English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 61

Synonyms:

accident, chance, danger, jeopardy, risk, casualty, contingency, fortuity, peril, venture.

_Hazard_ is the incurring the possibility of loss or harm for the possibility of benefit; _danger_ may have no compensating alternative.

In _hazard_ the possibilities of gain or loss are nearly balanced; in _risk_ the possibility of loss is the chief thought; the foolhardy take great _risks_ in mere wantonness; in _chance_ and _venture_ the hope of good predominates; we speak of a merchant's _venture_, but of an insurance company's _risk_; one may be driven by circ.u.mstances to run a _risk_; he freely seeks a _venture_; we speak of the _chance_ of winning, the _hazard_ or _risk_ of losing. _Accidents_ are incalculable; _casualties_ may be to a certain extent antic.i.p.ated; death and wounds are _casualties_ of battle, certain to happen to some, but uncertain as to whom or how many. A _contingency_ is simply an indeterminable future event, which may or may not be attended with _danger_ or _risk_. See ACCIDENT; DANGER.

Antonyms:

a.s.surance, necessity, protection, safety, surety.

certainty, plan, safeguard, security,

HEALTHY.

Synonyms:

hale, hygienic, sanitary, vigorous, healthful, salubrious, sound, well, hearty, salutary, strong, wholesome.

_Healthy_ is most correctly used to signify possessing or enjoying health or its results; as, a _healthy_ person; a _healthy_ condition.

_Healthful_ signifies promotive of health, tending or adapted to confer, preserve, or promote health; as, a _healthful_ climate. _Wholesome_ food in a _healthful_ climate makes a _healthy_ man. With _healthful_ are ranged the words _hygienic_, _salubrious_, _salutary_, _sanitary_, and _wholesome_, while the other words are a.s.sociated with _healthy_.

_Salubrious_ is always used in the physical sense, and is chiefly applied to air or climate. _Salutary_ is now chiefly used in the moral sense; as, a _salutary_ lesson.

Antonyms:

delicate, failing, ill, unsound, worn, diseased, fainting, sick, wasted, worn down, emaciated, fragile, unhealthy, weak, worn out.

exhausted, frail,

HELP.

Synonyms:

abet, befriend, foster, succor, uphold.

aid, cooperate, second, support, a.s.sist, encourage, stand by, sustain,

_Help_ expresses greater dependence and deeper need than _aid_. In extremity we say "G.o.d _help_ me!" rather than "G.o.d _aid_ me!" In time of danger we cry "_help! help!_" rather than "_aid! aid!_" To _aid_ is to _second_ another's own exertions. We can speak of _helping_ the helpless, but not of _aiding_ them. _Help_ includes _aid_, but _aid_ may fall short of the meaning of _help_. In law to _aid_ or _abet_ makes one a princ.i.p.al. (Compare synonyms for ACCESSORY.) To _cooperate_ is to _aid_ as an equal; to _a.s.sist_ implies a subordinate and secondary relation. One _a.s.sists_ a fallen friend to rise; he _cooperates_ with him in helping others. _Encourage_ refers to mental _aid_, as _uphold_ now usually does; _succor_ and _support_, oftenest to material a.s.sistance. We _encourage_ the timid or despondent, _succor_ the endangered, _support_ the weak, _uphold_ those who else might be shaken or cast down. Compare ABET; PROMOTE.

Antonyms:

counteract, discourage, oppose, resist, thwart, withstand.

Prepositions:

Help _in_ an enterprise _with_ money; help _to_ success; _against_ the enemy.

HERETIC.

Synonyms:

dissenter, heresiarch, non-conformist, schismatic.

Etymologically, a _heretic_ is one who takes or chooses his own belief, instead of the belief of his church; hence, a _heretic_ is one who denies commonly accepted views, or who holds opinions contrary to the recognized standard or tenets of any established religious, philosophical, or other system, school, or party; the religious sense of the word is the predominant one; a _schismatic_ is primarily one who produces a split or rent in the church. A _heretic_ differs in doctrine from the religious body with which he is connected; a _schismatic_ differs in doctrine or practise, or in both. A _heretic_ may be reticent, or even silent; a _schismatic_ introduces divisions. A _heresiarch_ is the author of a heresy or the leader of a heretical party, and is thus at once a _heretic_ and a _schismatic_. With advancing ideas of religious liberty, the odious sense once attached to these words is largely modified, and _heretic_ is often used playfully.

_Dissenter_ and _non-conformist_ are terms specifically applied to English subjects who hold themselves aloof from the Church of England; the former term is extended to non-adherents of the established church in some other countries, as Russia.

HETEROGENEOUS.

Synonyms:

confused, mingled, unh.o.m.ogeneous, conglomerate, miscellaneous, unlike, discordant, mixed, variant, dissimilar, non-h.o.m.ogeneous, various.

Substances quite _unlike_ are _heterogeneous_ as regards each other. A _heterogeneous_ mixture is one whose const.i.tuents are not only unlike in kind, but unevenly distributed; cement is composed of substances such as lime, sand, and clay, which are _heterogeneous_ as regards each other, but the cement is said to be h.o.m.ogeneous if the different const.i.tuents are evenly mixed throughout, so that any one portion of the mixture is exactly like any other. A substance may fail of being h.o.m.ogeneous and yet not be _heterogeneous_, in which case it is said to be _non-h.o.m.ogeneous_ or _unh.o.m.ogeneous_; a bar of iron that contains flaws, air-bubbles, etc., or for any other reason is not of uniform structure and density throughout, tho no foreign substance be mixed with the iron, is said to be _non-h.o.m.ogeneous_. A _miscellaneous_ mixture may or may not be _heterogeneous_; if the objects are alike in kind, but different in size, form, quality, use, etc., and without special order or relation, the collection is _miscellaneous_; if the objects differ in kind, such a mixture is also, and more strictly, _heterogeneous_; a pile of una.s.sorted lumber is _miscellaneous_; the contents of a school-boy's pocket are commonly _miscellaneous_ and might usually be termed _heterogeneous_ as well. See COMPLEX.

Antonyms:

alike, h.o.m.ogeneous, identical, like, pure, same, similar, uniform.

HIDE.

Synonyms:

bury, cover, entomb, overwhelm, suppress, cloak, disguise, inter, screen, veil.

conceal, dissemble, mask, secrete.

_Hide_ is the general term, including all the rest, signifying to put out of sight or beyond ready observation or approach; a thing may be _hidden_ by intention, by accident, or by the imperfection of the faculties of the one from whom it is _hidden_; in their games, children _hide_ the slipper, or _hide_ themselves from each other; a man unconsciously _hides_ a picture from another by standing before it, or _hides_ a thing from himself by laying something else over it. Even an unconscious object may _hide_ another; as, a cloud _hides_ the sun, or a building _hides_ some part of the prospect by intervening between it and the observer's position. As an act of persons, to _conceal_ is always intentional; one may _hide_ his face in anger, grief, or abstraction; he _conceals_ his face when he fears recognition. A house is _hidden_ by foliage; the bird's nest is artfully _concealed_. _Secrete_ is a stronger word than _conceal_, and is used chiefly of such material objects as may be separated from the person, or from their ordinary surroundings, and put in unlooked-for places; a man _conceals_ a scar on his face, but does not _secrete_ it; a thief _secretes_ stolen goods; an officer may also be said to _secrete_ himself to watch the thief. A thing is _covered_ by putting something over or around it, whether by accident or design; it is _screened_ by putting something before it, always with some purpose of protection from observation, inconvenience, attack, censure, etc. In the figurative use, a person may _hide_ honorable feelings; he _conceals_ an evil or hostile intent. Anything which is effectually _covered_ and _hidden_ under any ma.s.s or acc.u.mulation is _buried_. Money is _buried_ in the ground; a body is _buried_ in the sea; a paper is _buried_ under other doc.u.ments. Whatever is _buried_ is _hidden_ or _concealed_; but there are many ways of _hiding_ or _concealing_ a thing without _burying_ it. So a person may be _covered_ with wraps, and not _buried_ under them. _Bury_ may be used of any object, _entomb_ and _inter_ only of a dead body. Figuratively, one may be said to be _buried_ in business, in study, etc. Compare IMMERSE; PALLIATE.

Antonyms:

admit, disclose, exhume, manifest, show, advertise, discover, expose, promulgate, tell, avow, disinter, lay bare, publish, uncover, betray, divulge, lay open, raise, unmask, confess, exhibit, make known, reveal, unveil.