English Synonyms and Antonyms

pauperism is such destitution as throws one upon organized public charity for support; beggary and
mendicancy denote poverty that appeals for indiscriminate private charity.
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POWER.
Synonyms:
ability, competency, expertness, readiness, aptitude, dexterity, faculty, skill, capability, efficacy, force,
strength, capacity, efficiency, might, susceptibility, cleverness, energy, qualification, talent. cogency,
Power is the most general term of this group, including every quality, property, or faculty by which any
change, effect, or result is, or may be, produced; as, the power of the legislature to enact laws, or of the
executive to enforce them; the power of an acid to corrode a metal; the power of a polished surface to reflect
light. Ability is nearly coextensive with power, but does not reach the positiveness and vigor that may be
included in the meaning of power, ability often implying latent, as distinguished from active power; we speak
of an exertion of power, but not of an exertion of ability. Power and ability include capacity, which is power
to receive; but ability is often distinguished from capacity, as power that may be manifested in doing, as
capacity is in receiving; one may have great capacity for acquiring knowledge, and yet not possess ability to
teach. Efficiency is active power to effect a definite result, the power that actually does, as distinguished from
that which may do. Competency is equal to the occasion, readiness prompt for the occasion. Faculty is an
inherent quality of mind or body; talent, some special mental ability. Dexterity and skill are readiness and
facility in action, having a special end; talent is innate, dexterity and skill are largely acquired. Our abilities
include our natural capacity, faculties, and talents, with all the dexterity, skill, and readiness that can be
acquired. Efficacy is the power to produce an intended effect as shown in the production of it; as, the efficacy
of a drug. Efficiency is effectual agency, competent power; efficiency is applied in mechanics as denoting the
ratio of the effect produced to the power expended in producing it; but this word is chiefly used of intelligent
agents as denoting the quality that brings all one's power to bear promptly and to the best purpose on the thing
to be done. Compare ADDRESS; DEXTERITY; SKILFUL.
Antonyms:
awkwardness, helplessness, inability, incompetence, stupidity, dulness, imbecility, inaptitude, inefficiency,
unskilfulness, feebleness, impotence, incapacity, maladroitness, weakness.
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PRAISE.
Synonyms:
acclaim, approbation, compliment, laudation, acclamation, approval, encomium, panegyric, adulation,
cheering, eulogy, plaudit, applause, cheers, flattery, sycophancy.
Praise is the hearty approval of an individual, or of a number or multitude considered individually, and is
expressed by spoken or written words; applause, the spontaneous outburst of many at once. Applause is
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
226

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expressed in any way, by stamping of feet, clapping of hands, waving of handkerchiefs, etc., as well as by the
voice; acclamation is the spontaneous and hearty approval of many at once, and strictly by the voice alone.
Thus one is chosen moderator by acclamation when he receives a unanimous viva voce vote; we could not say
he was nominated by applause. Acclaim is the more poetic term for acclamation, commonly understood in a
loftier sense; as, a nation's acclaim. Plaudit is a shout of applause, and is commonly used in the plural; as, the