English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 104

confusion,

TACITURN.

Synonyms:

close, mute, reticent, speechless, dumb, reserved, silent, uncommunicative.

_Dumb_, _mute_, _silent_ and _speechless_ refer to fact or state; _taciturn_ refers to habit and disposition. The talkative person may be stricken _dumb_ with surprise or terror; the obstinate may remain _mute_; one may be _silent_ through preoccupation of mind or of set purpose; but the _taciturn_ person is averse to the utterance of thought or feeling and to communication with others, either from natural disposition or for the occasion. One who is _silent_ does not speak at all; one who is _taciturn_ speaks when compelled, but in a grudging way that repels further approach. _Reserved_ suggests more of method and intention than _taciturn_, applying often to some special time or topic; one who is communicative regarding all else may be _reserved_ about his business. _Reserved_ is thus closely equivalent to _uncommunicative_, but is a somewhat stronger word, often suggesting pride or haughtiness, as when we say one is _reserved_ toward inferiors. Compare PRIDE.

Antonyms:

communicative, free, garrulous, loquacious, talkative, unreserved.

TASTEFUL.

Synonyms:

artistic, delicate, esthetic, fastidious, nice, chaste, delicious, esthetical, fine, tasty.

dainty, elegant, exquisite,

_Elegant_ (L. _elegans_, select) refers to that a.s.semblage of qualities which makes anything choice to persons of culture and refinement; it refers to the lighter, finer elements of beauty in form or motion, especially denoting that which exhibits faultless taste and perfection of finish. That which is _elegant_ is made so not merely by nature, but by art and culture; a woodland dell may be beautiful or picturesque, but would not ordinarily be termed _elegant_. _Tasteful_ refers to that in which the element of taste is more prominent, standing, as it were, more by itself, while in _elegant_ it is blended as part of the whole.

_Tasty_ is an inferior word, used colloquially in a similar sense.

_Chaste_ (primarily _pure_), denotes in literature and art that which is true to the higher and finer feelings and free from all excess or meretricious ornament. _Dainty_ and _delicate_ refer to the lighter and finer elements of taste and beauty, _dainty_ tending in personal use to an excessive scrupulousness which is more fully expressed by _fastidious_. _Nice_ and _delicate_ both refer to exact adaptation to some standard; the bar of a balance can be said to be nicely or delicately poised; as regards matters of taste and beauty, _delicate_ is a higher and more discriminating word than _nice_, and is always used in a favorable sense; a _delicate_ distinction is one worth observing; a _nice_ distinction may be so, or may be overstrained and unduly subtle; _fine_ in such use, is closely similar to _delicate_ and _nice_, but (tho capable of an unfavorable sense) has commonly a suggestion of positive excellence or admirableness; a _fine_ touch does something; _fine_ perceptions are to some purpose; _delicate_ is capable of the single unfavorable sense of frail or fragile; as, a _delicate_ const.i.tution. _Esthetic_ or _esthetical_ refers to beauty or the appreciation of the beautiful, especially from the philosophic point of view. _Exquisite_ denotes the utmost perfection of the _elegant_ in minute details; we speak of an _elegant_ garment, an _exquisite_ lace.

_Exquisite_ is also applied to intense keenness of any feeling; as, _exquisite_ delight; _exquisite_ pain. See BEAUTIFUL; DELICIOUS; FINE.

Antonyms:

clumsy, displeasing, grotesque, inartistic, rough, coa.r.s.e, distasteful, harsh, inharmonious, rude, deformed, fulsome, hideous, meretricious, rugged, disgusting, gaudy, horrid, offensive, tawdry.

TEACH.

Synonyms:

discipline, give instruction, inform, nurture, drill, give lessons, initiate, school, educate, inculcate, instill, train, enlighten, indoctrinate, instruct, tutor.

To _teach_ is simply to communicate knowledge; to _instruct_ (originally, to build in or into, put in order) is to impart knowledge with special method and completeness; _instruct_ has also an authoritative sense nearly equivalent to command. To _educate_ is to draw out or develop harmoniously the mental powers, and, in the fullest sense, the moral powers as well. To _train_ is to direct to a certain result powers already existing. _Train_ is used in preference to _educate_ when the reference is to the inferior animals or to the physical powers of man; as, to _train_ a horse; to _train_ the hand or eye. To _discipline_ is to bring into habitual and complete subjection to authority; _discipline_ is a severe word, and is often used as a euphemism for _punish_; to be thoroughly effective in war, soldiers must be _disciplined_ as well as _trained_. To _nurture_ is to furnish the care and sustenance necessary for physical, mental, and moral growth; _nurture_ is a more tender and homelike word than _educate_. Compare EDUCATION.

TEMERITY.

Synonyms:

audacity, heedlessness, presumption, foolhardiness, over-confidence, rashness, hardihood, precipitancy, recklessness, hastiness, precipitation, venturesomeness.

_Rashness_ applies to the actual rushing into danger without counting the cost; _temerity_ denotes the needless exposure of oneself to peril which is or might be clearly seen to be such. _Rashness_ is used chiefly of bodily acts, _temerity_ often of mental or social matters; there may be a n.o.ble _rashness_, but _temerity_ is always used in a bad sense. We say it is amazing that one should have had the _temerity_ to make a statement which could be readily proved a falsehood, or to make an unworthy proposal to one sure to resent it; in such use _temerity_ is often closely allied to _hardihood_, _audacity_, or _presumption_.

_Venturesomeness_ dallies on the edge of danger and experiments with it; _foolhardiness_ rushes in for want of sense, _heedlessness_ for want of attention, _rashness_ for want of reflection, _recklessness_ from disregard of consequences. _Audacity_, in the sense here considered, denotes a dashing and somewhat reckless courage, in defiance of conventionalities, or of other men's opinions, or of what would be deemed probable consequences; as, the _audacity_ of a successful financier. Compare EFFRONTERY.

Antonyms:

care, circ.u.mspection, cowardice, hesitation, timidity, wariness.

caution,

TERM.

Synonyms:

article, denomination, member, phrase, condition, expression, name, word.

_Term_ in its figurative uses always retains something of its literal sense of a boundary or limit. The _articles_ of a contract or other instrument are simply the portions into which it is divided for convenience; the _terms_ are the essential statements on which its validity depends--as it were, the landmarks of its meaning or power; a _condition_ is a contingent _term_ which may become fixed upon the happening of some contemplated event. In logic a _term_ is one of the essential members of a proposition, the boundary of statement in some one direction. Thus, in general use _term_ is more restricted than _word_, _expression_, or _phrase_; a _term_ is a _word_ that limits meaning to a fixed point of statement or to a special cla.s.s of subjects, as when we speak of the definition of _terms_, that is of the key-_words_ in any discussion; or we say, that is a legal or scientific _term_. Compare BOUNDARY; DICTION.

TERSE.

Synonyms:

brief, concise, neat, short, compact, condensed, pithy, succinct.

compendious, laconic, sententious,

Anything _short_ or _brief_ is of relatively small extent. That which is _concise_ (L. _con-_, with, together, and _caedo_, cut) is trimmed down, and that which is _condensed_ (L. _con-_, with, together, and _densus_, thick) is, as it were, pressed together, so as to include as much as possible within a small s.p.a.ce. That which is _compendious_ (L. _com-_, together, and _pendo_, weigh) gathers the substance of a matter into a few words, weighty and effective. The _succinct_ (L. _succinctus_, from _sub-_, under, and _cingo_, gird; girded from below) has an alert effectiveness as if girded for action. The _summary_ is compacted to the utmost, often to the point of abruptness; as, we speak of a _summary_ statement or a _summary_ dismissal. That which is _terse_ (L. _tersus_, from _tergo_, rub off) has an elegant and finished completeness within the smallest possible compa.s.s, as if rubbed or polished down to the utmost. A _sententious_ style is one abounding in sentences that are singly striking or memorable, apart from the context; the word may be used invidiously of that which is pretentiously oracular. A _pithy_ utterance gives the gist of a matter effectively, whether in rude or elegant style.

Antonyms:

diffuse, lengthy, long, prolix, tedious, verbose, wordy.

TESTIMONY.