English Synonyms and Antonyms

Venial (L. venia, pardon) signifies capable of being pardoned, and, in common use, capable of being readily
pardoned, easily overlooked. Aside from its technical ecclesiastical use, venial is always understood as
marking some fault comparatively slight or trivial. A venial offense is one readily overlooked; a pardonable
offense requires more serious consideration, but on deliberation is found to be susceptible of pardon.
Excusable is scarcely applied to offenses, but to matters open to doubt or criticism rather than direct censure;
so used, it often falls little short of justifiable; as, I think, under those circumstances, his action was excusable.
Protestants do not recognize the distinction between venial and mortal sins. Venial must not be confounded
with the very different word VENAL. Compare VENAL.
Antonyms:
inexcusable, inexpiable, mortal, unpardonable, unjustifiable.
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VERACITY.
Synonyms:
candor, honesty, reality, truthfulness, frankness, ingenuousness, truth, verity.
Truth is primarily and verity is always a quality of thought or speech, especially of speech, as in exact
conformity to fact. Veracity is properly a quality of a person, the habit of speaking and the disposition to
speak the truth; a habitual liar may on some occasions speak the truth, but that does not constitute him a man
of veracity; on the other hand, a person of undoubted veracity may state (through ignorance or
misinformation) what is not the truth. Truthfulness is a quality that may inhere either in a person or in his
statements or beliefs. Candor, frankness, honesty, and ingenuousness are allied with veracity, and verity with
truth, while truthfulness may accord with either. Truth in a secondary sense may be applied to intellectual
action or moral character, in the former case becoming a close synonym of veracity; as, I know him to be a
man of truth.
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
292

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Antonyms:
deceit, duplicity, falsehood, fiction, lie, deception, error, falseness, guile, mendacity, delusion, fabrication,
falsity, imposture, untruth.
Compare synonyms for DECEPTION.
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VERBAL.
Synonyms:
literal, oral, vocal.
Oral (L. os, the mouth) signifies uttered through the mouth or (in common phrase) by word of mouth; verbal
(L. verbum, a word) signifies of, pertaining to, or connected with words, especially with words as
distinguished from the ideas they convey; vocal (L. vox, the voice) signifies of or pertaining to the voice,
uttered or modulated by the voice, and especially uttered with or sounding with full, resonant voice; literal (L.
litera, a letter) signifies consisting of or expressed by letters, or according to the letter, in the broader sense of
the exact meaning or requirement of the words used; what is called "the letter of the law" is its literal meaning
without going behind what is expressed by the letters on the page. Thus oral applies to that which is given by
spoken words in distinction from that which is written or printed; as, oral tradition; an oral examination. By
this rule we should in strictness speak of an oral contract or an oral message, but verbal contract and verbal
message, as indicating that which is by spoken rather than by written words, have become so fixed in the
language that they can probably never be changed; this usage is also in line with other idioms of the language;
as, "I give you my word," "a true man's word is as good as his bond," "by word of mouth," etc. A verbal
translation may be oral or written, so that it is word for word; a literal translation follows the construction and
idiom of the original as well as the words; a literal translation is more than one that is merely verbal; both