English Synonyms and Antonyms

light that appears and disappears in an instant; as, a flash of lightning; the flash of gunpowder. The glare and
glow are steady, the glare painfully bright, the glow subdued; as, the glare of torches; the glow of dying
embers. Shine and shining refer to a steady or continuous emission of light; sheen is a faint shining, usually by
reflection. Glimmer, glitter, and shimmer denote wavering light. We speak of the glimmer of distant lamps
through the mist; of the shimmer of waves in sunlight or moonlight. A gleam is not wavering, but transient or
intermittent; a sudden gleam of light came through the half-open door; a glitter is a hard light; as, the glitter of
burnished arms. A sparkle is a sudden light, as of sparks thrown out; scintillation is the more exact and
scientific term for the actual emission of sparks, also the figurative term for what suggests such emission; as,
scintillations of wit or of genius. Twinkle and twinkling are used of the intermittent light of the fixed stars.
Glistening is a shining as from a wet surface. Illumination is a wide-spread, brilliant light, as when all the
windows of a house or of a street are lighted. The light of incandescence is intense and white like that from
metal at a white heat.
Antonyms:
blackness, darkness, dusk, gloominess, shade, dark, dimness, gloom, obscurity, shadow.
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LIKELY.
Synonyms:
apt, conceivable, liable, probable, credible, conjectural, presumable, reasonable.
Apt implies a natural fitness or tendency; an impetuous person is apt to speak hastily. Liable refers to a
contingency regarded as unfavorable; as, the ship was liable to founder at any moment. Likely refers to a
contingent event regarded as very probable, and usually, tho not always, favorable; as, an industrious worker
is likely to succeed. Credible signifies readily to be believed; as, a credible narrative; likely in such connection
is used ironically to signify the reverse; as, a likely story! A thing is conceivable of which the mind can
entertain the possibility; a thing is conjectural which is conjectured as possible or probable without other
support than a conjecture, or tentative judgment; a thing is presumable which, from what is antecedently
known, may betaken for granted in advance of proof. Reasonable in this connection signifies such as the
reason can be satisfied with, independently of external grounds for belief or disbelief; as, that seems a
reasonable supposition. Compare APPARENT.
Antonyms:
doubtful, improbable, questionable, unreasonable. dubious, incredible, unlikely,
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Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
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LISTEN.
Synonyms:
attend, hark, harken, hear, heed, list.
Between listen and hear is a difference like that between the words look and see. (Compare synonyms for
LOOK.) To hear is simply to become conscious of sound, to listen is to make a conscious effort or endeavor
to hear. We may hear without listening, as words suddenly uttered in an adjoining room; or we may listen
without hearing, as to a distant speaker. In listening the ear is intent upon the sound; in attending the mind is
intent upon the thought, tho listening implies some attention to the meaning or import of the sound. To heed is
not only to attend, but to remember and observe. Harken is nearly obsolete.
Antonyms:
be deaf to, ignore, neglect, scorn, slight.
Prepositions:
We listen for what we expect or desire to hear; we listen to what we actually do hear; listen for a step, a
signal, a train; listen to the debate.
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LITERATURE.
Synonyms:
belles-lettres, literary productions, publications, books, literary works, writings.
Literature is collective, including in the most general sense all the written or printed productions of the human
mind in all lands and ages, or in a more limited sense, referring to all that has been published in some land or
age, or in some department of human knowledge; as, the literature of Greece; the literature of the Augustan
age; the literature of politics or of art. Literature, used absolutely, denotes what has been called "polite
literature" or belles-lettres, i. e., the works collectively that embody taste, feeling, loftiness of thought, and
purity and beauty of style, as poetry, history, fiction, and dramatic compositions, including also much of
philosophical writing, as the "Republic" of Plato, and oratorical productions, as the orations of Demosthenes.
In the broad sense, we can speak of the literature of science; in the narrower sense, we speak of literature and
science as distinct departments of knowledge. Literature is also used to signify literary pursuits or
occupations; as, to devote one's life to literature. Compare KNOWLEDGE; SCIENCE.
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LOAD, n.
Synonyms:
burden, charge, encumbrance, incubus, pack, cargo, clog, freight, lading, weight.
A burden (from the Anglo-Saxon byrthen, from the verb beran, bear) is what one has to bear, and the word is
used always of that which is borne by a living agent. A load (from the Anglo-Saxon l[=a]d, a way, course,
carrying, or carriage) is what is laid upon a person, animal, or vehicle for conveyance, or what is customarily
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so imposed; as, a two-horse load. Weight measures the pressure due to gravity; the same weight that one finds
a moderate load when in his full strength becomes a heavy burden in weariness or weakness. A ship's load is
called distinctively a cargo, or it may be known as freight or lading. Freight denotes merchandise in or for
transportation and is used largely of transportation or of merchandise transported by rail, which is, in
commercial language, said to be "shipped." A load to be fastened upon a horse or mule is called a pack, and
the animal is known as a pack-horse or pack-mule.
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LOCK.
Synonyms:
bar, catch, fastening, hook, bolt, clasp, hasp, latch.
A bar is a piece of wood or metal, usually of considerable size, by which an opening is obstructed, a door held
fast, etc. A bar may be movable or permanent; a bolt is a movable rod or pin of metal, sliding in a socket and
adapted for securing a door or window. A lock is an arrangement by which an enclosed bolt is shot forward or
backward by a key, or other device; the bolt is the essential part of the lock. A latch or catch is an accessible
fastening designed to be easily movable, and simply to secure against accidental opening of the door, cover,
etc. A hasp is a metallic strap that fits over a staple, calculated to be secured by a padlock; a simple hook that
fits into a staple is also called a hasp. A clasp is a fastening that can be sprung into place, to draw and hold the