English Synonyms and Antonyms

appellation? a title? Give instances of the use of these three words. 3. From what language is epithet derived?
What is its primary meaning? 4. What does epithet signify in literary use? 5. What part of speech is an
epithet? Is it favorable or unfavorable in signification? 6. What is a cognomen? How does it differ from a
surname? 7. What is style considered as a synonym of name?
EXAMPLES.
Those he commands, move only in command Nothing in love: now does he feel the ---- Hang loose about
him, like a giant's robe Upon a dwarfish thief.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his ---- together.
* * * * *
NATIVE (page 248).
QUESTIONS.
1. What does native denote? natal? natural? 2. What examples are given in the text of the correct use of these
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
413

---

words?
EXAMPLES.
I would advise no child's being taught music who has not a ---- aptitude for it.
It was the 4th of July, the ---- day of American freedom.
* * * * *
NAUTICAL (page 248).
QUESTIONS.
1. From what is marine derived? maritime? What do these two words respectively signify? 2. From what is
naval derived? nautical? How do these words differ in meaning? 3. How does ocean, used adjectively, differ
from oceanic?
EXAMPLES.
That sea-beast, Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim the ---- stream.
* * * * *
NEAT (page 249).
QUESTIONS.
1. What does clean signify? 2. Does orderly apply to persons or things, and in what sense? 3. What does tidy
denote? 4. What is the meaning of neat? 5. How does nice compare with neat? 6. What is the significance of
spruce? trim? dapper?
EXAMPLES.
If he (Jefferson) condescended to turn ---- sentences for delicate ears--still, he was essentially an earnest man.
Still to be ----, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast, Still to be powder'd, still perfum'd.
* * * * *
NECESSARY (page 250).
QUESTIONS.
1. When is a thing properly said to be necessary? 2. What is the meaning of essential? How does it differ from
indispensable? 3. With reference to what is a thing said to be requisite? How does requisite compare with
essential and indispensable? 4. How do inevitable and unavoidable compare? To what kind of things are both
these words applied? 5. How do needed and needful compare with necessary?
EXAMPLES.
As you grow ready for it, somewhere or other you will find what is ---- for you in a book.
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
414

---

The ideas of space and time are called in philosophy ---- ideas.
* * * * *
NECESSITY (page 250).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is necessity? 2. What do need and want imply? How does need compare with want? 3. How does
necessity compare with need? 4. What is an essential?
EXAMPLES.
Courage is, on all hands, considered as an ---- of high character.
No living man can send me to the shades Before my time; no man of woman born, Coward or brave, can shun
his ----.
* * * * *
NEGLECT, n. (page 251).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is neglect? negligence? How do the two words compare? 2. What senses has negligence that neglect
has not? 3. Which of the two words may be used in a passive sense? 4. What is the legal phrase for a
punishable omission of duty?
EXAMPLES.
Ah, why Should we, in the world's riper years, ---- God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore Only among the
crowd.
But, alas, to make A fixed figure, for the hand of ---- To point his slow unmoving finger at.
* * * * *
NEW (page 252).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the meaning of new? of modern? of recent? 2. How does recent compare with new? 3. What is the
meaning of novel? of fresh? 4. To what do young and youthful distinctively apply?
* * * * *
NIMBLE (page 253).
QUESTIONS.
1. To what does nimble properly refer? 2. To what does swift apply? 3. How does alert compare with nimble?
For what is alert more properly a synonym?
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
415

---

EXAMPLES.
Win her with gifts, if she respect not words; Dumb jewels often, in their silent kind, More ---- than words, do
move a woman's mind.
Profound thinkers are often helpless in society, while shallow men have ---- and ready minds.
* * * * *
NORMAL (page 253).
QUESTIONS.
1. What does natural signify? normal? Give instances of the distinctive use of the two words. 2. What does
typical signify? regular? common?
EXAMPLES.
He does it with a better grace, but I do it more ----.
The ---- round of work may grow monotonous, but it is evidently necessary.
* * * * *
NOTWITHSTANDING (page 254).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the signification of however as a conjunction? of nevertheless? 2. Which is the most emphatic word
of the group and what does it signify? 3. How do yet and still compare with notwithstanding? with but? 4.
What is the force of tho and altho? 5. How does notwithstanding as a preposition differ from despite or in
spite of?
EXAMPLES.
---- do thy worst, old Time; despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young.
---- till all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace.
There was an immense crowd ---- the inclement weather.
* * * * *
OATH (page 254).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is an oath? an affidavit? How does the affidavit differ from the oath? 2. What is an adjuration? 3.
What is a vow? How does it differ from an oath? 4. Of what words is oath a popular synonym? 5. In what do
anathema, curse, execration, and imprecation agree? 6. What is an anathema? 7. Is a curse just or unjust? 8.
What does execration express? imprecation?
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
416

---

EXAMPLES.
Better is it that thou shouldest not ----, than that thou shouldest ---- and not pay.
Then how can any man be said To break an ---- he never made?
* * * * *
OBSCURE (page 255).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is obscure? 2. How does obscure compare with complicated? with complex? with abstruse? with
profound?
* * * * *
OBSOLETE (page 256).
QUESTIONS.
1. When is a word obsolete? When is a word archaic? 2. Is an old or ancient word necessarily obsolete? 3.
What is meant by saying that a word is rare? 4. Is a rare word necessarily obsolete or an obsolete word
necessarily rare?
EXAMPLES.
When the labors of modern philologists began, Sanscrit was the most ---- of all the Aryan languages known to
them.
Atlas, we read in ---- song, Was so exceeding tall and strong, He bore the skies upon his back, Just as the
pedler does his pack.
It is wonderful that so few ---- words are found in Shakespeare after the lapse of three centuries.
* * * * *
OBSTINATE (page 256).
QUESTIONS.
1. How does headstrong differ from obstinate and stubborn? 2. How do obstinate and stubborn differ from
each other? Which is commonly applied to the inferior animals and to inanimate things? 3. What is the
meaning of refractory? How does it differ from stubborn? Which word is applied to metals, and in what
sense? 4. What is the meaning of obdurate? contumacious? pertinacious? 5. What words do we apply to the
unyielding character or conduct that we approve?
EXAMPLES.
Is it in heav'n a crime to love too well? To bear too tender, or too ---- a heart, To act a Lover's or a Roman's