English Synonyms and Antonyms

army, a large army, or a vast army. Host is used for any vast and orderly assemblage; as, the stars are called
the heavenly host. Multitude expresses number without order or organization; a multitude of armed men is not
an army, but a mob. Legion (from the Latin) and phalanx (from the Greek) are applied by a kind of poetic
license to modern forces; the plural legions is preferred to the singular. Military is a general word for
land-forces; the military may include all the armed soldiery of a nation, or the term may be applied to any
small detached company, as at a fort, in distinction from civilians. Any organized body of men by whom the
law or will of a people is executed is a force; the word is a usual term for the police of any locality.
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ARRAIGN.
Synonyms:
accuse, charge, impeach, prosecute, censure, cite, indict, summon.
Arraign is an official word; a person accused of crime is arraigned when he is formally called into court, the
indictment read to him, and the demand made of him to plead guilty or not guilty; in more extended use, to
arraign is to call in question for fault in any formal, public, or official way. One may charge another with any
fault, great or trifling, privately or publicly, formally or informally. Accuse is stronger than charge, suggesting
more of the formal and criminal; a person may charge a friend with unkindness or neglect; he may accuse a
tramp of stealing. Censure carries the idea of fault, but not of crime; it may be private and individual, or
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public and official. A judge, a president, or other officer of high rank may be impeached before the
appropriate tribunal for high crimes; the veracity of a witness may be impeached by damaging evidence. A
person of the highest character may be summoned as defendant in a civil suit; or he may be cited to answer as
administrator, etc. Indict and arraign apply strictly to criminal proceedings, and only an alleged criminal is
indicted or arraigned. One is indicted by the grand jury, and arraigned before the appropriate court.
Antonyms:
acquit, discharge, exonerate, overlook, release, condone, excuse, forgive, pardon, set free.
Prepositions:
Arraign at the bar, before the tribunal, of or for a crime; on or upon an indictment.
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ARRAY.
Synonyms:
army, collection, line of battle, parade, arrangement, disposition, order, show, battle array, exhibition, order of
battle, sight.
The phrase battle array or array of battle is archaic and poetic; we now say in line or order of battle. The
parade is for exhibition and oversight, and partial rehearsal of military manual and maneuvers. Array refers to
a continuous arrangement of men, so that all may be seen or reviewed at once. This is practically impossible
with the vast armies of our day. We say rather the disposition of troops, which expresses their location so as to
sustain and support, though unable to see or readily communicate with each other. Compare DRESS.
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ARREST.
Synonyms:
apprehend, detain, restrain, stop, capture, hold, secure, take into custody, catch, make prisoner, seize, take
prisoner.
The legal term arrest carries always the implication of a legal offense; this is true even of arresting for debt.
But one may be detained by process of law when no offense is alleged against him, as in the case of a witness
who is held in a house of detention till a case comes to trial. One may be restrained of his liberty without
arrest, as in an insane asylum; an individual or corporation may be restrained by injunction from selling
certain property. In case of an arrest, an officer may secure his prisoner by fetters, by a locked door, or other
means effectually to prevent escape. Capture is commonly used of seizure by armed force; as, to capture a
ship, a fort, etc. Compare HINDER; OBSTRUCT.
Antonyms:
discharge, dismiss, free, liberate, release, set free.
Prepositions:
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Arrested for crime, on suspicion, by the sheriff; on, upon, or by virtue of a warrant; on final process; in
execution.
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ARTIFICE.
Synonyms:
art, craft, finesse, invention, stratagem, blind, cunning, fraud, machination, subterfuge, cheat, device, guile,
maneuver, trick, contrivance, dodge, imposture, ruse, wile.
A