English Synonyms and Antonyms

decomposed ordinarily implies that the change is complete or nearly so. Putrefy and the adjectives putrid and
putrescent, and the nouns putridity and putrescence, are used almost exclusively of animal matter in a state of
decomposition, the more general word decay being used of either animal or vegetable substances.
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DECEPTION.
Synonyms:
craft, dissimulation, finesse, lie, cunning, double-dealing, fraud, lying, deceit, duplicity, guile, prevarication,
deceitfulness, fabrication, hypocrisy, trickery, delusion, falsehood, imposition, untruth.
Deceit is the habit, deception the act; guile applies to the disposition out of which deceit and deception grow,
and also to their actual practise. A lie, lying, or falsehood, is the uttering of what one knows to be false with
intent to deceive. The novel or drama is not a lie, because not meant to deceive; the ancient teaching that the
earth was flat was not a lie, because not then known to be false. Untruth is more than lack of accuracy,
implying always lack of veracity; but it is a somewhat milder and more dignified word than lie. Falsehood
and lying are in utterance; deceit and deception may be merely in act or implication. Deception may be
innocent, and even unintentional, as in the case of an optical illusion; deceit always involves injurious intent.
Craft and cunning have not necessarily any moral quality; they are common traits of animals, but stand rather
low in the human scale. Duplicity is the habitual speaking or acting with intent to appear to mean what one
does not. Dissimulation is rather a concealing of what is than a pretense of what is not. Finesse is simply an
adroit and delicate management of a matter for one's own side, not necessarily involving deceit. Compare
ARTIFICE; FICTION; FRAUD; HYPOCRISY.
Antonyms:
candor, frankness, honesty, simplicity, truth, fair dealing, guilelessness, openness, sincerity, veracity.
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DEFENSE.
Synonyms:
apology, guard, rampart, shelter, bulwark, justification, resistance, shield, fortress, protection, safeguard,
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
106

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vindication.
The weak may speak or act in defense of the strong; none but the powerful can assure others of protection. A
defense is ordinarily against actual attack; protection is against possible as well as actual dangers. We speak of
defense against an assault, protection from the cold. Vindication is a triumphant defense of character and
conduct against charges of error or wrong. Compare APOLOGY.
Antonyms:
abandonment, betrayal, capitulation, desertion, flight, surrender.
Prepositions:
Defense against assault or assailants; in law, defense to an action, from the testimony.
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DEFILE.
Synonyms:
befoul, corrupt, pollute, spoil, sully, tarnish, contaminate, infect, soil, stain, taint, vitiate.
The hand may be defiled by a touch of pitch; swine that have been wallowing in the mud are befouled.
Contaminate and infect refer to something evil that deeply pervades and permeates, as the human body or
mind. Pollute is used chiefly of liquids; as, water polluted with sewage. Tainted meat is repulsive; infected
meat contains germs of disease. A soiled garment may be cleansed by washing; a spoiled garment is beyond
cleansing or repair. Bright metal is tarnished by exposure; a fair sheet is sullied by a dirty hand. In figurative
use, defile may be used merely in the ceremonial sense; "they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest
they should be defiled," John xviii, 28; contaminate refers to deep spiritual injury. Pollute has also a reference
to sacrilege; as, to pollute a sanctuary, an altar, or an ordinance. The innocent are often contaminated by
association with the wicked; the vicious are more and more corrupted by their own excesses. We speak of a