English Synonyms and Antonyms

plaudits of a throng. Applause is also used in the general sense of praise. Approbation is a milder and more
qualified word than praise; while praise is always uttered, approbation may be silent. "Approbation speaks of
the thing or action.... Praise is always personal." A. W. AND J. C. HARE Guesses at Truth first series, p. 549.
[MACM. '66.] Acceptance refers to an object or action; approbation may refer to character or natural traits.
Approval always supposes a testing or careful examination, and frequently implies official sanction;
approbation may be upon a general view. The industry and intelligence of a clerk win his employer's
approbation; his decision in a special instance receives his approval. Praise is always understood as genuine
and sincere, unless the contrary is expressly stated; compliment is a light form of praise that may or may not
be sincere; flattery is insincere and ordinarily fulsome praise.
Antonyms:
abuse, contempt, hissing, repudiation, animadversion, denunciation, ignominy, scorn, blame, disapprobation,
obloquy, slander, censure, disapproval, reproach, vilification, condemnation, disparagement, reproof,
vituperation.
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PRAY.
Synonyms:
ask, bid, entreat, invoke, request, beg, call upon, implore, petition, supplicate. beseech, conjure, importune,
plead,
To pray, in the religious sense, is devoutly to address the Supreme Being with reverent petition for divine
grace or any favor or blessing, and in the fullest sense with thanksgiving and praise for the divine goodness
and mercy; the once common use of the word to express any earnest request, as "I pray you to come in," is
now rare, unless in writings molded on older literature, or in certain phrases, as "Pray sit down;" even in these
"please" is more common; "I beg you" is also frequently used, as expressing a polite humility of request.
Beseech and entreat express great earnestness of petition; implore and supplicate denote the utmost fervency
and intensity, supplicate implying also humility. Compare ASK; PLEAD.
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PRECARIOUS.
Synonyms:
doubtful, hazardous, risky, unsettled, dubious, insecure, unassured, unstable, equivocal, perilous, uncertain,
unsteady.
Uncertain is applied to things that human knowledge can not certainly determine or that human power can not
certainly control; precarious originally meant dependent on the will of another, and now, by extension of
meaning, dependent on chance or hazard, with manifest unfavorable possibility verging toward probability;
as, one holds office by a precarious tenure, or land by a precarious title; the strong man's hold on life is
uncertain, the invalid's is precarious.
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
227

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Antonyms:
actual, immutable, real, steady, undeniable, assured, incontestable, settled, strong, undoubted, certain,
infallible, stable, sure, unquestionable. firm,
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PRECEDENT.
Synonyms:
antecedent, case, instance, pattern, authority, example, obiter dictum, warrant.
A precedent is an authoritative case, example, or instance. The communism of the early Christians in
Jerusalem is a wonderful example or instance of Christian liberality, but not a precedent for the universal
church through all time. Cases decided by irregular or unauthorized tribunals are not precedents for the
regular administration of law. An obiter dictum is an opinion outside of the case in hand, which can not be
quoted as an authoritative precedent. Compare CAUSE; EXAMPLE.
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PREDESTINATION.
Synonyms:
fate, foreknowledge, foreordination, necessity.