Roget's Thesaurus Part 15

V. be prompt, be on time, be in time; arrive on time; be in the nick of time.

Adj. timely, seasonable, in time, punctual, prompt.

Adv. on time, punctually, at the deadline, precisely, exactly; right on time, to the minute; in time; in good time, in military time, in pudding time , in due time; time enough; with no time to spare, by a hair's breadth.

Phr. touch and go, not a minute too soon, in the nick of time, just under the wire, get on board before the train leaves the station.

#133. Lateness. -- N. {ant. 132} lateness &c. adj.; tardiness &c.

(slowness) 275.

delay, delation; cunctation, procrastination; deferring, deferral &c.

v.; postponement, adjournment, prorogation, r.e.t.a.r.dation, respite, pause, reprieve, stay of execution; protraction, prolongation; Fabian policy, medecine expectante[Fr], chancery suit, federal case; leeway; high time; moratorium, holdover.

V. be late &c. adj.; tarry, wait, stay, bide, take time; dawdle &c.

(be inactive) 683; linger, loiter; bide one's time, take one's time; gain time; hang fire; stand over, lie over.

put off, defer, delay, lay over, suspend; table [parliamentary]; s.h.i.+ft off, stave off; waive, r.e.t.a.r.d, remand, postpone, adjourn; procrastinate; dally; prolong, protract; spin out, draw out, lengthen out, stretch out; prorogue; keep back; tide over; push to the last, drive to the last; let the matter stand over; reserve &c. (store) 636; temporize; consult one's pillow, sleep on it.

lose an opportunity &c. 135; be kept waiting, dance attendance; kick one's heels, cool one's heels; faire antichambre[Fr][obs3]; wait impatiently; await &c. (expect) 507; sit up, sit up at night.

Adj. late, tardy, slow, behindhand, serotine[obs3], belated, postliminious[obs3], posthumous, backward, unpunctual, untimely; delayed, postponed; dilatory &c. (slow) 275; delayed &c. v.; in abeyance.

Adv. late; lateward[obs3], backward; late in the day; at sunset, at the eleventh hour, at length, at last; ultimately; after time, behind time, after the deadline; too late; too late for &c. 135.

slowly, leisurely, deliberately, at one's leisure; ex post facto; sine die [parl.].

Phr. nonum prematur in annum [Lat][Horace]; "against the sunbeams serotine and lucent" [Longfellow]; ie meglio tardi che mai[It]; deliberando saepe perit occasio [Lat][Syrus].

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#134. Occasion. -- N. {ant. 135} timeliness, occasion, opportunity, opening, room; event (eventuality) 151; suitable season, proper season, suitable time, proper time; high time; opportuneness &c. adj.; tempestivity[obs3].

crisis, turn, juncture, conjuncture; crisis, turning point, given time.

nick of time; golden opportunity, well timed opportunity, fine opportunity, favorable opportunity, opening; clear stage, fair field; mollia tempora[Lat][obs3]; fata Morgana[Lat]; spare time &c. (leisure) 685.

V. seize &c. (take) 789 an opportunity, use &c. 677 an opportunity, give &c. 784 an opportunity, use an occasion; improve the occasion.

suit the occasion &c. (be expedient) 646.

seize the occasion, strike while the iron is hot, battre le fer sur l'enclume[Fr], make hay while the sun s.h.i.+nes, seize the present hour, take time by the forelock, prendre la balle au bond[Fr].

Adj. opportune, timely, well-timed, timeful[obs3], seasonable.

providential, lucky, fortunate, happy, favorable, propitious, auspicious, critical; suitable &c. 23; obiter dicta.

Adv. opportunely &c. adj.; in proper course, in due course, in proper season, in due season, in proper time, in due time; for the nonce; in the nick of time, in the fullness of time; all in good time; just in time, at the eleventh hour, now or never.

by the way, by the by; en pa.s.sant[Fr], a propos[Fr]; pro re nata[Lat], pro hac vice[Lat]; par parenthese[Fr], parenthetically, by way of parenthesis, incidentally; while speaking of, while on the subject; extempore; on the spur of the moment, on the spur of the occasion; on the spot &c. (early) 132.

Phr. carpe diem[Lat], [Horace]; occasionem cognosce[Lat]; one's hour is come, the time is up; that reminds me, now that you mention it, come to think of it; bien perdu bien connu[Fr]; e sempre l'ora[It]; ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius[Lat]; nosce tempus[Lat]; nunc aut nunquam[Lat].

#135. Untimeliness -- N. {ant. 134} untimeliness, intempestivity[obs3], unseasonableness, inexpedience; unsuitable time, improper time; unreasonableness &c. adj; evil hour; contretemps; intrusion; anachronism &c. 115.

bad time, wrong time, inappropriate time, not the right occasion, unsuitable time, inopportune time, poor timing.

V. be ill timed &c. adj.; mistime, intrude, come amiss, break in upon; have other fish to fry; be busy, be occupied.

lose an opportunity, throw away an opportunity, waste an opportunity, neglect &c. 460 an opportunity; allow the opportunity to pa.s.s, suffer the opportunity to pa.s.s, allow the opportunity to slip, suffer the opportunity to slip, allow the opportunity to go by, suffer the opportunity to go by, allow the opportunity to escape, suffer the opportunity to escape, allow the opportunity to lapse, suffer the opportunity to lapse, allow the occasion to pa.s.s, allow the occasion to slip by; waste time &c. (be inactive) 683; let slip through the fingers, lock the barn door after the horse is stolen.

Adj. ill-timed, mistimed; ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred; untimely, unseasonable; out of date, out of season; inopportune, timeless, intrusive, untoward, mal a propos[Fr], unlucky, inauspicious, infelicitous, unbefitting, unpropitious, unfortunate, unfavorable; unsuited &c. 24; inexpedient &c. 647.

unpunctual &c. (late) 133; too late for; premature &c. (early) 132; too soon for; wise after the event, monday morning quarterbacking, twenty- twenty hindsight.

Adv. inopportunely &c. adj.; as ill luck would have it, in an evil hour, the time having gone by, a day after the fair.

Phr. after death the doctor, after meat mustard.

-- 3. RECURRENT TIME --

#136. Frequency. -- N. frequency, oftness[obs3], oftenness[obs3], commonness; repet.i.tion &c. 104; normality &c. 80; example (conformity) 82; routine, custom (habit) 613.

regularity, uniformity, constancy, clock-work precision; punctuality &c. (exactness) 494; even tenor; system; routine &c. (custom) 613; formula; rule &c. (form, regulation) 697; keynote, standard, model; precedent &c.

(prototype) 22; conformity &c. 82.

V. recur &c. 104; do nothing but; keep, keep on.

Adj. frequent, many times, not rare, thickcoming[obs3], incessant, perpetual, continual, steady, constant, thick; uniform; repeated &c. 104; customary &c. 613 (habit) 613; regular (normal) 80; according to rule &c.

(conformable) 82.

common, everyday, usual, ordinary, familiar.

old-hat, boring, well-known, trivial.

Adv. often, oft; ofttimes[obs3], oftentimes; frequently; repeatedly &c. 104; unseldom[obs3], not unfrequently[obs3]; in quick succession, in rapid succession; many a time and oft; daily, hourly &c.; every day, every hour, every moment &c.

perpetually, continually, constantly, incessantly, without ceasing, at all times, daily and hourly, night and day, day and night, day after day, morning noon and night, ever anon, invariably (habit) 613.

most often; commonly &c. (habitually) 613.

sometimes, occasionally, at times, now and then, from time to time, there being times when, toties quoties[Lat][obs3], often enough, when the mood strikes, again and again.

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#137. Infrequency.-- N. infrequency, rareness, rarity; fewness &c.

103; seldomness[obs3]; uncommonness.

V. be rare &c. adj.

Adj. unfrequent[obs3], infrequent; rare, rare as a blue diamond; few &c. 103; scarce; almost unheard of, unprecedented, which has not occurred within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, not within one's previous experience; not since Adam[obs3].

scarce as hen's teeth; one in a million; few and far between.

Adv. seldom, rarely, scarcely, hardly; not often, not much, infrequently, unfrequently[obs3], unoften[obs3]; scarcely, scarcely ever, hardly ever; once in a blue moon.

once; once in a blue moon; once in a million years; once for all, once in a way; pro hac vice[Lat].

Phr. ein mal kein mal[German].

#138. Regularity of recurrence. Periodicity. -- N. periodicity, intermittence; beat; oscillation &c. 314; pulse, pulsation; rhythm; alternation, alternateness, alternativeness, alternity[obs3].

bout, round, revolution, rotation, turn, say.

anniversary, jubilee, centenary.

catamenia[obs3]; courses, menses, menstrual flux.

[Regularity of return] rota, cycle, period, stated time, routine; days of the week; Sunday, Monday &c.; months of the year; January &c.; feast, fast &c.; Christmas, Easter, New Year's day &c.

Allhallows[obs3], Allhallowmas[obs3], All Saints' Day; All Souls', All Souls' Day; Ash Wednesday, bicentennial, birthday, biss.e.xtile[obs3], Candlemas[obs3], Dewali, groundhog day [U.S.], Halloween, Hallowmas[obs3], Lady day, leap year, Midsummer day, Muharram, woodchuck day [U.S.], St.

Swithin's day, natal day; yearbook; yuletide.

punctuality, regularity, steadiness.

V. recur in regular order, recur in regular succession; return, revolve; come again, come in its turn; come round, come round again; beat, pulsate; alternate; intermit.

Adj. periodic, periodical; serial, recurrent, cyclical, rhythmical; recurring &c. v.; intermittent, remittent; alternate, every other.

hourly; diurnal, daily; quotidian, tertian, weekly; hebdomadal , hebdomadary ; biweekly, fortnightly; bimonthly; catamenial ; monthly, menstrual; yearly, annual; biennial, triennial, &c.; centennial, secular; paschal, lenten, &c.

regular, steady, punctual, regular as clockwork.

Adv. periodically &c. adj.; at regular intervals, at stated times; at fixed established, at established periods; punctually &c. adj. de die in diem[Lat]; from day to day, day by day.

by turns; in turn, in rotation; alternately, every other day, off and on, ride and tie, round and round.

#139. Irregularity of recurrence. -- N. irregularity, uncertainty, unpunctuality; fitfulness &c. adj.; capriciousness, ecrhythmus .

Adj. irregular, uncertain, unpunctual, capricious, desultory, fitful, flickering; rambling, rhapsodical; spasmodic; immethodical[obs3], unmethodical, variable.

Adv. irregularly &c. adj.; by fits and starts &c. (discontinuously) 70.

-- SECTION VII. CHANGE

1. SIMPLE CHANGE --

#140. [Difference at different times.] Change. -- N. change, alteration, mutation, permutation, variation, modification, modulation, inflexion, mood, qualification, innovation, metastasis, deviation, turn, evolution, revolution; diversion; break.

transformation, transfiguration; metamorphosis; trans.m.u.tation; deoxidization[Chem]; transubstantiation; mutagenesis[Genet], transanimation[obs3], transmigration, metempsychosis ; avatar; alterative.

conversion &c. (gradual change) 144; revolution &c. (sudden or radical change) 146 inversion &c. (reversal) 218; displacement &c. 185; transference &c. 270.

changeableness &c. 149; tergiversation &c. (change of mind) 607.

V. change, alter, vary, wax and wane; modulate, diversify, qualify, tamper with; turn, s.h.i.+ft, veer, tack, chop, shuffle, swerve, warp, deviate, turn aside, evert, intervert[obs3]; pa.s.s to, take a turn, turn the corner, resume.

work a change, modify, vamp, superinduce; transform, transfigure, trans.m.u.te, transmogrify, transume[obs3]; metamorphose, ring the changes.

innovate, introduce new blood, shuffle the cards; give a turn to, give a color to; influence, turn the scale; s.h.i.+ft the scene, turn over a new leaf.

recast &c. 146; reverse &c. 218; disturb &c. 61; convert into &c. 144.

Adj. changed &c. v.; newfangled; changeable &c. 149; transitional; modifiable; alterative.