 | Term | Definition |
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obdurate |
adamant, bullhead*, callous, cold fish*, dogged, firm, fixed, hang tough, hard, hard-boiled*, hard-hearted*, hard-nosed*, harsh, heartless, immovable, implacable, indurate, inexorable, inflexible, iron*, mean, mulish*, obstinate, perverse, pig-headed, relentless, rigid, stiff-necked*, thick-skinned*, tough, unbending, uncompassionate, uncompromising, uncooperative, unemotional, unfeeling, unimpressible, unrelenting, unshakable, unsympathetic, unyielding |
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obsequious |
abject, apple-polishing, beggarly, bootlicking, brown-nosing, complacent, compliable, compliant, cringing, crouching, deferential, enslaved, flattering, groveling, ingratiating, kowtowing*, mealy-mouthed, menial, obeisant, oily*, parasitic, parasitical, prostrate, respectful, servile, slavish, smarmy, sneaking, sniveling, spineless*, stipendiary, subject, submissive, subordinate, subservient, sycophantic, toadying*, toadyish, truckling, unctuous |
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obstinate |
adamant, cantankerous, contradictory, contrary, contumacious, convinced, determined, dogged, dogmatic, firm, hard, hardened, headstrong, heady, immovable, indomitable, inflexible, intractable, intransigent, locked in*, mulish*, obdurate, opinionated, opinionative, persistent, pertinacious, perverse, pig-headed, recalcitrant, refractory, relentless, resolved, restive, self-willed, steadfast, strong-minded, tenacious, unalterable, unflinching, unmanageable, unyielding, willful |
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obviate |
anticipate, avert, block, counter, counteract, deter, forestall, forfend, hinder, interfere, interpose, intervene, preclude, prevent, remove, restrain, rule out, stave off, ward |
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occlude |
choke, clog, close, close out, congest, curb, fill, hinder, impede, leave out, lock out, obstruct, plug, prevent, seal, shut, stop up, stopper, throttle |
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onerous |
arduous, austere, backbreaking, burdensome, crushing, cumbersome, demanding, difficult, distressing, embittering, exacting, excessive, exhausting, exigent, fatiguing, formidable, galling, grave, grinding, grueling, hard*, harsh, headache, heavy*, intolerable, irksome, laborious, merciless, oppressive, overpowering, overtaxing, painful, plodding, ponderous, pressing, responsible, rigorous, serious, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiresome, tiring, toilsome, troublesome, vexatious, weighty |
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opaque |
blurred, cloudy, dark, darkened, dim, dirty, dull, dusky, filmy, foggy, frosty, fuliginous, gloomy, hazy, impenetrable, lusterless, misty, muddied, muddy, murky, nontranslucent, nontransparent, nubilous, obfuscated, shady, smoky, sooty, thick, turbid |
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opprobrium |
black eye*, blemish, debasement, debasing, degradation, discredit, dishonor, disrepute, disrespect, humiliation, ignominy, ill repute, infamy, loss of honor, obloquy, shame, stain, stigma, tarnish |
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ostentatious |
boastful, chichi*, classy, conspicuous, crass*, dashing, duded up, egotistic, exhibitionistic, extravagant, flamboyant, flatulent, flaunted, fussy, garish, gaudy, gay, glittery, grandiose, highfalutin', jaunty, loud, obtrusive, peacocky, pompous, pretentious, showy, spectacular, splashy, splurgy, sporty, swank, swanky*, theatrical, tinsel*, tony*, uptown*, vain, vulgar |
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paradox |
absurdity, ambiguity, anomaly, catch, catch 22, enigma, error, inconsistency, mistake, mystery, nonsense, oddity, opposite, puzzle, reverse |
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paragon |
apotheosis, archetype, beau ideal*, beaut, beauty, best, champ, champion, crackerjack*, cream*, criterion, cynosure, epitome, exemplar, gem, ideal, jewel*, last word, love, lovely, masterpiece, model, nonesuch, nonpareil, original, paradigm, pattern, peach*, perfection, pick, prototype, quintessence, standard, sublimation, tops*, trump*, ultimate |
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pedantic |
abstruse, academic, arid, didactic, doctrinaire, donnish, dry, dull, egotistic, erudite, formal, fussy, hairsplitting*, learned, nitpicking, ostentatious, overnice, particular, pedagogic, pompous, precise, priggish*, punctilious, scholastic, schoolish, sententious, stilted |
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perfidious |
betraying, deceitful, deceptive, double-crossing*, double-dealing*, faithless, false, insidious, misleading, recreant, shifty*, slick*, snake in the grass*, traitorous, two-faced*, two-timing*, undependable, unfaithful, unloyal, unreliable, untrustworthy |
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perfunctory |
apathetic, careless, cool, cursory, disinterested, heedless, impersonal, inattentive, indifferent, involuntary, lackadaisical, laid back, loose, mechanical, negligent, offhand, routine, sketchy, slipshod*, slovenly, standard, stereotyped, stock, superficial, unaware, unconcerned, uninterested, unthinking, usual, wooden* |
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permeate |
charge, diffuse, drench, fill, go through, imbue, impregnate, infiltrate, infuse, ingrain, interfuse, invade, pass through, penetrate, percolate, pervade, pierce, saturate, seep, soak, spread, stab, stalk, steep, suffuse, transfuse |
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philanthropy |
alms, alms-giving, altruism, assistance, benefaction, beneficence, charity, contribution, dole, donation, endowment, fund, generosity, gifting, good works, helping hand*, relief |
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placate |
appease, assuage, calm, cheer, comfort, conciliate, cool, fix up, humor, make nice, make peace*, make up*, mollify, pacify, propitiate, reconcile, satisfy, soft-pedal*, soothe, stroke*, sweeten, tranquilize, win over* |
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plastic |
artificial, bending, cast, cellulose, chemical, ductile, elastic, fictile, formable, moldable, molded, pliable, pliant, pseudo*, resilient, shapable, soft, substitute, superficial, supple, synthetic, workable |
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plethora |
deluge, flood, glut, many, much, overabundance, overflow, overkill, overmuch, plenty, profusion, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus |
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pragmatic |
businesslike, commonsensical, down-to-earth, efficient, extensional, hard, hard-boiled*, hardheaded*, logical, matter-of-fact, philistine, practical, realistic, sober, unidealistic, utilitarian |
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precipitate |
accelerate, advance, bring on, cast, discharge, dispatch, expedite, fling, further, hasten, hurl, hurry, launch, let fly, press, push forward, quicken, send forth, speed up, throw, trigger |
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prevaricate |
belie, cavil, con, distort, dodge, equivocate, evade, exaggerate, fabricate, falsify, fib, garble, hedge, invent, jive*, lie*, misrepresent, palter, phony up*, put on*, quibble, shift, shuffle, stretch, tergiversate |
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pristine |
earliest, early, first, immaculate, intact, natural, original, primal, purified, refined, sanitary, snowy, spotless, stainless, sterile, sterilized, taintless, unadulterated, uncorrupted, undebased, unpolluted, unsoiled, unspotted, unstained, unsullied, untainted, untarnished, untouched, virginal, wholesome |
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prodigal |
dissipated, excessive, extravagant, immoderate, improvident, intemperate, lavish, profligate, reckless, spendthrift, squandering, wanton |
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proliferate |
breed, burgeon, engender, escalate, expand, generate, grow rapidly, multiply, mushroom*, procreate, propagate, reproduce, run riot*, snowball* |
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propitiate |
allay, alleviate, assuage, be enough, blunt, calm, compose, conciliate, content, diminish, do*, ease, gratify, lessen, lull, meet halfway, mitigate, mollify, pacify, placate, propitiate, quell, quench, quiet, serve, soften, soothe, subdue, sweeten, tranquilize |
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propriety |
accordance, advisability, agreeableness, appositeness, appropriateness, aptness, becomingness, compatibility, concord, congruity, consonance, convenience, correctness, correspondence, decorum, ethicality, expedience, fitness, harmony, justice, legitimacy, meetness, morality, order, pleasantness, properness, recommendability, rectitude, respectability, rightness, seemliness, suitability |
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prudence |
abstemiousness, asceticism, chasteness, chastity, continence, demperance, determination, economy, prudence, puritanism, refraining, self-denial, self-discipline, sobriety, stoicism, strictness |
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pungent |
acid, acrid, aromatic, bitter, effluvious, high, hot, nosey*, odoriferous, peppery, piquant, poignant, racy, rich, salty, seasoned, sharp, snappy, sour, spicy, stinging, stinking*, strong, tangy, tart, whiffy*, zesty |
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quiescent |
asleep, at rest, deactivated, dormant, fallow, idle, immobile, in abeyance, inert, inoperative, latent, motionless, passive, quiet, slumbering, stagnant, still |
