 | Term | Definition |
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banal |
blah*, bland, bromidic, clichéd, common, conventional, corn, corn-fed, cornball*, corny, dull, everyday, flat, hackneyed, ho-hum, hokey*, hokum, humdrum*, insipid, no place, nothing, nowhere, old hat*, ordinary, pablum, pedestrian, platitudinous, square, stale, stereotyped, stock, stupid, tired, tripe, trite, unimaginative, unoriginal, vapid, watery, wishy-washy*, zero* |
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bolster |
aid, assist, bear up, boost, brace, buck up, bulwark, buoy, buttress, carry, cushion, help, hold up, maintain, pick up, reinforce, shore up, stay, strengthen, support, sustain, uphold |
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bombastic |
aureate, balderdash, big-talking*, bullshitting, declamatory, euphuistic, flowery, fustian, grandiloquent, grandiose, high-flown, highfalutin*, histrionic, inflated, loudmouth, magniloquent, orotund, ostentatious, overblown, ranting, rhapsodic, rhetorical, sonorous, swollen, tumid, turgid, verbose, windbag*, windy, wordy |
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cacophony |
cacophony, clinker, din, disharmony, dissonance, harshness, jangle, jarring, racket, sour note |
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candid |
aboveboard, bluff, blunt, equal, equitable, fair, forthright, frank, free, frontal, genuine, guileless, impartial, ingenuous, just, objective, open, outspoken, plain, scrupulous, sincere, straightforward, truthful, unbiased, uncolored, unequivocal, unprejudiced, unpretended, up front*, upright |
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capricious |
arbitrary, careless, changeful, contrary, crotchety, effervescent, erratic, fanciful, fantasmo, fickle, fitful, flaky*, flighty, freakish, gaga*, helter-skelter*, higgledy-piggledy, humorsome, impulsive, inconstant, kinky*, lubricious, mercurial, moody, mutable, notional, odd, picky*, punchy*, queer, quirky, temperamental, ticklish, unpredictable, unreasonable, unstable, vagarious, variable, volatile, wayward, whimsical, yo-yo* |
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castigate |
baste, bawl out*, beat, berate, blister, cane, censure, chasten, chastise, chew out*, correct, criticize, discipline, dress down*, drub, eat out, excoriate, flay, flog, lambaste, lash, lay out*, penalize, pummel, punish, rail, rate, ream, rebuke, reprimand, scarify, scathe, scold, scorch, scourge, thrash, tongue-lash*, upbraid, whip |
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catalyst |
agitator, enzyme, goad, iconoclast, impetus, impulse, incendiary, incentive, incitation, incitement, motivation, radical stimulus, reactant, reactionary, spark plug*, spur, stimulant, synergist, wave maker* |
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caustic |
abrasive, acerbic, acid, acrid, alkaline, astringent, biting, corroding, corrosive, erosive, keen, mordant, pungent, tart |
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chaos |
anarchy, ataxia, bedlam, clutter, disarray, discord, disorder, disorganization, entropy, free-for-all*, holy mess*, lawlessness, misrule, mix-up, mobocracy, muddle, pandemonium, rat's nest*, snarl, tumult, turmoil, unruliness |
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chauvinist |
misanthrope(mankind-hater), misandrist(man-hater), misogynist(woman-hater) |
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chicanery |
artifice, cheating, chicane, deviousness, dishonesty, doge, double-crossing, double-dealing*, duplicity, feint, fourberie, fraud, furtiveness, gambit, hanky-panky*, intrigue, machination, maneuver, plot, ploy, ruse, sharp practice, skulduggery, sophistry, stratagem, subterfuge, surreptitiousness, trickery, underhandedness, wiles |
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cogent |
apt, compelling, conclusive, consequential, convictive, convincing, fitting, forceful, forcible, inducing, influential, irresistible, justified, meaningful, momentous, persuasive, pertinent, potent, powerful, puissant, relevant, satisfactory, satisfying, significant, solid, sound, strong, suasive, telling, urgent, valid, weighty, well-grounded |
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condone |
disregard, excuse, forget, forgive, ignore, let pass*, okay, overlook, pardon, pass over, remit, wink at* |
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convoluted |
baffling, complex, confused, elaborate, impenetrable, intricate, involved, labyrinthine, perplexing, puzzling, serpentine, tangled, tortuous |
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corroborate |
approve, authenticate, bear out, certify, check on, check out, check up, declare true, document, double check, endorse, establish, give nod*, justify, okay, prove, ratify, rubber-stamp*, strengthen, substantiate, support, sustain, validate, verify |
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credulous |
accepting, believing, born yesterday*, dupable, easy mark*, fall for, green, gullible, overtrusting, simple, swallow whole, taken in, trustful, trusting, uncritical, unquestioning, unsophisticated, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary |
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crescendo |
apex, ascension, building, climb, crest, critical mass, culmination, elevation, escalation, intensification, peak, pinnacle, rise, summit, surge, upsurge, zenith |
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decorum |
breeding, civility, conduct, convenance, convention, correctitude, correctness, courtliness, decency, demeanor, deportment, dignity, etiquette, form, formality, gentility, good grace, gravity, habits, order, orderliness, politeness, politesse, properness, propriety, protocol, punctilio, respectability, seemliness, tact |
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deference |
acquiescence, capitulation, complaisance, compliance, condescension, docility, obeisance, submission, yielding |
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deride |
banter, chaff, contemn, detract, disdain, disparage, dump on*, flout, gibe, jeer, jolly, kid, knock, laugh at, lout, mock, pan, pooh-pooh*, put-down, quiz, rag*, rally, razz*, rib*, ridicule, roast*, scoff, scorn, slam, sneer, taunt, twit |
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desiccate |
anhydrate, dehydrate, deplete, devitalize, divest, drain, dry, dry up, evaporate, exsiccate, parch, sear, shrivel, wither, wizen |
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desultory |
aimless, chance, chaotic, deviating, erratic, haphazard, orderless, rambling, unmethodical, unstable, unsystematic, without purpose |
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diatribe |
abuse, castigation, denunciation, disputation, harangue, invective, jeremiad, objection, onslaught, philippic, reviling, screed, stricture, tirade, vituperation |
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diffident |
backward, bashful, blenching, chary, constrained, coy, demure, distrustful, doubtful, dubious, flinching, humble, insecure, meek, modest, reluctant, reserved, retiring, self-conscious, self-effacing, sheepish, shrinking, shy, suspicious, timid, timorous, unassertive, unassuming, unassured, unconfident, unobtrusive, unpoised, unsure, withdrawn |
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dilate |
amplify, augment, be profuse, be prolix, broaden, develop, distend, enlarge, expand, expatiate, expound, extend, increase, inflate, lengthen, prolong, protract, puff out, spin off, swell, widen |
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dilatory |
backward, behindhand, dallying, delaying, deliberate, laggard, late, lax, lazy, leisurely, lingering, loitering, moratory, neglectful, negligent, putting off, remiss, slack, slow, sluggish, snail-like*, tardy, tarrying, time-wasting, unhurried |
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dilettante |
artsy, dabbling, dilettantish, green*, half-baked*, half-cocked*, jackleg, rookie, unaccomplished, ungifted, unskilled |
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dirge |
chant, cry, dead march, death song, elegy, funeral song, hymn, jeremiad, keen, lament, march, monody, requiem, threnody |
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disabuse |
abolish, absolve, clarify, clean out, cleanse, clear, depurate, disabuse, dismiss, dispose of, eject, eradicate, erase, excrete, exonerate, expel, expiate, expunge, exterminate, forgive, kill, liquidate, oust, pardon, prevent, purify, remove, rout out, shake out*, sweep out, unload, wash, wipe out |
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discern |
anticipate, apprehend, ascertain, behold, decern, descry, detect, determine, difference, differentiate, dig, discover, discrepate, discriminate, distinguish, divine, espy, extricate, figure out, find out, focus, foresee, judge, know, make distinction, make out, note, notice, observe, perceive, pick out, read, remark, rubberneck*, see, see through, separate, sever, severalize, spot, take in, view |
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disparate |
at odds, at variance, contrary, contrasting, discordant, discrepant, dissimilar, distant, distinct, divergent, diverse, far cry, incommensurate, incompatible, inconsistent, inconsonant, poles apart, separate, unalike, unequal, unequivalent, uneven, unlike, unsimilar, various |
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dissemble |
affect, beard, camouflage, cloak, conceal, counterfeit, cover, cover up, disguise, dissimulate, double talk, doublespeak*, dress up, fake, falsify, feign, four-flush*, hide, let on*, make like*, mask, pass, play possum*, pussyfoot*, sham*, shroud, signify, simulate, stonewall*, whitewash* |
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dissonance |
antagonism, conflict, contention, controversy, difference, disaccord, discord, discrepancy, disharmony, disparity, dissension, dissidence, incongruity, inconsistency, strife, variance |
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dogma |
article, canon, conviction, credenda, credo, creed, doctrine, gospel, opinion, persuasion, precept, principle, rule, teachings, tenet, view |
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dogmatic |
arbitrary, arrogant, assertive, bigoted, bullheaded*, categorical, cocksure*, confident, definite, despotic, determined, dictative, doctrinaire, domineering, downright, egotistical, emphatic, fanatical, fascistic, formal, iceman, imperious, intolerant, magisterial, narrow-minded, obdurate, obstinate, one-sided, oracular, overbearing, peremptory, pigheaded*, prejudiced, red neck, stiff-necked, stubborn, stupid, tenacious, tyrannical, unequivocal, wrong-headed |
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dupe |
butt*, chump*, clay pigeon, easy mark*, fall guy, fish*, fool, greeny, gull, mark*, patsy*, pigeon*, pushover*, sap*, simpleton, sitting duck*, sucker, victim |
