English Synonyms and Antonyms Part 56

(Compare synonyms for HUNT.) One event may _follow_ another either with or without special connection; if it _ensues_, there is some orderly connection; as, the _ensuing_ year; if it _results_ from another, there is some relation of effect, consequence, or inference. A clerk _observes_ his employer's directions. A child _obeys_ his parent's commands, _follows_ or _copies_ his example, _imitates_ his speech and manners. The compositor _follows_ copy; the incoming _succeeds_ the outgoing official.

FOOD.

Synonyms:

aliment, feed, nourishment, pabulum, sustenance, diet, fodder, nutriment, provender, viands, fare, forage, nutrition, regimen, victuals.

_Food_ is, in the popular sense, whatever one eats in contradistinction to what one drinks. Thus, we speak of _food_ and drink, of wholesome, unwholesome, or indigestible _food_; but in a more scientific sense whatever, when taken into the digestive organs, serves to build up structure or supply waste may be termed _food_; the word is extended to plants to signify whatever taken in any way into the organism serves similar purposes; thus, we speak of liquid _food_, plant _food_, etc.; in this wider sense _food_ is closely synonymous with _nutriment_, _nourishment_, and _sustenance_. _Diet_ refers to the quant.i.ty and quality of _food_ habitually taken, with reference to preservation of health. _Victuals_ is a plain, homely word for whatever may be eaten; we speak of choice _viands_, cold _victuals_. _Nourishment_ and _sustenance_ apply to whatever can be introduced into the system as a means of sustaining life; we say of a convalescent, he is taking _nourishment_. _Nutriment_ and _nutrition_ have more of scientific reference to the vitalizing principles of various _foods_; thus, wheat is said to contain a great amount of _nutriment_. _Regimen_ considers _food_ as taken by strict rule, but applies more widely to the whole ordering of life. _Fare_ is a general word for all table supplies, good or bad; as, sumptuous _fare_; wretched _fare_. _Feed_, _fodder_, and _provender_ are used only of the food of the lower animals, _feed_ denoting anything consumed, but more commonly grain, _fodder_ denoting hay, cornstalks, or the like, sometimes called "long _feed_;"

_provender_ is dry _feed_, whether grain or hay, straw, etc. _Forage_ denotes any kind of _food_ suitable for horses and cattle, primarily as obtained by a military force in scouring the country, especially an enemy's country.

FORMIDABLE.

Synonyms:

dangerous, redoubted, terrible, tremendous.

That which is _formidable_ is worthy of fear if encountered or opposed; as, a _formidable_ array of troops, or of evidence. _Formidable_ is a word of more dignity than _dangerous_, and suggests more calm and collected power than _terrible_; _formidable_ is less overwhelming than _tremendous_. A loaded gun is _dangerous_; a park of artillery is _formidable_; a charge of cavalry is _terrible_; the full shock of great armies is _tremendous_. A _dangerous_ man is likely to do mischief, and needs watching; a _formidable_ man may not be _dangerous_ if not attacked; an enraged maniac is _terrible_; the force of ocean waves in a storm, and the silent pressure in the ocean depths, are _tremendous_.

Antonyms:

contemptible, feeble, harmless, helpless, powerless, weak.

despicable,

Prepositions:

Formidable _by_ or _in_ numbers; _in_ strength; formidable _to_ the enemy.

FORTIFICATION.

Synonyms:

castle, citadel, fastness, fort, fortress, stronghold.

_Fortification_ is the general word for any artificial defensive work; a _fortress_ is a _fortification_ of especial size and strength; a _fortress_ is regarded as permanent, and is ordinarily an independent work; a _fort_ or _fortification_ may be temporary; a _fortification_ may be but part of a defensive system; we speak of the _fortifications_ of a city. A _citadel_ is a _fortification_ within a city, or the fortified inner part of a city or _fortress_, within which a garrison may be placed to overawe the citizens, or to which the defenders may retire if the outer works are captured; the medieval _castle_ was the fortified residence of a king or baron. _Fort_ is the common military term for a detached fortified building or enclosure of moderate size occupied or designed to be occupied by troops. The _fortifications_ of a modern city usually consist of a chain of _forts_. Any defensible place, whether made so by nature or by art, is a _fastness_ or _stronghold_.

FORt.i.tUDE.

Synonyms:

courage, endurance, heroism, resolution.

_Fort.i.tude_ (L. _fortis_, strong) is the strength or firmness of mind or soul to endure pain or adversity patiently and determinedly.

_Fort.i.tude_ has been defined as "pa.s.sive _courage_," which is a good definition, but not complete. _Fort.i.tude_ might be termed "still _courage_," or "enduring _courage_;" it is that quality which is able not merely to endure pain or trial, but steadily to confront dangers that can not be actively opposed, or against which one has no adequate defense; it takes _courage_ to charge a battery, _fort.i.tude_ to stand still under an enemy's fire. _Resolution_ is of the mind; _endurance_ is partly physical; it requires _resolution_ to resist temptation, _endurance_ to resist hunger and cold. Compare BRAVE; PATIENCE.

FORTUNATE.

Synonyms:

favored, lucky, prospered, prosperous, successful.

happy,

A man is _successful_ in any case if he achieves or gains what he seeks; he is known as a _successful_ man if he has achieved or gained worthy objects of endeavor; he is _fortunate_ or _lucky_ if advantages have come to him without or beyond his direct planning or achieving. _Lucky_ is the more common and colloquial, _fortunate_ the more elegant word; _fortunate_ is more naturally applied to the graver matters, as we speak of the _fortunate_, rather than the _lucky_, issue of a great battle; _lucky_ more strongly emphasizes the element of chance, as when we speak of a _lucky_ hit, a _lucky_ guess, or of one as "born under a _lucky_ star." _Favored_ is used in a religious sense, implying that one is the object of divine favor. _Happy_, in this connection, signifies possessed of the means of happiness. One is said to be _happy_ or _prosperous_ whether his prosperity be the result of fortune or of achievement; _prospered_ rather denotes the action of a superintending Providence.

Antonyms:

broken, fallen, miserable, unhappy, woful, crushed, ill-starred, unfortunate, unlucky, wretched.

FRAUD.

Synonyms:

artifice, deceit, duplicity, swindle, treason, cheat, deception, imposition, swindling, trick.

cheating, dishonesty, imposture, treachery,

A _fraud_ is an act of deliberate _deception_ with the design of securing something by taking unfair advantage of another. A _deceit_ or _deception_ may be designed merely to gain some end of one's own, with no intent of harming another; an _imposition_, to take some small advantage of another, or simply to make another ridiculous. An _imposture_ is designed to obtain money, credit, or position to which one is not ent.i.tled, and may be practised by a street beggar or by the pretender to a throne. All action that is not honest is _dishonesty_, but the term _dishonesty_ is generally applied in business, politics, etc., to deceitful practises which are not directly criminal. _Fraud_ includes _deceit_, but _deceit_ may not reach the gravity of _fraud_; a _cheat_ is of the nature of _fraud_, but of a petty sort; a _swindle_ is more serious than a _cheat_, involving larger values and more flagrant _dishonesty_. _Fraud_ is commonly actionable at law; _cheating_ and _swindling_ are for the most part out of the reach of legal proceedings.

_Treachery_ is chiefly used of _dishonesty_ in matters of friends.h.i.+p, social relations, government, or war; _treachery_ may be more harmful than _fraud_, but is not so gross, and is not ordinarily open to legal redress. _Treason_ is a specific form of _treachery_ of a subject to the government to which he owes allegiance, and is definable and punishable at law. Compare ARTIFICE; DECEPTION.

Antonyms:

fairness, good faith, honesty, integrity, truth, uprightness.

FRIENDLY.

Synonyms: