English Synonyms and Antonyms

affection or attachment, but closer and warmer than esteem; we speak of high esteem, kind regard. Compare
ACQUAINTANCE; APPENDAGE; FRIENDSHIP; LOVE; UNION.
Antonyms:
alienation, aversion, distance, estrangement, repugnance, animosity, coolness, divorce, indifference,
separation, antipathy, dislike, enmity, opposition, severance.
Prepositions:
Attachment of a true man to his friends; attachment to a leader for his nobility of character; the attachments
between two persons or things; attachment by muscular fibers, or by a rope, etc.
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ATTACK, v.
Synonyms:
assail, beset, combat, invade, assault, besiege, encounter, set upon, beleaguer, charge, fall upon, storm.
To attack is to begin hostilities of any kind. A general invades a country by marching in troops; he attacks a
city by drawing up an army against it; he assaults it by hurling his troops directly upon its defenses. Assail
and assault, tho of the same original etymology, have diverged in meaning, so that assault alone retains the
meaning of direct personal violence. One may assail another with reproaches; he assaults him with a blow, a
brandished weapon, etc. Armies or squadrons charge; combat and encounter may be said of individual
contests. To beset is to set around, or, so to speak, to stud one's path, with menaces, attacks, or persuasions.
To besiege and beleaguer are the acts of armies. To encounter is to meet face to face, and may be said either
of the attacking or of the resisting force or person, or of both.
Antonyms:
aid, cover, protect, shelter, support, uphold, befriend, defend, resist, shield, sustain, withstand.
Prepositions:
We were attacked by the enemy with cannon and musketry.
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ATTACK, n.
Synonyms:
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
57

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aggression, incursion, invasion, onslaught, assault, infringement, onset, trespass. encroachment, intrusion,
An attack may be by word; an aggression is always by deed. An assault may be upon the person, an
aggression is upon rights, possessions, etc. An invasion of a nation's territories is an act of aggression; an
intrusion upon a neighboring estate is a trespass. Onslaught signifies intensely violent assault, as by an army
or a desperado, tho it is sometimes used of violent speech.
Antonyms:
defense, repulsion, resistance, retreat, submission, surrender.
Prepositions:
The enemy made an attack upon (or on) our works.
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ATTAIN.
Synonyms:
accomplish, arrive at, gain, master, reach, achieve, compass, get, obtain, secure, acquire, earn, grasp, procure,
win.
A person may obtain a situation by the intercession of friends, he procures a dinner by paying for it. Attain is
a lofty word, pointing to some high or desirable result; a man attains the mountain summit, he attains honor
or learning as the result of strenuous and earnest labor. Even that usage of attain which has been thought to
refer to mere progress of time carries the thought of a result desired; as, to attain to old age; the man desires to
live to a good old age; we should not speak of his attaining his dotage. One may attain an object that will
prove not worth his labor, but what he achieves is in itself great and splendid; as, the Greeks at Marathon
achieved a glorious victory. Compare DO; GET; REACH.
Antonyms:
abandon, fail, forfeit, give up, let go, lose, miss.
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ATTITUDE.
Synonyms:
pose, position, posture.