English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 100

Synonyms:

cant, colloquialism, vulgarism, vulgarity.

A _colloquialism_ is an expression not coa.r.s.e or low, and perhaps not incorrect, but below the literary grade; educated persons are apt to allow themselves some _colloquialisms_ in familiar conversation, which they would avoid in writing or public speaking. _Slang_, in the primary sense, denotes expressions that are either coa.r.s.e and rude in themselves or chiefly current among the coa.r.s.er and ruder part of the community; there are also many expressions current in special senses in certain communities that may be characterized as _slang_; as, college _slang_; club _slang_; racing _slang_. In the evolution of language many words originally _slang_ are adopted by good writers and speakers, and ultimately take their place as accepted English. A _vulgarism_ is an expression decidedly incorrect, and the use of which is a mark of ignorance or low breeding. _Cant_, as used in this connection, denotes the barbarous jargon used as a secret language by thieves, tramps, etc.

Compare DICTION; LANGUAGE.

SLOW.

Synonyms:

dawdling, dilatory, gradual, lingering, slack, delaying, drowsy, inactive, moderate, sluggish, deliberate, dull, inert, procrastinating, tardy.

_Slow_ signifies moving through a relatively short distance, or with a relatively small number of motions in a given time; _slow_ also applies to that which is a relatively long while in beginning or accomplishing something; a watch or a clock is said to be _slow_ when its indications are behind those of the standard time. _Tardy_ is applied to that which is behind the proper or desired time, especially in doing a work or arriving at a place. _Deliberate_ and _dilatory_ are used of persons, tho the latter may be used also of things, as of a stream; a person is _deliberate_ who takes a noticeably long time to consider and decide before acting or who acts or speaks as if he were deliberating at every point; a person is _dilatory_ who lays aside, or puts off as long as possible, necessary or required action; both words may be applied either to undertaking or to doing. _Gradual_ (L. _gradus_, a step) signifies advancing by steps, and refers to _slow_ but regular and sure progression. _Slack_ refers to action that seems to indicate a lack of tension, as of muscle or of will, _sluggish_ to action that seems as if reluctant to advance.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for NIMBLE.

SNEER.

Synonyms:

fling, gibe, jeer, mock, scoff, taunt.

A _sneer_ may be simply a contemptuous facial contortion, or it may be some brief satirical utterance that throws a contemptuous side-light on what it attacks without attempting to prove or disprove; a depreciatory implication may be given in a _sneer_ such as could only be answered by elaborate argument or proof, which would seem to give the attack undue importance:

Who can refute a _sneer_?

PALEY _Moral Philosophy_ bk. v, ch. ix.

A _fling_ is careless and commonly pettish; a _taunt_ is intentionally insulting and provoking; the _sneer_ is supercilious; the _taunt_ is defiant. The _jeer_ and _gibe_ are uttered; the _gibe_ is bitter, and often sly or covert; the _jeer_ is rude and open. A _scoff_ may be in act or word, and is commonly directed against that which claims honor, reverence, or worship. Compare BANTER.

Preposition:

Only an essentially vicious mind is capable of a sneer _at_ virtue.

SOCIALISM.

Synonyms:

collectivism, communism, fabianism.

_Socialism_, as defined by its advocates, is a theory of civil polity that aims to secure the reconstruction of society, increase of wealth, and a more equal distribution of the products of labor through the public collective ownership of land and capital (as distinguished from property), and the public collective management of all industries. Its aim is extended industrial cooperation; _socialism_ is a purely economic term, applying to landownership and productive capital. Many socialists call themselves _collectivists_, and their system _collectivism_.

_Communism_ would divide all things, including the profits of individual labor, among members of the community; many of its advocates would abolish marriage and the family relation. _Anarchism_ is properly an antonym of _socialism_, as it would destroy, by violence if necessary, all existing government and social order, leaving the future to determine what, if anything, should be raised upon their ruins.

SOUND.

Synonyms:

noise, note, tone.

_Sound_ is the sensation produced through the organs of hearing or the physical cause of this sensation. _Sound_ is the most comprehensive word of this group, applying to anything that is audible. _Tone_ is _sound_ considered as having some musical quality or as expressive of some feeling; _noise_ is _sound_ considered without reference to musical quality or as distinctly unmusical or discordant. Thus, in the most general sense _noise_ and _sound_ scarcely differ, and we say almost indifferently, "I heard a _sound_," or "I heard a _noise_." We speak of a fine, musical, or pleasing _sound_, but never thus of a _noise_. In music, _tone_ may denote either a musical _sound_ or the interval between two such _sounds_, but in the most careful usage the latter is now distinguished as the "interval," leaving _tone_ to stand only for the _sound_. _Note_ in music strictly denotes the character representing a _sound_, but in loose popular usage it denotes the _sound_ also, and becomes practically equivalent to _tone_. Aside from its musical use, _tone_ is chiefly applied to that quality of the human voice by which feeling is expressed; as, he spoke in a cheery _tone_; the word is similarly applied to the voices of birds and other animals, and sometimes to inanimate objects. As used of a musical instrument, _tone_ denotes the general quality of its sounds collectively considered.

SPEAK.

Synonyms:

announce, converse, discourse, say, articulate, declaim, enunciate, talk, chat, declare, express, tell, chatter, deliver, p.r.o.nounce, utter.

To _utter_ is to give forth as an audible sound, articulate or not. To _talk_ is to _utter_ a succession of connected words, ordinarily with the expectation of being listened to. To _speak_ is to give articulate utterance even to a single word; the officer _speaks_ the word of command, but does not _talk_ it. To _speak_ is also to _utter_ words with the ordinary intonation, as distinguished from singing. To _chat_ is ordinarily to _utter_ in a familiar, conversational way; to _chatter_ is to _talk_ in an empty, ceaseless way like a magpie.

Prepositions:

Speak _to_ (address) a person; speak _with_ a person (converse with him); speak _of_ or _about_ a thing (make it the subject of remark); speak _on_ or _upon_ a subject; in parliamentary language, speak _to_ the question.

SPEECH.

Synonyms:

address, dissertation, oration, speaking, discourse, harangue, oratory, talk, disquisition, language, sermon, utterance.

_Speech_ is the general word for _utterance_ of thought in _language_. A _speech_ may be the delivering of one's sentiments in the simplest way; an _oration_ is an elaborate and prepared _speech_; a _harangue_ is a vehement appeal to pa.s.sion, or a _speech_ that has something disputatious and combative in it. A _discourse_ is a set _speech_ on a definite subject, intended to convey instruction. Compare CONVERSATION; DICTION; LANGUAGE.

Antonyms:

hush, silence, speechlessness, stillness, taciturnity.