English Synonyms and Antonyms

Help expresses greater dependence and deeper need than aid. In extremity we say "God help me!" rather than
"God aid me!" In time of danger we cry "help! help!" rather than "aid! aid!" To aid is to second another's own
exertions. We can speak of helping the helpless, but not of aiding them. Help includes aid, but aid may fall
short of the meaning of help. In law to aid or abet makes one a principal. (Compare synonyms for
ACCESSORY.) To cooperate is to aid as an equal; to assist implies a subordinate and secondary relation.
One assists a fallen friend to rise; he cooperates with him in helping others. Encourage refers to mental aid,
as uphold now usually does; succor and support, oftenest to material assistance. We encourage the timid or
despondent, succor the endangered, support the weak, uphold those who else might be shaken or cast down.
Compare ABET; PROMOTE.
Antonyms:
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
162

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counteract, discourage, oppose, resist, thwart, withstand.
Prepositions:
Help in an enterprise with money; help to success; against the enemy.
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HERETIC.
Synonyms:
dissenter, heresiarch, non-conformist, schismatic.
Etymologically, a heretic is one who takes or chooses his own belief, instead of the belief of his church;
hence, a heretic is one who denies commonly accepted views, or who holds opinions contrary to the
recognized standard or tenets of any established religious, philosophical, or other system, school, or party; the
religious sense of the word is the predominant one; a schismatic is primarily one who produces a split or rent
in the church. A heretic differs in doctrine from the religious body with which he is connected; a schismatic
differs in doctrine or practise, or in both. A heretic may be reticent, or even silent; a schismatic introduces
divisions. A heresiarch is the author of a heresy or the leader of a heretical party, and is thus at once a heretic
and a schismatic. With advancing ideas of religious liberty, the odious sense once attached to these words is
largely modified, and heretic is often used playfully. Dissenter and non-conformist are terms specifically
applied to English subjects who hold themselves aloof from the Church of England; the former term is
extended to non-adherents of the established church in some other countries, as Russia.
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HETEROGENEOUS.
Synonyms:
confused, mingled, unhomogeneous, conglomerate, miscellaneous, unlike, discordant, mixed, variant,
dissimilar, non-homogeneous, various.
Substances quite unlike are heterogeneous as regards each other. A heterogeneous mixture is one whose
constituents are not only unlike in kind, but unevenly distributed; cement is composed of substances such as
lime, sand, and clay, which are heterogeneous as regards each other, but the cement is said to be
homogeneous if the different constituents are evenly mixed throughout, so that any one portion of the mixture
is exactly like any other. A substance may fail of being homogeneous and yet not be heterogeneous, in which
case it is said to be non-homogeneous or unhomogeneous; a bar of iron that contains flaws, air-bubbles, etc.,
or for any other reason is not of uniform structure and density throughout, tho no foreign substance be mixed
with the iron, is said to be non-homogeneous. A miscellaneous mixture may or may not be heterogeneous; if
the objects are alike in kind, but different in size, form, quality, use, etc., and without special order or relation,
the collection is miscellaneous; if the objects differ in kind, such a mixture is also, and more strictly,