English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 73

forgetfulness, oblivion, obliviousness, oversight, unconsciousness.

MERCY.

Synonyms:

benevolence, favor, kindness, mildness, benignity, forbearance, lenience, pardon, blessing, forgiveness, leniency, pity, clemency, gentleness, lenity, tenderness.

compa.s.sion, grace,

_Mercy_ is the exercise of less severity than one deserves, or in a more extended sense, the granting of _kindness_ or _favor_ beyond what one may rightly claim. _Grace_ is _favor_, _kindness_, or _blessing_ shown to the undeserving; _forgiveness_, _mercy_, and _pardon_ are exercised toward the ill-deserving. _Pardon_ remits the outward penalty which the offender deserves; _forgiveness_ dismisses resentment or displeasure from the heart of the one offended; _mercy_ seeks the highest possible good of the offender. There may be _mercy_ without _pardon_, as in the mitigation of sentence, or in all possible alleviation of necessary severity; there may be cases where _pardon_ would not be _mercy_, since it would encourage to repet.i.tion of the offense, from which timely punishment might have saved. _Mercy_ is also used in the wider sense of refraining from harshness or cruelty toward those who are in one's power without fault of their own; as, they besought the robber to have _mercy_. _Clemency_ is a colder word than _mercy_, and without its religious a.s.sociations, signifying _mildness_ and moderation in the use of power where severity would have legal or military, rather than moral sanction; it often denotes a habitual _mildness_ of disposition on the part of the powerful, and is matter rather of good nature or policy than of principle. _Leniency_ or _lenity_ denotes an easy-going avoidance of severity; these words are more general and less magisterial than _clemency_; we should speak of the _leniency_ of a parent, the _clemency_ of a conqueror. Compare PITY.

Antonyms:

cruelty, implacability, punishment, rigor, sternness, hardness, justice, revenge, severity, vengeance.

harshness, penalty,

Prepositions:

The mercy _of_ G.o.d _to_ or _toward_ sinners; have mercy _on_ or _upon_ one.

METER.

Synonyms:

euphony, measure, rhythm, verse.

_Euphony_ is agreeable linguistic sound, however produced; _meter_, _measure_, and _rhythm_ denote agreeable succession of sounds in the utterance of connected words; _euphony_ may apply to a single word or even a single syllable; the other words apply to lines, sentences, paragraphs, etc.; _rhythm_ and _meter_ may be produced by accent only, as in English, or by accent and quant.i.ty combined, as in Greek or Italian; _rhythm_ or _measure_ may apply either to prose or to poetry, or to music, dancing, etc.; _meter_ is more precise than _rhythm_, applies only to poetry, and denotes a measured _rhythm_ with regular divisions into _verses_, stanzas, strophes, etc. A _verse_ is strictly a metrical line, but the word is often used as synonymous with stanza.

_Verse_, in the general sense, denotes metrical writing without reference to the thought involved; as, prose and _verse_. Compare MELODY; POETRY.

MIND.

Synonyms:

brain, instinct, reason, spirit, consciousness, intellect, sense, thought, disposition, intelligence, soul, understanding.

_Mind_, in a general sense, includes all the powers of sentient being apart from the physical factors in bodily faculties and activities; in a limited sense, _mind_ is nearly synonymous with _intellect_, but includes _disposition_, or the tendency toward action, as appears in the phrase "to have a _mind_ to work." As the seat of mental activity, _brain_ (colloquially _brains_) is often used as a synonym for _mind_, _intellect_, _intelligence_. _Thought_, the act, process, or power of thinking, is often used to denote the thinking faculty, and especially the _reason_. The _instinct_ of animals is now held by many philosophers to be of the same nature as the _intellect_ of man, but inferior and limited; yet the apparent difference is very great.

An _instinct_ is a propensity prior to experience and independent of instruction.

PALEY _Natural Philosophy_ ch. 18.

In this sense we speak of human _instincts_, thus denoting tendencies independent of reasoning or instruction. The _soul_ includes the _intellect_, sensibilities, and will; beyond what is expressed by the word _mind_, the _soul_ denotes especially the moral, the immortal nature; we say of a dead body, the _soul_ (not the _mind_) has fled.

_Spirit_ is used especially in contradistinction from matter; it may in many cases be subst.i.tuted for _soul_, but _soul_ has commonly a fuller and more determinate meaning; we can conceive of _spirits_ as having no moral nature; the fairies, elves, and brownies of mythology might be termed _spirits_, but not _souls_. In the figurative sense, _spirit_ denotes animation, excitability, perhaps impatience; as, a lad of _spirit_; he sang with _spirit_; he replied with _spirit_. _Soul_ denotes energy and depth of feeling, as when we speak of soulful eyes; or it may denote the very life of anything; as, "the hidden _soul_ of harmony," MILTON _L'Allegro_ l. 144. _Sense_ may be an antonym of _intellect_, as when we speak of the _sense_ of hearing; but _sense_ is used also as denoting clear mental action, good judgment, ac.u.men; as, he is a man of _sense_, or, he showed good _sense_; _sense_, even in its material signification, must be reckoned among the activities of _mind_, tho dependent on bodily functions; the _mind_, not the eye, really sees; the _mind_, not the ear, really hears. _Consciousness_ includes all that a sentient being perceives, knows, thinks, or feels, from whatever source arising and of whatever character, kind, or degree, whether with or without distinct thinking, feeling, or willing; we speak of the _consciousness_ of the brute, of the savage, or of the sage. The _intellect_ is that a.s.semblage of faculties which is concerned with knowledge, as distinguished from emotion and volition. _Understanding_ is the Saxon word of the same general import, but is chiefly used of the reasoning powers; the _understanding_, which Sir Wm. Hamilton has called "the faculty of relations and comparisons," is distinguished by many philosophers from _reason_ in that "_reason_ is the faculty of the higher cognitions or a priori truth."

Antonyms:

body, brawn, brute force, material substance, matter.

MINUTE.

Synonyms:

circ.u.mstantial, diminutive, little, slender, comminuted, exact, particular, small, critical, fine, precise, tiny.

detailed,

That is _minute_ which is of exceedingly limited dimensions, as a grain of dust, or which attends to matters of exceedingly slight amount or apparent importance; as, a _minute_ account; _minute_ observation. That which is broken up into _minute_ particles is said to be _comminuted_; things may be termed _fine_ which would not be termed _comminuted_; as, _fine_ sand; _fine_ gravel; but, in using the adverb, we say a substance is finely _comminuted_, _comminuted_ referring more to the process, _fine_ to the result. An account extended to very _minute_ particulars is _circ.u.mstantial_, _detailed_, _particular_; an examination so extended is _critical_, _exact_, _precise_. Compare FINE.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for LARGE.

MISFORTUNE.

Synonyms:

adversity, disappointment, ill fortune, ruin, affliction, disaster, ill luck, sorrow, bereavement, distress, misadventure, stroke, blow, failure, mischance, trial, calamity, hardship, misery, tribulation, chastening, harm, mishap, trouble, chastis.e.m.e.nt, ill, reverse, visitation.

_Misfortune_ is adverse fortune or any instance thereof, any untoward event, usually of lingering character or consequences, and such as the sufferer is not deemed directly responsible for; as, he had the _misfortune_ to be born blind. Any considerable _disappointment_, _failure_, or _misfortune_, as regards outward circ.u.mstances, as loss of fortune, position, and the like, when long continued or attended with enduring consequences, const.i.tutes _adversity_. For the loss of friends by death we commonly use _affliction_ or _bereavement_. _Calamity_ and _disaster_ are used of sudden and severe _misfortunes_, often overwhelming; _ill fortune_ and _ill luck_, of lighter troubles and failures. We speak of the _misery_ of the poor, the _hardships_ of the soldier. _Affliction_, _chastening_, _trial_, and _tribulation_ have all an especially religious bearing, suggesting some disciplinary purpose of G.o.d with beneficent design. _Affliction_ may be keen and bitter, but brief; _tribulation_ is long and wearing. We speak of an _affliction_, but rarely of a _tribulation_, since _tribulation_ is viewed as a continuous process, which may endure for years or for a lifetime; but we speak of our daily _trials_. Compare CATASTROPHE.

Antonyms:

blessing, consolation, gratification, pleasure, success, boon, good fortune, happiness, prosperity, triumph.

comfort, good luck, joy, relief,

MOB.

Synonyms: