English Synonyms and Antonyms

terrible? with disagreeable or annoying?
EXAMPLES.
Then must it be an ---- thing to die.
The silent falling of the snow is to me one of the most ---- things in nature.
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AWKWARD (page 70).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the derivation and original meaning of awkward? of clumsy? 2. To what, therefore, does awkward
primarily refer? and to what clumsy? 3. Is a draft-horse distinctively awkward or clumsy? 4. Give some
metaphorical uses of awkward.
EXAMPLES.
Though he was ----, he was kindly.
The apprentice was not only ----, but ----, and had to be taught over and over again the same methods.
The young girl stood in a ---- way, looking in at the showy shop-windows.
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AXIOM (page 71).
QUESTIONS.
1. In what do axiom and truism agree? 2. In what do they differ? 3. How do they compare in interest and
utility?
EXAMPLES.
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
332

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It is almost an ---- that those who do most for the heathen abroad are most liberal for the heathen at home.
Trifling ----s clothed in great, swelling words of vanity.
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BABBLE (page 71).
QUESTIONS.
1. To what class do most of the words in this group belong? Why are they so called? 2. What is the special
significance of blab and blurt? How do they differ from each other in use? 3. What is chat? 4. How does
prattling differ from chatting? 5. In what sense is jabber used? How does it compare with chatter?
EXAMPLES.
"The crane," I said, "may ---- of the crane, The dove may ---- of the dove."
Two women sat contentedly ----ing, one of them amusing a ----ing babe.
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BANISH (page 72).
QUESTIONS.
1. From what land may one be banished? From what expatriated or exiled? 2. By whom may one be said to be
banished? by whom expatriated or exiled? 3. Which of these words is of widest import? Give examples of its
metaphorical use.
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BANK (page 72).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is a beach? a coast? 2. How does each of the above words differ from bank? 3. What is the distinctive
sense of strand? In what style of writing is it most commonly used? 4. What are the distinctive senses of edge
and brink?
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BANTER (page 73).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is banter? 2. How is badinage distinguished from banter? raillery from both? 3. What is the
distinctive sense of irony? 4. Is irony kindly or the reverse? badinage? banter? 5. What words of this group
are distinctly hostile? 6. Is ridicule or derision the stronger word? What is the distinction between the two?
between satire and sarcasm? between chaff, jeering, and mockery?
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Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
333

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BARBAROUS (page 73).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the meaning of barbarian? 2. What is the added significance of barbaric? 3. How does barbarous
in general use differ from both the above words? 4. What special element is commonly implied in savage? 5.
In what less opprobrious sense may barbarous and savage be used? Give instances.
EXAMPLES.
A multitude like which the populous North Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass Rhene or the Danaw,
when her ---- sons Came like a deluge on the south.
Or when the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Showers on her kings ---- pearl and gold.
It is most true, that a natural and secret hatred and aversation toward society, in any man, hath somewhat of
the ---- beast.
Thou art bought and sold among those of any wit like a ---- slave.
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BARRIER (page 74).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is a bar? and what is its purpose? 2. What is a barrier? 3. Which word is ordinarily applied to objects
of great extent? 4. Would a mountain range be termed a bar or a barrier? 5. What distinctive name is given to
a mass of sand across the mouth of a river or harbor?
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BATTLE (page 74).
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the general meaning of conflict? 2. What is a battle? 3. How long may a battle last? 4. On how
many fields may one battle be fought? 5. How does engagement differ from battle? How does combat differ?