English Synonyms and Antonyms

self-possessed.
LONGFELLOW Light of Stars st. 7.
Antonyms:
agitated, excited, frenzied, passionate, ruffled, violent, boisterous, fierce, furious, raging, stormy, wild,
disturbed, frantic, heated, roused, turbulent, wrathful.
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CANCEL.
Synonyms:
abolish, discharge, nullify, rescind, abrogate, efface, obliterate, revoke, annul, erase, quash, rub off or out, blot
out, expunge, remove, scratch out, cross off or out, make void, repeal, vacate.
Cancel, efface, erase, expunge, and obliterate have as their first meaning the removal of written characters or
other forms of record. To cancel is, literally, to make a lattice by cross-lines, exactly our English cross out; to
efface is to rub off, smooth away the face, as of an inscription; to erase is to scratch out, commonly for the
purpose of writing something else in the same space; to expunge, is to punch out with some sharp instrument,
so as to show that the words are no longer part of the writing; to obliterate is to cover over or remove, as a
letter, as was done by reversing the Roman stylus, and rubbing out with the rounded end what had been
written with the point on the waxen tablet. What has been canceled, erased, expunged, may perhaps still be
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
80

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traced; what is obliterated is gone forever, as if it had never been. In many establishments, when a debt is
discharged by payment, the record is canceled. The figurative use of the words keeps close to the primary
sense. Compare ABOLISH.
Antonyms:
approve, enact, establish, perpetuate, reenact, uphold, confirm, enforce, maintain, record, sustain, write.
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CANDID.
Synonyms:
aboveboard, honest, open, truthful, artless, impartial, simple, unbiased, fair, ingenuous, sincere, unprejudiced,
frank, innocent, straightforward, unreserved, guileless, naive, transparent, unsophisticated.
A candid statement is meant to be true to the real facts and just to all parties; a fair statement is really so. Fair
is applied to the conduct; candid is not; as, fair treatment, "a fair field, and no favor." One who is frank has a
fearless and unconstrained truthfulness. Honest and ingenuous unite in expressing contempt for deceit. On the
other hand, artless, guileless, naive, simple, and unsophisticated express the goodness which comes from want
of the knowledge or thought of evil. As truth is not always agreeable or timely, candid and frank have often an
objectionable sense; "to be candid with you," "to be perfectly frank," are regarded as sure preludes to
something disagreeable. Open and unreserved may imply unstudied truthfulness or defiant recklessness; as,
open admiration, open robbery. There may be transparent integrity or transparent fraud. Sincere applies to
the feelings, as being all that one's words would imply.
Antonyms:
adroit, cunning, diplomatic, intriguing, sharp, subtle, artful, deceitful, foxy, knowing, shrewd, tricky, crafty,
designing, insincere, maneuvering, sly, wily.
Prepositions:
Candid in debate; candid to or toward opponents; candid with friend or foe; to be candid about or in regard to
the matter.
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CAPARISON.
Synonyms:
accouterments, harness, housings, trappings.
Harness was formerly used of the armor of a knight as well as of a horse; it is now used almost exclusively of
the straps and appurtenances worn by a horse when attached to a vehicle; the animal is said to be "kind in