seven synonym groups. Here is a sample word from one of those groups.):
TENDER-TENDERNESS-SOFTNESS-GENTLE (cf. Grace; Sentiment)
columbine
douce (see PLEASANT)
dulcet (see PLEASANT)
flocculent
lambent (cf. Sensuous; Grace; Move Lightly)
langorous-languor(cf. Weakness)
lydian
mansuetude
moony
sloe-eyed (see SENSUOUS)
sough (see NATURE)
vernal (see VIRGINAL-FRESH)
Lambent: (cf. Sensuousness; Grace; Move Lightly)
< L. Lambere-Lambens = to lick, lap, wash (of water or fire).
Def. 1. playing, running or moving lightly over a surface; flickering: said of tongues of flame, etc. 2. playing lightly and gracefully over a subject: said of wit, humor, etc., i.e. brilliantly playful. 3. giving off a soft glow; softly radiant.
-We woke in time to catch this breathtaking dawn just before its lambency was gone.
-Her lambent wit, piquant but not cutting, is perfect when you want to keep a birthday “roast” light and fun.
-Renoir veiled the scene in a lambent halo of light.
-Her lambent sapphire-blue eyes turned pale as she heard the news.
-Those smiling eyes, attemp'ring ev'ry ray; Shown sweetly lambent with celestial day. Pope: Eloisa to Ebalard.
-It was hard to make out his face in the lambent firelight.
-...on that huge, dark-green lake, the picture of lambency with little waves playing and teasing the beach
while the glow of sunset was fading.
-They pressed on, never touching a sail except to make it draw better; and all the time the Commodore took his sights on the great lambent stars hanging there in the velvet sky. O'Brian: Mauritius Command-222.
Section 3: THE HUMAN CONDITION
(Section 3 has sixty synonym groups. Here is a word from one of those groups)
ENJOYMENT-PLEASURE-LUXURY (cf. Pleasant-Cheer)
beek
beer and skittles
bon vivant
delectation
epicure-epicurean
fruition
gratulant
hedonism
posh (see SOPHISTICATION)
regale
sybarite
voluptuary
Voluptuary:
< L. Voluptas = pleasure, delight, enjoyment > Voluptarius = pertaining to sensual pleasure, pleasant, causing pleasure, devoted to pleasure, sensual.
Def. n. a person devoted to luxurious living and sensual pleasures; sensualist; sybarite; adj. characterized by or preoccupied with luxury and sensual pleasures.
-She may have other desires deep within, but the ones on display are voluptuary.
-Now this adipose-gifted voluptuary, who murdered his way to the top, is in the hands of the jury.
-In the movie Agnes of God, Amanda Plummer's Agnes was a voluptuary of Angelic possession.
- [The Prior Aymer’s] features might have been called good had there not lurked under the penthouse of [bags under] his eye that sly epicurean twinkle which indicates the cautious voluptuary {gourmand and gay-blade in monk’s clothing} [cautious: under cover of piety]. Scott: Ivanhoe.
-and we have already seen the consequences of the admiration her charms excited, when accident threw her into the power of that unprincipled voluptuary. Ibid.
- [Ship's surgeon Maturin is passing sentence on His Majesty's judges of the high court, c. 1802]: I remember an acquaintance of mine literally foaming—there was a line of white between his lips—as he condemned a wretched youth to transportation for carnal knowledge of a fine bold up-standing wench: yet this same [judge] was himself a smell-smock, a cold, determined lecher, a voluptuary, a libertine, a discreet frequenter of Mother Abbot's establishment in Dover Street. O'Brian: Desolation Island-34.
SECTION 4: HUMAN INTERACTION-SOCIAL
(Section 4 has seventy synonym groups. Here is the list of words you can learn from just one group):
CRITICIZE-REPROACH-SCORN-CONTEMPT-BELITTLE-SCOLD-DISPARAGE-DISPARAGEMENT-CRITICAL ABUSE-DETRACT FROM
animadversion
aspersion (see SLANDER)
bastinado (cf. Aggression-Assault)
billingsgate (cf. Coarse)
blast (see EVIL-HARM)
brickbat (cf. Aggression)
calumny-calumniate (see also DECEIT; FALSEHOOD)
castigate (cf. Punish)
contumely-contumelious (cf. Insolent-Rude)
cosh (see ASSAULT)
denigrate (see SLANDER)
derogate: (cf. Impair; Decay-Wasting; Do Harm)
dutch uncle
epater la bourgeoisie
excoriate (cf. Denounce)
flail
flay (see TEAR-REND)
run the gauntlet (see ENDURE-SUFFER)
gibbet
impugn (see CHALLENGE-OPPOSE)
inveigh
mordant (see CAUSTIC-HARSH)
niggle (see COMPULSIVE-PUNCTILIOUS)
objurgate-objurgation
obloquy (see SHAME-DISGRACE)
opprobrium (see SHAME-DISGRACE)
oppugn (see CALL INTO QUESTION-DISPUTE)
philippic
picador (see ASSAULT)
pillory
rag (see HARASS)
rate
reprove-reproof (see DENOUNCE-DISAPPROVE)
scathe (cf. Injury)
scurrility-scurrilous (see COARSE; ABUSE; cf. Behavior);
shend-shent (see SHAME);
traduce (see SLANDER; cf. Fraud; Shame)
truculent (see AGGRESSION; cf. Cruel; Grouch)
twit
vilify-vilification
vituperation (cf. Complaint)
SECTION 8: ORIGIN-DETERMINATION-ACCUMULATION-ORGANIZATION-LOSS-DISINTEGRATION-EVOLUTION-CHANGE
(Section 8 has thirty-eight synonym groups. Here a few words from one of those groups):
DESIGN-SCHEME-SCHEMATIC-ARRANGEMENT-PLAN-ORDER-OUTLINE-DESIGNATE-DESIGNATION (cf. SPATIAL RELATIONS; DESIGN-STRUCTURE-FRAMEWORK; PATTERN-MODEL
ambit (cf. Scope; Boundaries; Spatial Relationships)
apogee (see HIGH POINT);
architectonic (see also PHILOSOPHY; cf. Form-Structure)
bandy
bespoke (cf. Obligation-Order)
cameo (see SPECIFICITY)
cant
castellated
catenary
circumvallation
collate (see EXAMINE)
concinnity (cf. Elegance; Harmony)
crinkum-crankum
démarche (cf. Maneuver; Change; Point-Counterpoint)
esplanade (see SPACIAL RELATIONSHIPS)
filigree
goffer (cf. Ornamentation)
imbricate
intaglio (cf. Model-Pattern)
laciniate
lineament(s)
mandala (cf. Representation Scope)
marcel (see ORNAMENT)
meridian (see HIGH POINT)
niggle (see COMPULSIVELY DONE)
obtuse (see STUPID; cf. Insensitive)
parterre
permutation(s) (cf. Complexity; Change)
pitch (cf. Establish-Set Up)
pleach (cf. Connection)
prepense (cf. Thought)
punctilio (see FINE DISTINCTION)
recherché (see ELEGANCE-REFINED; EXCELLENCE)
rectilinear;
redact-redaction (see LANGUAGE)
relief (cf. Spatial Relationships)
reticulations (c. Complication; Complexity)
scenario (cf. Synopsis)
scrimshaw (see ORNAMENTATION)
serrate-serration
serried (cf. Spatial)
tegular;
tessellate;
tortile
train
vermicular
windrow
wrought (see WORK)
Ambit: (cf. Scope; Boundary; Spatial Rel.)
L. Ambi = around + Ire = to go > Ambire = to go round, surround, to go round canvassing for votes or help > Ambitus = a going about or around, circuit, revolution, orbit; circumlocution.
Def. 1. a circuit or circumference. 2. the limits or scope; boundary; bounds.
-Something will soon crack in Poland. The Soviet Union cannot permit free trade unions within its ambit. Dec. 1980.
-He has kissed [mid-east leader] and hailed [tyrant], so I am content to be excluded from the ambit of his affections. Concinnity: (cf. Elegance; Harmony)
L. Cum = with + Caedere = to cut > Concinnus = cut together so as to fit, skillfully joined, beautiful > Concinnitas = elegance, harmony of style.
Def. 1. a skillful, harmonious arrangement or adaptation of parts; harmony; elegance, esp. of literary style. 2. (Rhet.) harmony of tone and of logic among the elements of a discourse.
-The Viennese critic who referred to Beethoven's new Triple Concerto Op. 56 as "Beethoven's black sheep" must have suffered a keen craving for attention. Every composer should have such a "black sheep" of concinnity.
-I am serene, as one is seldom permitted to be these days, at the remarkable concinnity of this nation.
SECTION 10: Section 10: PHYSICAL: THE NATURAL WORLD
1. NATURE
2. SENSORY PERCEPTION-SENSATION
3. ADVANTAGE-SALIENT-VANTAGE POINT
4. HIGH POINT-LOFTY
5. LOW POINT
6. ATMOSPHERE (NATURAL)
7. BRIGHT-BRILLIANT-PENETRATING LIGHT
8. DULL-DARK
9. COLOR-COLORS
10. DELIBERATE MOTION-MOVE HALTINGLY
11. QUICK MOTION-MOVE LIGHTLY or SUDDENLY-COURSE
12. SPACIAL RELATIONSHIPS-DIRECTION-DISTANCE-ORIENTATION
13. ENVIRONS-ARENA-PLACE-LOCALE
14. PARTS OF THE BODY
12. SPACIAL RELATIONSHIPS-DIRECTION-DISTANCE-ORIENTATION (cf. Design; Time Relationships)
ambit (see ARRANGEMENT)
antipodes (see PAIR-OPPOSITES; cf. Connection)
apogee-perigee
asymptote
bourne (see ARCHAIC)
cant (cf. Design; Motion)
catenary (cf. Design)
concertina (see CONNECTION-SEPARATION)
cynosure (see SPECIFICITY)
declivity
empyrean (see HIGH POINT)
esplanade
gibbous
hyperborean
lenticular
meridian (see HIGH POINT)
obtuse (see STUPID; cf. Insensitivity; Arrangement)
offing-in the offing
parallax (see ILLUSION)
penetralia (see OCCULT)
perihelion- aphelion
pitch (see HIGH POINT)
proximate (cf. Time Rel.)
relief (see also DESIGN)
rod
rood (see MEASURE-AMOUNT)
serried (see also DESIGN)
sinuous-sinuosity (see DEVIOUS)
slue or slew (cf. Motion)
trace (c. Nature)
translation (see CHANGE)
Apogee-Perigee
< Gk. Apo = from + Ge > Gaia = earth > Gaios = of the earth > neut. Apogaion: Apogaion Diastema = off earth distance. Peri = around > Perigeios = around the earth.
Def. Apogee 1. the point farthest from the earth in the orbit of the moon or of a man-made satellite (vs. perigee). 2. the highest or farthest, most distant point.
Def. Perigee 1. the point nearest to the earth in the orbit of the moon or of a satellite. 2. the lowest or nearest point.
-If one considers his goal of political success as something that must be reined in from orbit, his fame is at its perigee: he touches it now; his standing is at apogee and apparently beyond retrieval.
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