Roget's Thesaurus

Chapter 88

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#703. Artlessness. -- N. artlessness &c. adj; nature, simplicity; innocence &c. 946; bonhomie, naivete, abandon, candor, sincerity; singleness of purpose, singleness of heart; honesty &c. 939; plain speaking; epanchement[Fr].

rough diamond, matter of fact man; le palais de verite[Fr]; enfant terrible[Fr].

V. be artless &c. adj; look one in the face; wear one"s heart upon his sleeves for daws to peck at[obs3]; think aloud; speak out, speak one"s mind; be free with one, call a spade a spade.

Adj. artless, natural, pure, native, confiding, simple, lain, inartificial[obs3], untutored, unsophisticated, ingenu[obs3], unaffected, naive; sincere, frank; open, open as day; candid, ingenuous, guileless; unsuspicious, honest &c. 939; innocent &c. 946; Arcadian[obs3]; undesigning, straightforward, unreserved, aboveboard; simple-minded, single-minded; frank-hearted, open-hearted, single-hearted, simple-hearted.

free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken; blunt, downright, direct, matter of fact, unpoetical[obs3]; unflattering.

Adv. in plain words, in plain English; without mincing the matter; not to mince the matter &c. (affirmation) 535.

Phr. Davus sum non Oedipus [Terence]; liberavi animam meam[Lat]; "as frank as rain on cherry blossoms" [E.B. Browning].

-- Section IV. ANTAGONISM

1. Conditional Antagonism --

#704. Difficulty. -- N. difficulty; hardness &c. adj.; impracticability &c. (impossibility) 471; tough work, hard work, uphill work; hard task, Herculean task, Augean task[obs3]; task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper[obs3], dead lift.

dilemma, embarra.s.sment; deadlock; perplexity &c. (uncertainty) 475; intricacy; entanglement, complexity &c. 59; cross fire; awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus[Lat], net, meshes, maze; coil &c. (convolution) 248; crooked path; involvement.

nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point; vexed question, vexata quaestio[Lat], poser; puzzle &c. (riddle) 533; paradox; hard nut to crack, nut to crack; bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum[Lat], where the shoe pinches.

nonplus, quandary, strait, pa.s.s, pinch, pretty pa.s.s, stress, brunt; critical situation, crisis; trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble.

sc.r.a.pe, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet"s nest; sea of troubles, peck of troubles; pretty kettle of fish; pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado; false position.

set fast, stand, standstill; deadlock, dead set.

fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac[Fr]; hitch; stumbling block &c (hindrance) 706.

[difficult person] crab; curmudgeon.

V. be difficult &c. adj.; run one hard, go against the grain, try one"s patience, put one out; put to one"s shifts, put to one"s wit"s end; go hard with one, try one; pose, perplex &c. (uncertain) 475; bother, nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock; be impossible &c. 471; be in the way of &c (hinder) 706.

meet with difficulties; labor under difficulties; get into difficulties; plunge into difficulties; struggle with difficulties; contend with difficulties; grapple with difficulties; labor under a disadvantage; be in difficulty &c. adj.

fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream, scud under bare poles.

Have much ado with, have a hard time of it; come to the push, come to the pinch; bear the brunt.

grope in the dark, lose one"s way, weave a tangled web, walk among eggs.

get into a sc.r.a.pe &c. n.; bring a hornet"s nest about one"s ears; be put to one"s shifts; flounder, boggle, struggle; not know which way to turn &c. (uncertain) 475; perdre son Latin[Fr]; stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast; come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock; hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail.

render difficult &c. adj.; enmesh, enc.u.mber, embarra.s.s, ravel, entangle; put a spoke in the wheel &c. (hinder) 706; lead a pretty dance.

Adj. difficult, not easy, hard, tough; troublesome, toilsome, irksome; operose[obs3], laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable; sooner said than done; more easily said than done, easier said than done.

[pertaining to person"s disposition sensu 802] difficult to deal with, hard to deal with; ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby; not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water.

awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable; intractable, stubborn &c. (obstinate) 606; perverse, refractory, plaguy[obs3], trying, th.o.r.n.y, rugged; knotted, knotty; invious|; pathless, trackless; labyrinthine &c (convoluted) 248; intricate, complicated &c (tangled) 59; impracticable &c. (impossible) 471; not feasible &c. 470; desperate &c. (hopeless) 859.

embarra.s.sing, perplexing &c. (uncertain) 475; delicate, ticklish, critical; beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompa.s.sed with difficulties.

under a difficulty; in a box; in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a sc.r.a.pe &c.n., in deep water, in a fine pickle; in extremis; between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis; surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands; at cross purposes; not out of the wood.

reduced to straits; hard pressed, sorely pressed; run hard; pinched, put to it, straitened; hard up, hard put to it, hard set; put to one"s shifts; puzzled, at a loss, &c (uncertain) 475; at the end of one"s tether, at the end of one"s rope, at one"s wit"s end, at a nonplus, at a standstill; graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground; stuck fast, set fast; up a tree, at bay, aux abois[Fr], driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one"s wit"s end, driven to the wall; au bout de son Latin; out of one"s depth; thrown out.

accomplished with difficulty; hard-fought, hard-earned.

Adv. with difficulty, with much ado; barely, hardly &c. adj.; uphill; against the stream, against the grain; d rebours[Fr]; invita Minerva[Lat]; in the teeth of; at a pinch, upon a pinch; at long odds, against long odds.

Phr. "ay there"s the rub" [Hamlet]; hic labor hoc opus [Lat][Vergil]; things are come to a pretty pa.s.s, ab inconvenienti[Lat]; ad astra per aspera[Lat]; acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire[Fr].

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#705. Facility. -- N. facility, ease; easiness &c. adj.; capability; feasibility &c. (practicability) 470; flexibility, pliancy &c. 324; smoothness &c. 255.

plain sailing, smooth sailing, straight sailing; mere child"s play, holiday task; cinch [U.S.].

smooth water, fair wind; smooth royal road; clear coast, clear stage; tabula rasa[Lat]; full play &c. (freedom) 748.

disenc.u.mbrance[obs3], disentanglement; deoppilation|!; permission &c.

760.

simplicity, lack of complication.

V. be easy &c. adj.; go on smoothly, run smoothly; have full play &c.

n.; go on all fours, run on all fours; obey the helm, work well.

flow with the stream, swim with the stream, drift with the stream, go with the stream, flow with the tide, drift with the tide; see one"s way; have all one"s own way, have the game in one"s own hands; walk over the course, win at a canter; make light of, make nothing of, make no bones of.

be at home in, make it look easy, do it with one"s eyes closed, do it in one"s sleep &c. (skillful) 698.

render easy &c. adj.; facilitate, smooth, ease; popularize; lighten, lighten the labor; free, clear; disenc.u.mber, disembarra.s.s, disentangle, disengage; deobstruct[obs3], unclog, extricate, unravel; untie the knot, cut the knot; disburden, unload, exonerate, emanc.i.p.ate, free from, deoppilate|!; humor &c. (aid) 707; lubricate &c. 332; relieve &c. 834.

leave a hole to creep out of, leave a loophole, leave the matter open; give the reins to, give full play, give full swing; make way for; open the door to, open the way, prepare the ground, smooth the ground, clear the ground, open the way, open the path, open the road; pave the way, bridge over; permit &c. 760.

Adj. easy, facile; feasible &c (practicable) 470; easily managed, easily accomplished; within reach, accessible, easy of access, for the million, open to.

manageable, wieldy; towardly[obs3], tractable; submissive; yielding, ductile; suant[obs3]; pliant &c. (soft) 324; glib, slippery; smooth &c.

255; on friction wheels, on velvet.

unembarra.s.sed, disburdened, unburdened, disenc.u.mbered, unenc.u.mbered, disembarra.s.sed; exonerated; unloaded, un.o.bstructed, untrammeled; unrestrained &c. (free) 748; at ease, light.

[able to do easily] at home with; quite at home; in one"s element, in smooth water; skillful &c. 698;accustomed &c. 613.

Adv. easily &c. adj.; readily, smoothly, swimmingly, on easy terms, single-handed.

Phr. touch and go.

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#706. Hindrance. -- N. prevention, preclusion, obstruction, stoppage; embolus, embolism [medical]; infarct [medical]; interruption, interception, interclusion|; hindrance, impedition|; r.e.t.a.r.dment[obs3], r.e.t.a.r.dation; embarra.s.sment, oppilation|!; coarctation[obs3], stricture, restriction; restraint &c. 751; inhibition &c. 761; blockade &c. (closure) 261.

interference, interposition; obtrusion; discouragement, discountenance.

impediment, let, obstacle, obstruction, knot, knag[obs3]; check, hitch, contretemps, screw loose, grit in the oil.

bar, stile, barrier; [barrier to vehicles] turnstile, turnpike; gate, portcullis.

beaver dam; trocha[obs3]; barricade &c. (defense) 717; wall, dead wall, sea wall, levee breakwater, groyne[obs3]; bulkhead, block, buffer; stopper &c. 263; boom, dam, weir, burrock[obs3].

drawback, objection; stumbling-block, stumbling-stone; lion in the path, snag; snags and sawyers.

enc.u.mbrance, inc.u.mbrance[obs3]; clog, skid, shoe, spoke; drag, drag chain, drag weight; stay, stop; preventive, prophylactic; load, burden, fardel[obs3], onus, millstone round one"s neck, impedimenta; dead weight; lumber, pack; nightmare, Ephialtes[obs3], incubus, old man of the sea; remora.

difficulty &c. 704; insuperable &c. 471; obstacle; estoppel [Law]; ill wind; head wind &c. (opposition) 708; trammel, tether &c. (means of restraint) 752; hold back, counterpoise.

[person who hinders] damper, wet blanket, hinderer, marplot, killjoy; party p.o.o.per[coll]; party crasher, interloper.

trail of a red herring; opponent &c. 710.

V. hinder, impede, filibuster [U.S.], impedite[obs3], embarra.s.s.

keep off, stave off, ward off; obviate; avert, antevert|; turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud; r.e.t.a.r.d, slacken, check, let; counteract, countercheck[obs3]; preclude, debar, foreclose, estop[Law]; inhibit &c. 761; shackle &c. (restrain) 751; restrict.

obstruct, stop, stay, bar, bolt, lock; block, block up; choke off; belay, barricade; block the way, bar the way, stop the way; forelay[obs3]; dam up &c. (close) 261; put on the brake &c. n.; scotch the wheel, lock the wheel, put a spoke in the wheel; put a stop to &c. 142; traverse, contravene; interrupt, intercept; oppose &c. 708; hedge in, hedge round; cut off; inerclude|.

interpose, interfere, intermeddle &c. 682.

cramp, hamper; clog, clog the wheels; c.u.mber; enc.u.mber, inc.u.mber; handicap; choke; saddle with, load with; overload, lay; lumber, trammel, tie one"s hands, put to inconvenience; incommode, discommode; discompose; hustle, corner, drive into a corner.

run foul of, fall foul of; cross the path of, break in upon.

thwart, frustrate, disconcert, balk, foil; faze, feaze[obs3], feeze [obs3][U.S.]; baffle, snub, override, circ.u.mvent; defeat &c. 731; spike guns &c. (render useless) 645; spoil, mar, clip the wings of; cripple &c.

(injure) 659; put an extinguisher on; damp; dishearten &c (dissuade) 616; discountenance, throw cold water on, spoil sport; lay a wet blanket, throw a wet blanket on; cut the ground from under one, take the wind out of one"s sails, undermine; be in the way of, stand in the way of; act as a drag; hang like a millstone round one"s neck.

Adj. hindering &c. v.; obstructive, obstruent[obs3]; impeditive[obs3], impedient[obs3]; intercipient|; prophylactic &c. (remedial) 662; impedimentary.

in the way of, unfavorable; onerous, burdensome; c.u.mbrous, c.u.mbersome; obtrusive.

hindered &c v.; windbound[obs3], waterlogged, heavy laden; hard pressed.

una.s.sisted &c. (see a.s.sist &c. 707); single-handed, alone; deserted &c. 624.

Phr. occurrent nubes[Lat].

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#707. Aid. -- N. aid, aidance[obs3]; a.s.sistance, help, opitulation|, succor; support, lift, advance, furtherance, promotion; coadjuvancy &c.

(cooperation) 709[obs3].

patronage, championship, countenance, favor, interest, advocacy.

sustentation, subvention, alimentation, nutrition, nourishment; eutrophy; manna in the wilderness; food &c. 298; means &c. 632.

ministry, ministration; subministration[obs3]; accommodation.

relief, rescue; help at a dead lift; supernatural aid; deus ex machina[Lat].

supplies, reinforcements, reenforcements[obs3], succors, contingents, recruits; support &c. (physical) 215; adjunct, ally &c. (helper) 711.

V. aid, a.s.sist, help, succor, lend one"s aid; come to the aid &c. n.

of; contribute, subscribe to; bring aid, give aid, furnish aid, afford aid, supply aid &c. n.; give a helping hand, stretch a hand, lend a helping hand, lend a hand, bear a helping hand, hold out a hand, hold out a helping hand; give one a life, give one a cast, give one a turn; take by the hand, take in tow; help a lame dog over a stile, lend wings to.

relieve, rescue; set up, set agoing[obs3], set on one"s legs; bear through, pull through; give new life to, be the making of; reinforce, reenforce, recruit; set forward, put forward, push forward; give a lift, give a shove, give an impulse to; promote, further, forward, advance expedite, speed, quicken, hasten.

support, sustain, uphold, prop, hold up, bolster.

cradle, nourish; nurture, nurse, dry nurse, suckle, put out to nurse; manure, cultivate, force; foster, cherish, foment; feed the flame, fan the flame.

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