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at sea; in one's bed; in agony; die to the world.
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DIFFERENCE.
Synonyms:
contrariety, discrimination, distinction, inequality, contrast, disparity, divergence, unlikeness, disagreement,
dissimilarity, diversity, variation, discrepancy, dissimilitude, inconsistency, variety.
Difference is the state or quality of being unlike or the amount of such unlikeness. A difference is in the things
compared; a discrimination is in our judgment of them; a distinction is in our definition or description or
mental image of them. Careful discrimination of real differences results in clear distinctions. Disparity is
stronger than inequality, implying that one thing falls far below another; as, the disparity of our achievements
when compared with our ideals. Dissimilarity is between things sharply contrasted; there may be a difference
between those almost alike. There is a discrepancy in accounts that fail to balance. Variety involves more than
two objects; so, in general, does diversity; variation is a difference in the condition or action of the same
object at different times. Disagreement is not merely the lack, but the opposite, of agreement; it is a mild word
for opposition and conflict; difference is sometimes used in the same sense.
Antonyms:
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
113
agreement, harmony, likeness, sameness, uniformity, consonance, identity, resemblance, similarity, unity.
Prepositions:
Difference between the old and the new; differences among men; a difference in character; of action; of style;
(less frequently) a difference (controversy) with a person; a difference of one thing from (incorrectly to)
another.
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DIFFICULT.
Synonyms:
arduous, hard, onerous, toilsome, exhausting, laborious, severe, trying.
Arduous (L. arduus, steep) signifies primarily so steep and lofty as to be difficult of ascent, and hence applies
to that which involves great and sustained exertion and ordinarily for a lofty aim; great learning can only be
won by arduous toil. Hard applies to anything that resists our endeavors as a scarcely penetrable mass resists
our physical force. Anything is hard that involves tax and strain whether of the physical or mental powers.
Difficult is not used of that which merely taxes physical force; a dead lift is called hard rather than difficult;
breaking stone on the road would be called hard rather than difficult work; that is difficult which involves
skill, sagacity, or address, with or without a considerable expenditure of physical force; a geometrical problem
may be difficult to solve, a tangled skein to unravel; a mountain difficult to ascend. Hard may be active or
passive; a thing may be hard to do or hard to bear. Arduous is always active. That which is laborious or
toilsome simply requires the steady application of labor or toil till accomplished; toilsome is the stronger
word. That which is onerous (L. onus, a burden) is mentally burdensome or oppressive. Responsibility may be
onerous even when it involves no special exertion.
Antonyms:
easy, facile, light, pleasant, slight, trifling, trivial.
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DIRECTION.
Synonyms:
aim, bearing, course, inclination, tendency, way.
The direction of an object is the line of motion or of vision toward it, or the line in which the object is
moving, considered from our own actual or mental standpoint. Way, literally the road or path, comes naturally
to mean the direction of the road or path; conversationally, way is almost a perfect synonym of direction; as,
which way did he go? or, in which direction? Bearing is the direction in which an object is seen with
reference to another, and especially with reference to the points of the compass. Course is the direction of a
moving object; inclination, that toward which a stationary object leans; tendency, the direction toward which
anything stretches or reaches out; tendency is stronger and more active than inclination. Compare AIM;
CARE; ORDER; OVERSIGHT.
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Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
114
DISCERN.
Synonyms:
behold, discriminate, observe, recognize, descry, distinguish, perceive, see.
What we discern we see apart from all other objects; what we discriminate we judge apart; what we
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