English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 10

affright, disquietude, fright, solicitude, apprehension, dread, misgiving, terror, consternation, fear, panic, timidity.

dismay,

_Alarm_, according to its derivation _all'arme_, "to arms," is an arousing to meet and repel danger, and may be quite consistent with true courage. _Affright_ and _fright_ express sudden _fear_ which, for the time at least, overwhelms courage. The sentinel discovers with _alarm_ the sudden approach of the enemy; the unarmed villagers view it with _affright_. _Apprehension_, _disquietude_, _dread_, _misgiving_, and _solicitude_ are in antic.i.p.ation of danger; _consternation_, _dismay_, and _terror_ are overwhelming _fear_, generally in the actual presence of that which is terrible, though these words also may have an antic.i.p.ative force. _Timidity_ is a quality, habit, or condition, a readiness to be affected with _fear_. A person of great _timidity_ is constantly liable to needless _alarm_ and even _terror_. Compare FEAR.

Antonyms:

a.s.surance, calmness, confidence, repose, security.

Prepositions:

Alarm was felt _in_ the camp, _among_ the soldiers, _at_ the news.

ALERT.

Synonyms:

active, lively, prepared, vigilant, brisk, nimble, prompt, watchful, hustling, on the watch, ready, wide-awake.

_Alert_, _ready_, and _wide-awake_ refer to a watchful promptness for action. _Ready_ suggests thoughtful preparation; the wandering Indian is _alert_, the trained soldier is _ready_. _Ready_ expresses more life and vigor than _prepared_. The gun is _prepared_; the man is _ready_.

_Prompt_ expresses readiness for appointment or demand at the required moment. The good general is _ready_ for emergencies, _alert_ to perceive opportunity or peril, _prompt_ to seize occasion. The sense of _brisk_, _nimble_ is the secondary and now less common signification of _alert_.

Compare ACTIVE; ALIVE; NIMBLE; VIGILANT.

Antonyms:

drowsy, dull, heavy, inactive, slow, sluggish, stupid.

ALIEN, _a._

Synonyms:

conflicting, distant, inappropriate, strange, contradictory, foreign, irrelevant, unconnected, contrary, hostile, opposed, unlike.

contrasted, impertinent, remote,

_Foreign_ refers to difference of birth, _alien_ to difference of allegiance. In their figurative use, that is _foreign_ which is _remote_, _unlike_, or _unconnected_; that is _alien_ which is _conflicting_, _hostile_, or _opposed_. _Impertinent_ and _irrelevant_ matters can not claim consideration in a certain connection; _inappropriate_ matters could not properly be considered. Compare ALIEN, _n._; CONTRAST, _v._

Antonyms:

akin, apropos, germane, proper, appropriate, essential, pertinent, relevant.

Prepositions:

Such a purpose was alien _to_ (or _from_) my thought: _to_ preferable.

ALIEN, _n._

Synonyms:

foreigner, stranger.

A naturalized citizen is not an _alien_, though a _foreigner_ by birth, and perhaps a _stranger_ in the place where he resides. A person of foreign birth not naturalized is an _alien_, though he may have been resident in the country a large part of a lifetime, and ceased to be a _stranger_ to its people or inst.i.tutions. He is an _alien_ in one country if his allegiance is to another. The people of any country still residing in their own land are, strictly speaking, _foreigners_ to the people of all other countries, rather than _aliens_; but _alien_ and _foreigner_ are often used synonymously.

Antonyms:

citizen, fellow-countryman, native-born inhabitant, countryman, native, naturalized person.

Prepositions:

Aliens _to_ (more rarely _from_) our nation and laws; aliens _in_ our land, _among_ our people.

ALIKE.

Synonyms:

akin, equivalent, kindred, same, a.n.a.logous, h.o.m.ogeneous, like, similar, equal, identical, resembling, uniform.

_Alike_ is a comprehensive word, signifying as applied to two or more objects that some or all qualities of one are the same as those of the other or others; by modifiers _alike_ may be made to express more or less resemblance; as, these houses are somewhat (_i. e._, partially) _alike_; or, these houses are exactly (_i. e._, in all respects) _alike_. Cotton and wool are _alike_ in this, that they can both be woven into cloth. Substances are _h.o.m.ogeneous_ which are made up of elements of the _same_ kind, or which are the _same_ in structure. Two pieces of iron may be _h.o.m.ogeneous_ in material, while not _alike_ in size or shape. In geometry, two triangles are _equal_ when they can be laid over one another, and fit, line for line and angle for angle; they are _equivalent_ when they simply contain the same amount of s.p.a.ce. An _identical_ proposition is one that says the same thing precisely in subject and predicate. _Similar_ refers to close resemblance, which yet leaves room for question or denial of complete likeness or ident.i.ty. To say "this is the _identical_ man," is to say not merely that he is _similar_ to the one I have in mind, but that he is the very _same_ person. Things are _a.n.a.logous_ when they are _similar_ in idea, plan, use, or character, tho perhaps quite unlike in appearance; as, the gills of fishes are said to be _a.n.a.logous_ to the lungs in terrestrial animals.

Antonyms:

different, dissimilar, distinct, heterogeneous, unlike.

Prepositions:

The specimens are alike _in_ kind; they are all alike _to_ me.