 | Term | Definition |
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rarefy |
clean, cleanse, depurate, distill, filter, rarefy, refine |
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repudiate |
abandon, abjure, apostatize, banish, be against, break with, cast, cast off, cut off, decline, default, defect, demur, deny, desert, disacknowledge, disapprove, disavow, discard, disclaim, dishonor, disinherit, dismiss, disown, dump, flush*, forsake, nix*, oust, rat*, recant, refuse, renounce, repeal, reprobate, rescind, retract, reverse, revoke, spurn, tergiversate, tergiverse, turn, turn down |
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reticent |
bashful, clam, clammed up*, close, close-mouthed, dried up*, dummied up*, garbo, hesitant, mum, quiet, reserved, restrained, shy, silent, taciturn, tight-lipped, uncommunicative, unforthcoming, unspeaking |
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rhetoric |
address, balderdash*, big talk*, bombast, composition, discourse, elocution, eloquence, flowery language, fustian, grandiloquence, hot air*, hyperbole, long speech, magniloquence, oration, oratory, pomposity, rant, tall talk, verbosity |
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satiate |
cloy, content, fill, glut, gorge, gratify, indulge, jade, nauseate, overdose, overfill, pall, sate, saturate, slake, stuff, surfeit |
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soporific |
anesthetic, balmy, calming, deadening, dozy*, drowsy, dull, hypnotic, mesmerizing, narcotic, nodding, numbing, opiate, quietening, sedative, sleep-inducing, slumberous, snoozy*, somniferous, somnolent, soothing, tranquilizing |
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specious |
apparent, apparently right, beguiling, captious, casuistic, colorable, credible, deceptive, delusive, empty, erroneous, fallacious, false, flattering, hollow, idle, illogical, inaccurate, incorrect, likely, nugatory, ostensible, ostentatious, plausible, pompous, presumable, presumptive, pretentious, probable, seeming, sophistic, sophistical, sophisticated, spurious, unsound, untrue, vain, wrong |
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stigma |
bar sinister*, besmirchment, black eye, black mark*, blame, blemish, blot, brand, disfigurement, disgrace, dishonor, fleck, imputation, lost face*, mark, odium, onus, reproach, scar, slur, smudge, splotch, spot, stain, taint |
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stolid |
blunt, bovine, dense, doltish, dry, dull, dumb, heavy, impassive, inactive, indifferent, inert, lumpish, matter-of-fact, obtuse, passive, phlegmatic, slow, stoic, stupid, supine, unemotional, unexcitable, wooden |
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sublime |
abstract, august, divine, dynamite, elevated, eminent, evil, exalted, fab, far out, fat, glorious, gorgeous, grand, greatest, heavenly, heavy, high, holy, ideal, imposing, lofty, magnificent, majestic, noble, outrageous, proud, resplendent, sacred, solid gold, spiritual, splendiferous, splendorous, stately, super, superb, the most*, too much*, transcendent, transcendental, zero cool |
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tacit |
alluded to, allusive, assumed, hinted at, implicit, implied, inarticulate, indirect, inferred, intimated, silent, suggested, undeclared, understood, unexpressed, unsaid, unspoken, unstated, unvoiced, wordless |
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taciturn |
aloof, antisocial, brooding, clammed up*, close, close-mouthed*, cold, curt, distant, dour, dried up, dumb, dummied up, garbo, laconic, mum, mute, quiet, reserved, reticent, sententious, silent, sparing, speechless, tight-lipped*, unexpressive, unforthcoming, withdrawn |
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tirade |
abuse, anger, berating, censure, condemnation, denunciation, diatribe, dispute, fulmination, harangue, invective, jeremiad*, lecture, malediction, philippic*, ranting, revilement, screed, sermon, tongue-lashing*, vituperation |
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torpor |
apathy, disinterest, dormancy, drowsiness, dullness, idleness, impassivity, inaction, inactivity, languor, laziness, lifelessness, listlessness, passiveness, sleepiness, sloth, slowness, sluggishness, slumber, stupor, torpidity, torpidness |
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transitory |
changeable, deciduous, emigrating, ephemeral, evanescent, flash, fleeting, flitting, fly-by-night*, flying, fugacious, fugitive, going by, impermanent, insubstantial, migrating, momentary, moving, passing, provisional, short, short-lived, short-term, temporal, transmigratory, unstable, vacating, volatile |
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vacillate |
be indecisive, be irresolute, change, change mind, dither, fence-straddle*, fluctuate, hedge, hesitate, hover, oscillate, pause, pussyfoot around*, reel, rock, seesaw*, shilly-shally*, stagger, straddle, sway, swing, waffle, waver, whiffle*, yo-yo* |
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venerate |
admire, adore, apotheosize, appreciate, be in awe of, cherish, deify, esteem, exalt, hallow, hold in awe, honor, idolize, look up to*, love, put on a pedestal*, regard, respect, reverence, think highly of, treasure, value, worship |
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veracity |
accuracy, actuality, authenticity, candor, correctness, credibility, exactitude, exactness, fact, fairness, fidelity, frankness, genuineness, gospel*, honest-to-god truth*, honesty, honor, impartiality, integrity, openness, precision, probity, real McCoy*, reality, rectitude, rightness, sincerity, straight stuff*, trueness, truism, trustworthiness, truthfulness, uprightness, verisimilitude, verity, word* |
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verbose |
bombastic, circumlocutory, diffuse, flowery, fustian, gabby*, garrulous, grandiloquent, involved, long-winded, loquacious, magniloquent, palaverous, periphrastic, pleonastic, prolix, redundant, repeating, repetitious, repetitive, rhetorical, talkative, talky*, tautological, tautologous, tedious, tortuous, windy*, yacking* |
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vex |
abrade, afflict, aggravate, agitate, anger, annoy, be at, bother, brown off, bug, chafe, depress, displease, disquiet, disturb, eat*, embarrass, exasperate, fret, gall*, grate on*, harass, harry, hassle, infuriate, irk, irritate, molest, needle, nettle, noodge, offend, peeve, perplex, pester, pique, plague, provoke, put out*, rasp, ride, rile, tease, tick off*, torment, trouble, turn off*, upset, worry |
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volatile |
airy, buoyant, capricious, changeableness, effervescent, elastic, elusive, ephemeral, erratic, expansive, fickle, fleeting, flighty, flippant, frivolous, fugacious, fugitive, gaseous, gay, giddy, impermanent, imponderable, inconsistent, inconstant, light, lively, lubricious, mercurial, momentary, playful, resilient, short-lived, sprightly, subtle, temperamental, ticklish, transient, transitory, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, vaporous, variable, whimsical |
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waiver |
abandonment, abdication, disclaimer, forgoing, letting go, postponement, refusal, rejection, relinquishment, remission, renunciation, reservation, resignation, setting aside, surrender, tabling |
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whimsical |
amusing, arbitrary, capricious, chancy, chimerical, comical, curious, dicey, droll, eccentric, erratic, fanciful, fantastic, flaky*, freakish, funny, iffy, kinky*, mischievous, odd, peculiar, quaint, queer*, quizzical, singular, uncertain, unpredictable, unusual, waggish, wayward, weird* |
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zeal |
alacrity, ardor, bustle, determination, devotion, diligence, dispatch, drive, eagerness, earnestness, enterprise, fanaticism, fervor, fierceness, fire, gusto, hop, hustle, inclination, initiative, intensity, intentness, keenness, mania, passion, perseverance, push, readiness, sincerity, spirit, stick-to-itiveness*, urgency, vehemence, verve, warmth, what-it-takes*, yen, zest |
