6.0 F

6.1 fabric...
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fabric n. 1 cloth, textile, material, stuff: The chair is upholstered
in traditional floral fabric. 2 construction, constitution,
core, heart, foundation, structure, framework, organization,
configuration, make-up: Extensive strikes threatened the very
fabric of our society.

fabricate v. 1 erect, build, construct, frame, raise, put or set up,

assemble, fashion, form, make, manufacture, produce: The basic
structure was fabricated of steel. 2 invent, create, originate,
make up, manufacture, concoct, think up, imagine, hatch, devise,
design: Numerous lies, fabricated by politicians, were already
in circulation. 3 forge, falsify, counterfeit, fake, feign,
manufacture; trump up, Colloq cook up, Brit cook: He admitted
to having fabricated the data in his application.

fabrication
n. 1 construction, assembly, assemblage, making, fashioning,
production, manufacture, putting together, building, erection,
formation, formulation, structuring, constructing, organization,
forming, framing, architecture: The fabrication of thousands of
parts took only a month. 2 invention, creation, origination,
make-up, manufacture, hatching, concoction, contrivance, design:
Only Vanessa could have been responsible for the fabrication of
such a diabolical plot. 3 falsehood, lie, fib, prevarication,
story, tale, untruth, fiction, yarn, fable; falsification,
forgery, fake, sham, Colloq cock-and-bull story, Brit fairy
story, fairy tale: His war record is a complete fabrication.

fabulous adj. 1 fabled, mythic(al), celebrated, legendary, storied,
fictitious, fictional, unreal, fanciful, imaginary, story-book,
fairy-tale: Greek mythology tells us of a fabulous winged horse
called Pegasus. 2 fantastic, marvellous, incredible,
unbelievable, inconceivable, wonderful, astounding, astonishing,
amazing, wondrous, extraordinary, miraculous, phenomenal:
Houses in London were selling at fabulous prices. 3 superb,
marvellous, terrific, great, wonderful, Colloq great, super,
smashing, thumping, whopping, thundering, rattling, howling, US
neat, keen, Slang fab, hot, far-out, cool, Old-fashioned
fantabulous, in the groove, groovy, ace, Brit magic, US and
Canadian copacetic: I saw an absolutely fabulous new film the
other night.


face n. 1 visage, countenance, physiognomy, features, lineaments,
Slang mug, mush, kisser, pan, puss, Brit phiz, phizog, dial,
clock: I don't like the expression on your face. 2 look,
appearance, aspect, expression, mien: He has the face of
someone who is very proud of himself. Modern farming has changed
the face of the countryside. 3 mask, veneer, fa‡ade, front,
camouflage, pretence, disguise, (false) impression, semblance,
masquerade: She puts on a bold face, but we know she was deeply

hurt by your remarks. 4 dignity, image, self-respect, standing,
reputation, repute, name, honour, status: You might lose face
if you admit you were wrong. 5 boldness, daring, audacity,
effrontery, impudence, impertinence, presumption, brashness,
Colloq gall, brass, nerve, cheek, guts, gutsiness, Brit brass
neck, Slang US balls: Who would have the face to name such a
hotel 'The Palace'? 6 surface, exterior, front, outside, cover,
facing, fa‡ade, skin: The building will have a face of white
marble. 7 right side, obverse, front; dial: The card landed
face up. The face of the clock is enamelled. 8 face to face.
confronting, facing, opposite, en face, vis-…-vis, tˆte-…-tˆte,
… deux, eye to eye, head to head, Colloq eyeball to eyeball: We
met face to face for the first time in the courtroom. 9 in the
face of. in defiance of, notwithstanding, despite, in spite of,
confronting, in opposition to: Some experts attacked the report
for flying in the face of received wisdom. 10 make a face.
grimace, change one's expression, murgeon: When I said I would
be there, she made a face. 11 on the face of it. to all or
outward appearances, seemingly, apparently, superficially,
evidently: On the face of it, I assumed that he was guilty. 12
show one's face. put in or make an appearance, appear, arrive,
be seen, turn up, Colloq show up: I suppose I ought to show my
face at the office party. 13 to one's face. directly, brazenly,
eye to eye, face to face, candidly, openly, frankly: I told him
to his face that he was a liar.

--v. 14 confront, brave, meet (with), encounter, experience,
deal or cope with, come or go up against; appear before: In the
jungle we faced grave danger from man-eating tigers. She faces
her first audience tonight. 15 give (out) or front on or onto,
front towards, overlook, look out on or over; be opposite: Our
rooms face the lake. Facing page 22 is a map of the area. 16
coat, surface, cover, clad, dress, sheathe, overlay, finish;
veneer: The collar is faced with velvet. 17 face down.
confront, intimidate, cow, subdue, overawe, browbeat: I'll not
be faced down by that impudent clerk. 18 face up to. a admit,
accept, acknowledge, allow, confess: We must all face up to our
own shortcomings. b confront, deal or cope with, come or go up
against, brave, come to terms with; brazen through or out, bite
(on) the bullet, grasp the nettle: You wouldn't be able to face
up to your wife if you'd forgotten her birthday.

facilitate

v. ease, expedite, smooth, further, promote, advance; assist,
aid, help: It would facilitate transport if you would bring
your own car.


facility n. 1 ease, smoothness, fluency, effortlessness, readiness,
easiness, skill, skilfulness, deftness, dexterity, adroitness,
ability, aptitude, expertise, expertness, proficiency, mastery,
masterfulness, masterliness, efficiency; quickness, alacrity,
celerity, swiftness, speed: They praised her new-found facility
with the Italian language. 2 Often, facilities. a plant,
system, building(s), structure, complex: The company is
building a new facility in France. b convenience(s), privy,
equipment, lavatory, toilet, powder-room, Nautical head, Brit
water-closet, WC, loo, US and Canadian rest room, men's room,
ladies' room, Colloq the Gents, the Ladies('), Slang Brit bog,
karzy, US and Canadian john: An American asked where he could
find the facilities.

facing n. fa‡ade, front, cladding, surface, overlay, skin; coating:
The houses all have a colourful stucco facing.

facsimile n. copy, reproduction, print, carbon (copy), replica,
duplicate, photocopy, fax, Trade Mark Xerox (copy), Photostat,
Colloq US dupe: Send a facsimile of the report to each field
office.

fact n. 1 reality, actuality, truth, certainty: The fact of the
matter is that she didn't do it. Is there a basis in fact for
your allegations? 2 accomplishment, fait accompli; occurrence,
event, happening, incident, episode, experience, act, deed:
Supersonic travel has been a fact for many years. 3 Often,
facts. data, information, particular(s), detail(s), point(s),
item(s), factor(s), Colloq low-down, (inside) info, the score,
Brit the gen, US and Canadian the poop: If I am going to defend
you, I need all the facts of the case. 4 in fact. indeed, to be
sure, as a matter of (actual) fact, in truth, truly, truthfully,
actually, really, in reality, in point of fact, factually: He
didn't come; in fact, he had gone abroad the week before.


faction n. 1 group, cabal, bloc, cadre, camp, splinter group, circle,
camarilla, clique, set, coterie, lobby, pressure group, junta or
junto, ring, gang, Brit ginger group, Colloq crowd: There is a
small faction plotting to assassinate the finance minister. 2

dissension, intrigue, strife, sedition, disharmony, discord,
disagreement, quarrelling, contention, controversy, infighting,
rupture, split, rift, schism, clash: Faction within the party
has no regard for national interests.


factious adj. contentious, disputatious, litigious, refractory,
divisive, conflicting, discordant, argumentative, at odds, at
loggerheads, quarrelsome, seditious, mutinous, rebellious: A
factious Congress spells trouble for the President.


factitious
adj. fake(d), bogus, false, mock, falsified, artificial,
insincere, unreal, synthetic, fabricated, engineered,
manufactured, spurious, counterfeit, sham, simulated, imitation,
unauthentic, set or got up, rigged, Colloq phoney or US also
phony: We are all victims of factitious desires by which
luxuries have become necessities.

factor n. 1 constituent, ingredient, element, part, particular, piece,
component; circumstance, consideration, aspect, fact, influence,
determinant, cause: Which factors contributed to the decline of
Mayan civilization? 2 agent, representative, proxy, middleman,
intermediary, deputy, go-between: Our company has a factor
handling all our exports. 3 banker, financier, backer,
moneylender, lender: The factors lent us money to buy the stock
needed to fill the orders.

factory n. works, mill, plant: She has a job at the piano factory.


factual adj. 1 actual, real, true, authentic, verifiable, realistic,
true to life, genuine, valid, bona fide: The report is a
forgery, but the letters are factual. 2 accurate, correct,
true, correct, faithful, precise, unbiased, undistorted,
unvarnished, unexaggerated, objective, unprejudiced,
straightforward: This is a factual account of the Battle of
Marathon.

faculty n. 1 ability, capacity, skill, aptitude, potential, talent,
flair, knack, gift, genius; dexterity, adroitness, cleverness,
capability: She has a faculty for making people feel at home.
2 school, department, discipline: Her graduate studies were in
the Faculty of Philosophy. 3 staff, personnel, members, Brit
dons: Each member of the faculty has a doctorate. 4 power,

authorization, dispensation, sanction, licence, prerogative,
privilege, right, permission, liberty: The government has the
faculty to judge treasonable acts.


fad n. craze, mania, rage, fashion, trend, fancy, vogue: Do you
remember the hula-hoop fad?

fade v. 1 (grow) dim or pale, grow faint, cloud (over), dull;
bleach, whiten, etiolate, wash out, blanch or blench, discolour:
The scene faded in the distance. Look how the sun has faded the
curtains! 2 droop, wither, decline, die out or away, perish,
ebb, flag, wane, wilt, waste away, sag, diminish, dwindle,
languish, deteriorate, decay, shrivel, peter out or away: As he
aged, his lust for life faded.


fag v. 1 Often, fag out. exhaust, weary, tire (out), fatigue, wear
out, jade, Colloq Brit knacker, US poop: I am completely fagged
out from studying all night.


--n. 2 Brit bore, nuisance, drag, chore, pain: It's a bit of a
fag having to fetch water from the garden. 3 servant, menial,
flunkey, drudge, lackey, underling: The seniors used to have
fags to clean their shoes. 4 See homosexual, 1, below. 5
cigarette, smoke, Colloq butt, cig(gy), weed, coffin-nail,
cancer stick, Old-fashioned gasper: Got a fag?

fail v. 1 not succeed, be unsuccessful, miss, miscarry, misfire,
fall short (of), fall flat, fall through, falter, be (found)
lacking or wanting, be defective, be deficient, be or prove
inadequate, come to grief or naught or nothing, go wrong, abort,
meet with disaster, founder, run aground, Colloq flop, fizzle
(out), go up in smoke, flunk: Guy Fawkes's plot failed utterly.
Gloria failed her history examination. 2 let down, disappoint,
forsake, desert, abandon, neglect, ignore, slight: I was really
counting on Mary, but she failed me. 3 decline, peter out,
dwindle, diminish, wane, deteriorate, weaken, decay, fade or die
(out or away), disappear, flag, ebb, sink, languish, give out;
gutter, go out: His health is failing. The light failed,
leaving us in darkness. 4 go bankrupt, go out of business, go
under, go into receivership, become insolvent, close up shop,
close up or down, cease operation(s), Brit go to the wall, US
file for Chapter Eleven, Colloq fold (up), go bust or broke, US
drown in red ink: According to the statistics, hundreds of

businesses fail every week.

failing n. 1 weakness, shortcoming, foible, flaw, fault, defect, weak
spot, blind spot, blemish, imperfection: Bigotry and prejudice
are her most serious failings.

--prep. 2 lacking, wanting, in default of, without, sans, in
the absence of: Failing a favourable decision, we shall lodge
an appeal.


failure n. 1 failing, default, non-performance, remissness; neglect,
omission, dereliction, deficiency: His failure to do his duty
resulted in a court martial. 2 breakdown, collapse,
discontinuance, miscarriage, loss; decline, decay,
deterioration: Power disruptions are caused by the failure of
the national grid. 3 loser, non-starter, incompetent, also-ran,
nonentity, Colloq flop, fizzle, damp squib, dud, lemon, washout,
dead duck, US lead balloon: He was an utter failure as a
violinist. 4 bankruptcy, ruin, insolvency, downfall, crash,
Colloq folding: Bank failures increased owing to bad loans and
other poor investments.

faint adj. 1 dim, dull, pale, faded, indistinct, vague, hazy,
imperceptible, indiscernible, unclear, blurred, blurry, muzzy,
wavering, faltering, ill-defined, weak, feeble, flickering,
subdued; low, soft, slight, hushed, muffled, muted, inaudible,
stifled: A faint light burned in the corridor. I heard a faint
noise. 2 dizzy, light-headed, unsteady, vertiginous, giddy,
Colloq woozy: I felt faint after climbing the stairs.


--v. 3 black out, pass out, lose consciousness, swoon, drop,
collapse, Colloq keel over: She fainted when they told her the
news.


--n. 4 loss of consciousness, blackout, unconsciousness,
collapse, swoon, Medicine syncope: He dropped in a dead faint.

faint-hearted
adj. 1 cowardly, timorous, afraid, frightened, scared, faint,
lily-livered, white-livered, pusillanimous; timid, shy,
diffident; Colloq yellow(-bellied), chicken-hearted,
chicken-livered, chicken: He's too faint-hearted to ask her to
marry him. 2 irresolute, weak, ineffectual, feeble, puny,

feckless: She made only a faint-hearted attempt at
reconciliation.

fairฐ adj. 1 impartial, even-handed, disinterested, equitable, just,
unprejudiced, unbiased, objective, Colloq square: Judge Leaver
is known for his fair decisions. We are counting on your sense
of fair play. 2 honest, above-board, honourable, lawful,
trustworthy, legitimate, proper, upright, straightforward: He
won the trophy in a fair fight. 3 light, blond(e), fair-haired,
flaxen-haired, tow-headed, tow-haired; light-complexioned,
peaches and cream, rosy; unblemished, clear, spotless,
immaculate: She has fair hair and fair skin. 4 satisfactory,
adequate, respectable, pretty good, tolerable, passable, all
right, average, decent, middling, reasonable, comme ci, comme
‡a, not bad; mediocre, indifferent, Colloq so so, OK or okay:
The performance was fair but not outstanding. 5 favourable,
clear, sunny, fine, dry, bright, cloudless, pleasant, halcyon,
benign: Fair weather is promised for tomorrow's picnic. 6
unobstructed, open, clear, free: Every spectator has a fair
view of the football field. 7 attractive, good-looking,
handsome, comely, pretty, beautiful, pulchritudinous, lovely,
beauteous: Faint heart never won fair lady. 8 civil,
courteous, polite, gracious, agreeable: She was not deceived by
his fair words.


fair n. fˆte, festival, kermis or kirmess, exhibition, exposition,
show; market, bazaar, mart, US exhibit: Ashby will judge the
sheep at the annual fair.


fairly adv. 1 quite, rather, pretty, somewhat, tolerably, adequately,
sufficiently, passably, moderately, Colloq sort of, kind of: I
thought that the singing was fairly good. 2 equitably,
impartially, justly, properly, honestly, objectively: Please
make certain that everyone is treated fairly. 3 absolutely,
totally, utterly, completely, positively, really, actually,
veritably, virtually: The crowd fairly cheered themselves
hoarse.

fairyland n. dreamland, wonderland, never-never land, happy valley,
paradise, cloud-land, enchanted forest, cloud-cuckoo-land,
Nephelococcygia, Shangri-La: Zuleika's thoughts are always off
somewhere in fairyland.

faith n. 1 belief, credence, confidence, conviction, trust,
certainty, certitude, assurance, assuredness, sureness,
reliance, dependence: His faith in God is unassailable. I have
great faith in her ability. 2 belief, religion, creed,
persuasion, dogma, teaching, doctrine, denomination, sect: To
which faith do you belong? She is of the Jewish faith. 3 duty,
allegiance, obligation, promise, faithfulness, loyalty,
fidelity, devotion, consecration, dedication, fealty, obedience:
Don't break faith with your electorate by supporting the bill.


faithful adj. 1 true, loyal, devoted, steadfast, dedicated, attached,
unswerving, firm, staunch, unwavering, constant: He has always
remained faithful to his wife. 2 close, exact, accurate, true,
correct, precise, perfect, valid; literal: Jowett's is a
faithful translation from the Greek. 3 conscientious, dutiful,
scrupulous, careful, meticulous, thorough, punctilious, finicky
or finical, detailed, fastidious, rigorous, rigid, severe,
particular: He received a gold watch for fifty years of
faithful attendance to his duties. 4 reliable, dependable,
trusted, trustworthy, trusty, honest, true, truthful, righteous,
right, moral, virtuous, upright, veracious: He has remained my
faithful friend for many years.

faithless adj. 1 sceptical, doubting, unbelieving, disbelieving,
agnostic, atheistic, freethinking: Faithless wretches are
called Doubting Thomases. 2 unfaithful, disloyal, treacherous,
traitorous, perfidious, shifting, shifty, fickle, inconstant,
untrustworthy, unreliable, false, hypocritical, insincere,
dishonest, false, crooked, unscrupulous, conscienceless,
recreant: With faithless friends like her, who needs enemies?

fake v. 1 falsify, doctor, alter, modify, counterfeit, fabricate,
manufacture, forge: He faked the evidence in order to implicate
his own sister. 2 pretend, make a pretence of, dissemble,
feign, sham, make believe, simulate, affect: She faked a
headache to avoid gym classes.

--n. 3 hoax, counterfeit, sham, forgery, imitation, Colloq
phoney or US also phony: The experts agree that the painting is
a fake. 4 faker, impostor, charlatan, fraud, hoaxer,
mountebank, cheat, humbug, quack, pretender, Colloq phoney or US
also phony: He isn't a doctor - he's a fake!

--adj. 5 false, counterfeit, forged, sham, fraudulent,
imitation, pinchbeck, bogus, spurious, factitious, Colloq phoney
or US also phony: He escaped the country using a fake passport.


fall v. 1 descend, sink, subside, settle, drop or come (down),
plummet, plunge, dive, (take a) nosedive; cascade: The bucket
fell to the bottom of the well. A meteorite fell on my house.
The water falls 100 metres over the cliff at this point. 2
tumble, trip, stumble, slump, collapse, keel over, topple,
crumple: Mother fell in the kitchen and hurt her knee. 3
diminish, (become) lower, sink, decline, fall or drop off, drop,
decrease, dwindle, subside, come or go down: The price of oil
fell today to a new low. 4 slope, fall away, decline: Beyond
the spinney, the meadow falls towards the river. 5 succumb,
surrender, yield, give up or in, capitulate, be defeated or
conquered, be captured, be taken (captive or prisoner), be
overthrown, come or go to ruin, be destroyed, be lost: The
castle fell after a year's siege. 6 die, perish, drop dead, be
slain or killed: His grandfather fell at the Battle of the
Marne. 7 fall apart. disintegrate, crumble, collapse, fall or
come or go to pieces, break up, be destroyed; break apart,
fragment, shatter: I knew she would fall apart on the witness
stand. The gadget fell apart as soon as we used it. 8 fall back.
retreat, retire, withdraw, draw back; recede: As the enemy
advanced, we fell back. 9 fall back on or upon. have recourse
to, rely or depend on or upon, return to, count on or upon,
resort to, call on or upon, make use of, use, employ: All the
ready ammunition was gone and we had to fall back on our
reserves. 10 fall behind. drop back, trail, lag; be in arrears:
If you fall behind, I'll wait for you. We fell behind in our
mortgage payments. 11 fall down. a collapse, drop: She hit me
so hard that I fell down. b fail, be (found) wanting or
lacking, be unsuccessful, be or prove inadequate or
disappointing: He had to be replaced because he fell down on
the job. 12 fall flat. collapse, fail, Colloq flop, US bomb
(out), lay an egg, go over like a lead balloon: A hit in London
might fall flat in New York. 13 fall for. a fall in love with,
be infatuated with: Some people will fall for anyone who tells
them the right time. b be fooled or duped or taken in or
deceived by, accept, swallow, succumb to, Slang be a sucker for,
US and Canadian be a patsy for: Did Beaseley really fall for
that old confidence trick? 14 fall in. cave in, collapse, sink
inwards: The walls were about to fall in on us. 15 fall in

with. join, associate with, become associated or allied with,
befriend; cooperate with, go along with, concur with, support,
accept: He fell in with a gang of thieves and spent the next
few years avoiding the police. She agreed to fall in with my
plan. 16 fall off. diminish, decrease, decline, deteriorate:
Business falls off immediately after Christmas. 17 fall on or
upon. attack, assault, assail, set upon: Three muggers fell on
me and stole my wallet. 18 fall out. disagree, differ, quarrel,
clash, squabble, wrangle, dispute, fight: We fell out over
politics. 19 fall short. prove or (turn out to) be inadequate
or insufficient or deficient or lacking or wanting or
disappointing, miss, fail, disappoint: The results of the sales
campaign fell short of expectations. 20 fall through. fail,
come to nothing or naught, miscarry, die, Colloq fizzle (out),
flop: The deal to buy the company fell through. 21 fall to.
start, begin, commence, set or go about, get under way,
undertake, tackle, take on; get moving, attack, Colloq get the
show on the road, get cracking, US get a wiggle on, move it:
The washing-up had to be done so I fell to.


--n. 22 drop, descent, dive, nosedive, plunge, tumble,
dropping, falling: How could he have survived a fall from such
a height? 23 Chiefly US and Canadian autumn: They turn the
clocks back one hour in the fall. 24 decline, decay, collapse,
downfall, failure, destruction, ruin, failure, deterioration,
eclipse: Have you read Poe's classic Fall of the House of Usher
? 25 Usually, falls. cascade, cataract, waterfall; rapids: How
many falls are there along the Limpopo River? 26 depreciation,
sinking, diminution, decrease, decline, lapse, downturn,
down-swing, drop, drop-off, lowering, abatement, slump,
collapse: On the Stock Exchange today, investors experienced
sharp falls in share prices. 27 slope, declivity, descent,
decline, drop, downhill, Chiefly US and Canadian downgrade:
Note the smooth rise and fall of the land. 28 surrender,
capitulation, submission, taking, seizure, capture, overthrow,
defeat, conquest, downfall: The fall of Khartoum in 1898 marked
the re-establishment of British rule in the Anglo-Egyptian
Sudan.


fallacy n. misconception, miscalculation, misjudgement, mistake, error,
non sequitur, solecism, delusion; paralogism; sophism: It is a
fallacy to think that you could ever learn to play the violin as
well as Susannah.


false adj. 1 untrue, unfactual, untruthful, wrong, amiss, mistaken,
erroneous, incorrect, inaccurate, inexact, imprecise, faulty,
flawed, invalid, unsound, unreal, imaginary, fictitious,
spurious: The explorers gave a completely false picture of the
local inhabitants. 2 untrue, untruthful, lying, misleading,
fallacious, fabricated, made-up, concocted, mendacious,
untrustworthy, fraudulent, meretricious, deceptive, deceitful,
treacherous, Colloq phoney or US also phony: The testimony of
this witness is completely false. 3 counterfeit, imitation,
simulated, sham, forged, fraudulent, fake, artificial,
synthetic, manufactured, unnatural, spurious, bogus, ersatz,
factitious, mock, pseudo, Colloq phoney or US also phony: Your
false teeth look almost real. 4 sham, feigned, affected,
insincere, faked, manufactured, counterfeit(ed): Don't shed any
false tears over me when I'm gone. 5 illogical, fallacious,
unsound, invalid, flawed, faulty: That conclusion could come
only from false reasoning.


falsehood n. lie, fib, prevarication, untruth, fabrication, misstatement,
fiction, (fairy) tale, story, distortion, Colloq cock-and-bull
story, Slang Brit load of codswallop: That was a complete
falsehood about the goings-on in the attic, wasn't it?


falsify v. fake, alter, distort, misstate, misrepresent, twist, Colloq
fudge, trump up, Brit cook: The tax inspector found that the
accounts had been falsified.

falsity n. untruthfulness, mendacity, mendaciousness, fraudulence,
deceptiveness, deceit, deceitfulness, dishonesty, spuriousness,
speciousness, casuistry, hypocrisy, insincerity, falseness: The
prosecution was unable to prove the falsity of her statement.

fame n. renown, repute, reputation, celebrity, illustriousness,
superiority, pre-eminence, stardom, prominence, eminence, glory,
name, notoriety, acclaim: Randolph's fame has spread far and
wide.

familiar adj. 1 well-known, common, commonplace, everyday, ordinary,
current: That's a familiar melody. 2 frequent, usual,
customary, habitual, routine, traditional: He strolled along
his familiar route through the trees. 3 friendly, affable,
close, intimate, sociable, social, free, free and easy, relaxed;

over-friendly, overfree, overfamiliar, bold, forward, insolent,
impudent, presumptuous, presuming, disrespectful, unreserved,
unrestrained; informal, casual, cordial, unceremonious; Colloq
chummy, Slang US and Canadian buddy-buddy, palsy-walsy: She
began to get entirely too familiar. 4 familiar with. aware or
conscious or cognizant of, knowledgeable about or of or in,
conversant or acquainted with, no stranger to, on speaking terms
with, up on or in, (well-)versed in, informed of or about, privy
to, in the know about, au courant, au fait: Are you familiar
with the latest theories in particle physics?

familiarity
n. 1 knowledge, acquaintance(ship), grasp, understanding,
comprehension, cognizance, awareness, conversance, experience:
I have no familiarity at all with particle physics. 2
friendliness, affability, sociability, neighbourliness,
fellowship, intimacy, intimateness, closeness, openness,
naturalness, ease, informality, unceremoniousness: He prided
himself on his familiarity with celebrities. 3 boldness,
presumptuousness, overfamiliarity, presumption, impudence,
insolence, impertinence, impropriety: He put his arm round her
waist with offensive familiarity.

familiarize
v. Usually, familiarize with. accustom (to), make familiar or
acquaint (with), initiate (in), inform (about or on), enlighten
(about or as to), teach (about), educate or instruct or tutor
(in): I am trying to familiarize myself with the music of John
Cage.


family n. 1 (kith and) kin, kinsmen, kindred, kinsfolk or US and
Canadian kinfolk, next of kin, relatives, relations, household,
people, one's own flesh and blood, one's nearest and dearest,
m‚nage, Colloq folks: We usually spend the holidays with my
family. 2 children, offspring, progeny, issue, brood, Colloq
kids: Large families were much more common in the 19th century.
3 ancestors, forebears, forefathers, progenitors; ancestry,
parentage, descent, extraction, derivation, lineage, pedigree,
genealogy, family tree, house, line, bloodline, dynasty; blood,
stock, strain: He came from an old family of German bankers. 4
group, set, division, subdivision, classification, type, kind,
class, genre, order, species, genus: English belongs to the
Indo-European family of languages.


famine n. starvation; shortage, dearth, scarcity, deficiency, paucity,
exiguity, barrenness, lack: In days of abundance, no one should
die of famine.


famished adj. starving, starved, voracious, ravenous, ravening, craving,
hungry: The survivors were famished after a fortnight in the
lifeboat.


famous adj. renowned, celebrated, popular, famed, well-known, noted,
eminent, pre-eminent, conspicuous, prominent, illustrious,
notable, acclaimed, venerable, legendary, distinguished,
praiseworthy, honoured, lionized: A famous architect has been
invited to address the convention.


famously adv. excellently, (very) well, superbly, marvellously,
splendidly, capitally, spectacularly, superlatively: The prince
and I get on famously.


fan n. admirer, enthusiast, adherent, devotee, aficionado,
follower, supporter, lover, zealot, Colloq buff, fiend, hound,
bug, addict, nut, US booster, Slang junkie, freak, groupie:
Avid fans of Ascot United, we go to all the matches.


fanatic n. maniac, extremist, zealot, Colloq fiend, nut, Slang freak:
Religious fanatics killed 'heathens' or 'infidels' by the
thousand.

fanatical adj. fanatic, extreme, distracted, maniacal, mad, rabid,
zealous, frenzied, feverish, burning, frantic, frenetic,
obsessive, fervent, compulsive, monomaniacal, fervid, perfervid,
passionate, enthusiastic, agog, immoderate, excessive: The
entire family are fanatical in their fundamentalism.


fanaticism
n. 1 devotion, dedication, devotedness; infatuation,
enthusiasm, fervour, zeal, obsessiveness, franticness, frenzy,
hysteria: Her fanaticism for rock musicians is getting a bit
out of hand. 2 monomania, single-mindedness, mania, madness,
extremism, intolerance, bigotry, bias, partiality, prejudice,
narrow-mindedness, close-mindedness: Some religious sects are
characterized by virulent fanaticism.

fancied adj. imaginary, unreal, fanciful, imagined, illusory,
make-believe, mythical, fairy-tale: They support their king in
the pursuit of his fancied rights.


fanciful adj. 1 whimsical, capricious, impulsive, inconstant, fickle,
changeable, variable: Those graffiti are products of a fanciful
mind. 2 extravagant, chimerical, fantastic, fabulous, mythical,
fairy-tale, imaginative, fancied, make-believe, unreal,
illusory, imagined, visionary, imaginary: Some of the more
fanciful ideas of science fiction have become realities. 3
curious, odd, peculiar, bizarre, unusual, original: The chalice
was decorated with fanciful curlicues.

fancy adj. 1 ornate, decorative, decorated, ornamental, ornamented,
elaborate, embellished, embroidered, fanciful, extravagant,
rococo, baroque, gingerbread, Byzantine, complicated, intricate,
complex: The modern trend has been away from fancy
architecture. 2 illusory, capricious, fanciful, extravagant,
fantastic, far-fetched, delusive, whimsical, visionary,
unrealistic, grandiose: He has some fancy ideas about building
an undersea city. 3 de luxe, luxury, luxurious, choice, select,
prime, special, elegant, superior, quality, high-class; posh:
They stock only fancy fruits and vegetables. She has a fancy
suite at the Cardigan Hotel. 4 high, exorbitant, inflated,
outrageous: One has to pay very fancy prices for haute couture.

--n. 5 imagination, creation, conception, inventiveness,
creativeness, creativity: These chimeras are entirely a product
of his fancy. 6 imagination, fantasy, hallucination, delusion,
illusion, unreality, make-believe, dream, day-dream, pipedream,
mirage, phantasm, phantom, figment (of the imagination),
impression: Our plans for the future must be based on fact, not
fancy. 7 liking, inclination, fondness, taste, penchant,
attraction, preference, partiality, predilection, yearning,
craving, hankering, wish, desire, longing: Miss Crow's fancy
for younger men often causes her some embarrassment. 8 idea,
whim, caprice, whimsy, urge, impulse, notion, vagary, quirk,
crotchet, peculiarity: His fancy today is that he invented
electricity.


--v. 9 imagine, conceive, picture, visualize, envisage, think
or make up, conjure up, US envision, Colloq dream up: He
fancies himself on a big yacht in the Mediterranean. 10 think,

imagine, understand, believe, suspect, guess, conjecture,
presume, surmise, assume, take it, suppose, infer, reckon: From
his costume I fancy he must be Superman. Fancy Kim winning the
Nobel prize! 11 like, be attracted to, take (a liking) to,
desire, want, crave, long or pine for, have a yen or craving
for, have an eye for, wish for, hunger for, favour, prefer, lust
after: Terry has always fancied tall women. I wouldn't fancy
being 40 feet up a swaying ladder like that.


fanfare n. 1 flourish, fanfaron, fanfaronade, (trumpet-)blast or blare:
Following a loud fanfare, the toreador strutted into the ring.
2 hullabaloo, hubbub, brouhaha, commotion, stir, ado, show,
fuss, Colloq to-do, ballyhoo: Despite the enormous fanfare, the
film was a failure.


fantasize v. dream, imagine, day-dream, muse, mull (over), build castles
in the air or in Spain, speculate, envisage, star-gaze;
hallucinate, US envision: She often fantasized about the kind
of man she would marry.


fantastic adj. 1 fanciful, strange, weird, peculiar, odd, eccentric,
queer, bizarre, quaint, outlandish, exotic, extravagant,
grotesque, nightmarish, alien, remarkable: She wore the most
fantastic costume to the fancy-dress ball. 2 imaginary,
illusory, illusive, unreal, visionary, fanciful, unrealistic,
imagined, irrational: His books are inhabited by fantastic
creatures. 3 unbelievable, incredible, preposterous,
extraordinary, implausible, absurd, unlikely: At 85, he made
the fantastic decision to enter the marathon. 4 marvellous,
spectacular, splendid, wonderful, tremendous, overwhelming,
Colloq great, fabulous, terrific: The Picasso exhibition is
simply fantastic.

fantasy n. 1 imagination, fancy, creativity, inventiveness, creativity,
originality: We encourage the children to give free rein to
their fantasy. 2 vision, hallucination, illusion, mirage,
delusion, chimera, dream, day-dream, (flight of) fancy,
pipedream: Her fantasy is to become prime minister. 3
make-believe, invention, cabrication, fiction, masquerade,
fable, concoction, pretence: His story about being an orphan is
pure fantasy.

far adv. 1 afar, far-away or -off, a good or great or long way or

distance off or away: We caught sight of a sail far to the
south. 2 (very) much, considerably, decidedly, incomparably:
She is a far better swimmer than George. 3 by far. (very) much,
considerably, decidedly, incomparably, (im)measurably, by a long
shot, far and away, clearly, plainly, obviously, doubtless(ly),
indubitably, undoubtedly, definitely, beyond (the shadow of a)
doubt, without a doubt, Colloq Brit by a long chalk: She's a
better swimmer than George by far. He is by far the wealthiest
person I know. 4 far and wide. everywhere, near and far or far
and near, extensively, widely, high and low; here, there, and
everywhere: We searched far and wide to find these specimens.
5 far gone. a beyond or past help, advanced, deteriorated, worn
out, dilapidated, near the end: That shirt is too far gone to
send to the laundry. My house is so far gone it's beyond repair.
b drunk, besotted, Slang loaded, pissed, paralytic, paralysed:
He's too far gone to walk. 6 go far. a progress, advance,
succeed, go places, get ahead, rise (in the world), make a name
for oneself, become successful, set the world on fire, Brit set
the Thames on fire, US cut a swath: He is a very bright
youngster and I'm sure he will go far in whatever profession he
chooses. b help, aid, contribute, play a part: The new law will
go far towards inhibiting child abuse. 7 go too far. go
overboard or over the top, not know when to stop, go to
extremes; exceed, overdo, overstep, transcend, go beyond:
Ambition is one thing, but he went too far when he tried to get
his boss's job. 8 so far. a thus far, (up) to or till or until
now or the present or this point, to date, to this point in
time: So far, we have been able to keep up with the mortgage
payments. b to a certain extent or limit or point: She said
she would go just so far and no further.

--adj. 9 (more) remote or distant, far-away, far-off; extreme,
further, farther, farthest: She claimed the ability to see into
the far future. He kicked the ball to the far end of the field.


far-away adj. 1 faraway, distant, remote, far-off, outlying, far-flung:
People came from far-away places as news of the miracle spread.
2 faraway, dreamy, detached, absent, absent-minded, abstracted:
When you have that far-away expression, I know you don't hear a
word I say.

farcical adj. ludicrous, laughable, risible, funny, nonsensical,
ridiculous, silly, preposterous, absurd, foolish; comical,

humorous, droll, amusing: His farcical attempts at surfing
fully dressed had us in hysterics.

fare n. 1 passenger, traveller: The taxi-driver deposited his fare
at the hotel. 2 charge, price, cost: What is the fare from
Oxford to London? 3 food, diet, victuals, meals, viands,
eatables, provisions: Prison fare consisted of bread and water.

--v. 4 do, make one's way, manage, get on or along, make out,
survive: The children didn't fare very well on their own.

farewell n. 1 adieu, goodbye: We said our farewells and left. 2
departure, leave-taking, cong‚, parting, Colloq send-off: I
want to avoid a tearful farewell.


--interjection. 3 Adieu!, Goodbye!, So long!, Godspeed!,
Adios!, Hasta luego!, Hasta la vista!, Auf Wiedersehen!, Ciao!,
Sayonara!, Aloha!, Vaya con Dios!, Colloq Brit God bless!,
Old-fashioned Toodle-oo!, Pip! Pip!, Ta-ta!, US old-fashioned
See you later (alligator)!, Don't take any wooden nickels!: I
said farewell and we went our separate ways.

far-fetched
adj. strained, stretched, improbable, implausible, unlikely,
doubtful, dubious, questionable, forced, unconvincing,
unrealistic, fantastic, preposterous, hard to believe,
unbelievable, incredible, Colloq hard to swallow, fishy: They
told some far-fetched tale about being robbed by a gang of
midgets.


farm n. 1 farmstead, farmhouse, grange, homestead, holding; land,
farmland, acreage, arable; Brit steading, smallholding,
allotment, Scots farm-toun, croft: My grandfather owns a farm
in Yorkshire. 2 buy the farm. die, be killed: A MIG caught
Johnson and he bought the farm.

--v. 3 cultivate, work the land, till the soil: His family has
been farming this land for centuries. 4 farm out. contract,
subcontract, lease, delegate, let (out): They cut staff and now
farm out much of the work.

farmer n. husbandman, agriculturist, agronomist, yeoman, Brit
smallholder, US dialect granger: The farmers here were hard hit

by the drought.

farming n. agriculture, agronomy, husbandry, agribusiness, cultivation:
Less than 8,000 years ago man turned from hunting and gathering
to farming.

far-sighted
adj. 1 far-seeing, foresighted, prescient, provident, prudent,
shrewd, perceptive, discerning, insightful, wise, sagacious,
acute, sharp, astute, sensible, imaginative: The committee drew
up a far-sighted plan for the redevelopment of the town centre.
2 long-sighted, hyperopic or hypermetropic, presbyopic: I'm
far-sighted, so I wear glasses only for reading.


fascinate v. bewitch, enchant, cast a spell on or over, ensorcell,
spellbind, hold spellbound, put or have under a spell, charm,
captivate, intrigue, beguile, hypnotize, mesmerize, transfix,
entrance, engross, enthral, enrapture, absorb, allure, attract:
Desmond is utterly fascinated by Elizabeth.


fascination
n. enchantment, sorcery, magic, attractiveness, attraction,
draw, pull, (animal) magnetism, charm, allure, captivation,
influence, witchcraft, entrancement: Blondes always held a
strange fascination for him.

fashion n. 1 style, mode, vogue, trend, look, taste: That year there
was a fashion for stiletto heels. 2 the fad, mania, the craze,
the rage, the latest (thing), dernier cri, Colloq Brit the go:
He remembers when upswept hair-dos were the fashion. 3 manner,
mode, way, approach, attitude: I'll always be true to you,
darling, in my fashion. 4 in fashion. See fashionable, below.

--v. 5 make, model, style, shape, form, frame, mould, create,
construct, forge, work, manufacture: She fashions the most
beautiful vases out of shapeless lumps of clay.

fashionable
adj. in fashion, chic, … la mode, modish, stylish, smart, in
vogue, up to the minute, up to date, Colloq trendy, in, with it,
Colloq Brit all the go: The couturiers insist that black will
be fashionable this year.

fastฐ adj. 1 quick, swift, fleet, speedy, brisk; brief, hurried,
hasty, high-speed, accelerated, expeditious, rapid, express:
She is very fast on her feet. We need a fast turn-round on this
job. 2 loose, profligate, wild, extravagant, dissipated,
intemperate, irresponsible, sybaritic, self-indulgent,
dissolute, unrestrained, indecorous, rakish, licentious,
promiscuous, immoral, wanton, lecherous, lustful: They led
quite a fast life till their divorce. 3 firm, fastened,
secure(d), fixed, tied, bound, connected, attached: The boat
was fast to the pier. 4 firm, fixed, settled, stable, solid,
immovable, unshakable or unshakeable, tight: The sword was fast
in the stone. 5 firm, stable, steadfast, staunch, unwavering,
constant, lasting, close, loyal, devoted, faithful, lasting,
permanent: We maintained a fast friendship over the years.


--adv. 6 quickly, swiftly, rapidly, speedily, briskly, presto,
hastily, hurriedly, with all speed or haste, expeditiously,
apace, post-haste, like a flash, in the blink of an eye, in a
wink, before you can say 'Jack Robinson', in no time (at all),
Colloq like a bat out of hell, like a shot, p.d.q. (='pretty
damned quick'), Brit like the clappers (of hell), US and
Canadian quick like a bunny or rabbit, lickety-split: Don't
talk so fast. He ran out of there very fast. I'll be back very
fast. 7 firmly, fixedly, immovably, solidly, unshakeably or
unshakably, tightly, securely, soundly: The rope held fast. He
is fast asleep. 8 closely, close to, immediately, near, (close)
on, right: Fast on the heels of the fugitive came the police.
9 loosely, wildly, recklessly, intemperately, irresponsibly,
fecklessly, extravagantly, intemperately, sybaritically,
self-indulgently, dissolutely, unrestrainedly, indecorously,
rakishly, licentiously, promiscuously, immorally, wantonly,
lecherously, lustfully: He's been living fast since inheriting
that fortune.


fast v. 1 abstain, go hungry, deny oneself, diet, starve (oneself):
Do you fast during Lent?

--n. 2 abstention, abstinence, fasting, self-denial, diet;
hunger strike: She went on a two-week fast.


fasten v. 1 attach, tie, bind, bond, stick, affix, anchor, fix, lock,
hook (up), secure, join, connect, link, fuse, cement, clamp:
Fasten your seat belts. The mussels fasten themselves by their

byssi to underwater piles. 2 fix, rivet, focus, concentrate,
direct, aim, point: He fastened his gaze on Kitty. She fastened
her attention on the ceiling.


fastening n. fastener, catch, clasp, latch, lock, tie, bond: Can you see
what kind of fastening is holding the cover?

fastidious
adj. squeamish, delicate, over-nice, fussy, meticulous,
finicky, finical, pernickety or US also persnickety, particular,
difficult, critical, hypercritical, supercritical, over-precise,
punctilious, Colloq nit-picking, picky: The Prioress was too
fastidious to allow a morsel drop from her lip.


fat adj. 1 obese, stout, overweight, heavy, plump, rotund,
corpulent, portly, well-fed, chubby, podgy or chiefly US pudgy,
roly-poly, tubby, bulky, fleshy, paunchy, pot-bellied, overfed,
flabby, elephantine, Colloq broad in the beam, beamy, beefy,
Slang US five-by-five: A fat man squeezed in beside me. 2
oily, oleaginous, unctuous, greasy, fatty, pinguid, sebaceous,
adipose: His complexion is bad because he eats too much fat
food. 3 rich, wealthy, prosperous, affluent, well-to-do, well
off, Colloq well-heeled, loaded: They grew fat on their profits
from the black market. 4 profitable, lucrative, fruitful,
remunerative, Slang cushy: He has a fat job as a purchasing
agent for the government.

--n. 5 obesity, corpulence, stoutness, overweight, heaviness,
plumpness, rotundity, portliness, chubbiness, podginess or
chiefly US pudginess, tubbiness, fleshiness, paunchiness,
flabbiness: He leans a little towards fat because of lack of
exercise. 6 riches, wealth, prosperity, fertility, yield,
abundance, plenty, plenteousness: He's living off the fat of
the land.


fatal adj. 1 fateful, deadly, murderous, lethal, mortal, toxic,
terminal, final; baneful, poisonous: She drank the fatal potion
without a word. Who dealt the fatal blow? 2 destructive,
fateful, ruinous, calamitous, dreadful, disastrous, devastating,
cataclysmic, catastrophic, harmful, mischievous, damaging:
Discovery by the police would prove fatal to our plan. 3
fateful, fated, destined, predestined, decreed, ordained,
foreordained, preordained, predetermined, inevitable,

unavoidable, necessary, essential, inescapable, ineluctable:
The events fell into their fatal sequence.

fatality n. 1 catastrophe, disaster, calamity, cataclysm: The eruption
of Vesuvius was a relatively recent fatality. 2 death,
casualty: Traffic fatalities are on the increase.

fate n. 1 fortune, lot, luck, chance, life, destiny, God's will,
providence, doom, karma, kismet, toss or throw of the dice,
Colloq US and Canadian the breaks, the way the cookie crumbles,
the way the ball bounces: Fate has brought us together. Our
meeting this way was just fate. 2 doom, destruction, downfall,
undoing, ruin, disaster, collapse, death, nemesis, end, finish:
The defenders of Masada met their fate bravely. 3 end, outcome,
future, destination, disposition: There was no trace of the
fate of the explorers. What is to be the fate of this obsolete
equipment?

fated adj. 1 destined, predestined, predetermined, decreed, doomed,
fateful, ordained, foreordained, preordained, decided: The
fated day of my trial arrived. 2 sure, certain, doomed, damned,
cursed: Was I fated to spend the rest of my life in this fetid
dungeon? 3 fatal, fateful, unavoidable, inescapable,
inevitable, ineluctable: Their fated punishment was to bail out
the sea using sieves.

fateful adj. 1 significant, momentous, ominous, major, consequential,
important, critical, crucial, decisive, weighty, portentous,
earth-shaking, pivotal: The minister is faced with having to
make a fateful decision. 2 deadly, lethal, fatal, destructive,
ruinous, disastrous, catastrophic, cataclysmic: Failure to
preserve the environment could have fateful consequences.

father n. 1 sire, paterfamilias, Colloq dad, daddy, pa, papa, pop, old
man, old boy, Brit governor, pater: His father is a chemist. 2
forebear, ancestor, forefather, progenitor, primogenitor: The
father of the dynasty fought at Hastings. 3 creator, founder,
originator, inventor, author, architect, framer, initiator: He
regards Lavoisier as the father of modern chemistry. 4 priest,
confessor, cur‚, abb‚, minister, pastor, shepherd, parson,
clergyman, chaplain, Colloq padre, Military slang sky pilot: We
should see the Father about the funeral service.

--v. 5 sire, beget, get, engender, procreate, generate: He had
fathered more than forty children in his harem. 6 originate,
establish, found, invent, author, frame, initiate, institute,
create: Galileo fathered modern astronomy by inventing the
telescope.

fatherland
n. motherland, native land, mother country, homeland, (old)
country, birthplace: They return to their fatherland for an
annual visit.

fatherly adj. paternal, kindly, kind, warm, friendly, affectionate,
protective, amiable, benevolent, well-meaning, benign, caring,
sympathetic, indulgent, understanding; parental: My nephew used
to come to me for fatherly advice.

fathom v. probe, sound, plumb, penetrate, search (out), investigate,
measure, gauge, determine, ascertain, work out, get to the
bottom of, delve into, understand, grasp, divine: I never quite
fathomed the purpose of this device.

fatigue n. 1 weariness, tiredness, weakness, exhaustion, lassitude,
listlessness, lethargy, languor, sluggishness, enervation: She
kept on tending the wounded till fatigue finally overcame her.


--v. 2 weary, tire, weaken, exhaust, drain, enervate, Colloq
fag (out): My morning's work had fatigued me.

fatigued adj. weary, wearied, tired, overtired, dead tired, weak,
weakened, exhausted, listless, lethargic, languorous, sluggish,
enervated, strained, wasted, Colloq whacked (out), knocked out,
dead, beat, dead-beat, all in, Brit knackered, jiggered,
buggered, US and Canadian pooped, bushed: The firemen were
fatigued after being on duty round the clock.


fatness n. obesity, stoutness, corpulence, embonpoint, portliness,
plumpness, chubbiness, rotundity, podginess or chiefly US
pudginess: His fatness is owing to a glandular condition, not
overeating.


fault n. 1 imperfection, flaw, defect, blemish, deficiency,
shortcoming, failing, weakness; frailty, foible, peccadillo:
The fault lies in this circuit. Using filthy language is only

one of his faults. 2 mistake, error, blunder, lapse, failure,
offence, oversight, slip(-up), indiscretion, gaffe, gaucherie,
faux pas, Slang boner, howler, goof, boo-boo, Brit boob: People
should be responsible for their faults. There are many faults in
this manuscript. 3 responsibility, liability, culpability;
blame, accountability, answerability: It wasn't my fault that
the tree fell down. The fault lies with you, James. 4 sin,
transgression, trespass, misdeed, offence, misdemeanour, vice,
indiscretion, misconduct, misbehaviour: He will confess his
faults to anyone who will listen. 5 at fault. to blame,
blameable, blameworthy, in the wrong, responsible, answerable,
accountable, liable, culpable, guilty: You were at fault for
failing to report the crime. 6 find fault. criticize, censure,
take exception (to), carp (at), cavil (at), pick at, pick on,
pick apart, pick holes in, niggle, fuss, Colloq nit-pick, knock:
She constantly finds fault with everything I do. 7 to a fault.
excessively, extremely, to an extreme, in the extreme,
unreasonably, exceedingly, unduly, disproportionately,
immoderately, irrationally, US overly: She is modest to a
fault.

--v. 8 find fault with, censure, blame, criticize, call to
account, impugn, call into question, hold (someone) responsible
or accountable or to blame, lay at (someone's) door, accuse:
You cannot be faulted for not knowing the fuel tank was empty.

fault-finding
n. 1 criticism, censure, carping, cavilling, captiousness,
hypercriticism, quibbling, fussiness, hair-splitting,
pettifogging, Colloq nit-picking, pickiness: Why continue to
put up with the foreman's fault-finding?

--adj. 2 critical, censorious, carping, cavilling, captious,
hypercritical, fussy, hair-splitting, pettifogging, niggling,
contentious, querulous, quibbling, Colloq nit-picking, picky:
She could no longer abide his fault-finding attitude.

faultless adj. perfect, flawless, immaculate, ideal, exemplary, correct,
accurate, foolproof, irreproachable, unimpeachable, Colloq Brit
bang on, spot on: Their performance was faultless.

faulty adj. defective, unsound, imperfect, flawed, impaired, out of
order, malfunctioning, broken, bad; damaged; Slang on the blink,

Chiefly US on the fritz: The carburettor is faulty.

favour n. 1 good will, approval, support, approbation: Father looked
with favour on my marriage to Leslie. 2 courtesy, good or kind
deed, good turn, kindness, gesture, beau geste; service: As a
favour, I'll walk your dog while you're away. 3 favouritism,
partiality, prejudice, bias, preference, patronage: They show
favour in repeatedly giving the contract to the same company. 4
grace, esteem, consideration, view, regard, opinion, account,
(good or bad) books; disposition, taste, predisposition: How
does Rochester stand in the favour of the king? 5 in favour
(of). for, pro, on the side of, in support (of), at the back of,
backing, behind, on or US and Canadian in behalf (of), in back
of: Please vote in favour of the resolution. Are you in favour
or against?

--v. 6 approve, prefer, like, have a liking or preference for,
be partial to, advocate, espouse, back, endorse, support,
champion, recommend, incline to or towards, side with, take the
side or part of, go for, opt for, fancy, select, choose, elect,
single out, sponsor, adopt, go in for: Which candidate do you
favour? 7 pamper, coddle, baby, protect, indulge, be partial
to: Notice how Billie favours his left leg when walking? 8
advance, forward, promote, facilitate, expedite, help, benefit,
assist, aid, encourage, accommodate, smile upon: The warm,
moist climate favours the growth of mould. 9 resemble, look
like, take after: Little Jimmy favours his father, I think.

favourable
adj. 1 advantageous, promising, auspicious, fair, beneficial,
suitable, fitting, appropriate, encouraging, facilitative,
helpful, helping, supportive, supporting, convenient, useful,
opportune, propitious, accommodating, accommodative;
facultative: A favourable breeze sent our craft towards Cyprus.
2 good, promising, positive, encouraging, reassuring,
affirmative, well-disposed, sympathetic; commendatory,
laudatory, enthusiastic, eager, ardent, zealous: They concluded
a very favourable deal to supply the army with boots. My latest
book received favourable reviews.


favourably
adv. 1 graciously, indulgently, sympathetically, genially,
positively, agreeably, enthusiastically, with favour: They

reacted favourably to my suggestion. 2 advantageously,
affirmatively, positively, in favourable terms: Your
application has been considered favourably.


favoured adj. 1 preferred, chosen, choice, selected, popular, favourite,
pet: The favoured explanation is that he is the boss's son. 2
advantaged, privileged, blessed, prosperous, wealthy, rich,
affluent, well off: She is one of the favoured few who can
afford to travel.


favourite n. 1 choice, pick, preference, preferred, esteemed, darling,
pet, ideal, apple of (someone's) eye, Colloq Brit blue-eyed boy
or girl, flavour of the month, US white-haired or white-headed
boy or girl, fair-haired boy or girl: Raising interest rates
doesn't exactly make the chancellor everyone's favourite.

--adj. 2 beloved, chosen, picked, selected, preferred,
best-liked, most-liked, favoured, choice, pet, ideal: Which is
your favourite flavour?


favouritism
n. partiality, bias, predisposition, prepossession, prejudice,
bent, partisanship, nepotism, preferment; preference, leaning,
inclination, proclivity: He openly admits to favouritism in
selecting employees.

6.2 fear...
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fear n. 1 dread, terror, fright, panic, horror, alarm, trepidation,
apprehension, fearfulness, apprehensiveness, dismay,
consternation, hesitation, qualms, diffidence, timidity,
cravenness, cowardice, second thoughts: His fear of going into
the jungle alone is understandable. 2 awe, respect, reverence,
veneration: That'll put the fear of God into him! 3 horror,
spectre, nightmare, bogey or bogy, phobia, bugbear, bˆte noire,
misgiving(s), foreboding(s): When they came to break the news,
her worst fears were realized. 4 solicitude, anxiety, angst,
foreboding(s), distress, misgiving(s), concern, apprehension,
worry, uneasiness, unease: Fear for her safety is shared by all
of us.

--v. 5 be afraid or scared or fearful or frightened (of),
dread, quail or tremble or quake at, shudder at, shrink from,
quiver: What man cannot understand he often fears. 6 revere,
respect, venerate, be or stand in awe of: If you fear the Lord
as I do, you won't take his name in vain. 7 expect, anticipate,
imagine, suspect, foresee: I fear we are too late for dinner.

fearful adj. 1 afraid, scared, frightened, terrified, alarmed,
panic-stricken, terror-stricken: Of all disasters, I am most
fearful of fire. 2 hesitant, timid, timorous, shy, diffident,
unwilling, intimidated, jumpy, nervous, edgy, panicky, anxious,
apprehensive, cowardly, pusillanimous, Colloq yellow, jittery:
Why is she so fearful of meeting her prospective in-laws? 3
awful, dire, dreadful, frightful, frightening, terrifying,
terrible, appalling, ghastly, atrocious, horrible, horrifying,
horrendous, horrific, hideous, gruesome, grisly, grim, baleful,
monstrous, unspeakable, loathsome, heinous, repugnant,
repulsive, revolting, disgusting, nauseating, nauseous: The
fearful monster blocked our only way out.


fearfully adv. 1 hesitantly, timidly, timorously, shyly, diffidently,
unwillingly, nervously, edgily, anxiously, apprehensively:
Fearfully, she approached the altar. 2 very, awfully, terribly,
extremely, exceedingly, frightfully, tremendously: It was
fearfully considerate of you to come.

fearless adj. brave, bold, intrepid, valorous, dauntless, courageous,
valiant, plucky, daring, audacious, heroic, venturesome,
gallant, chivalrous: These fearless commandos cared nothing for
their personal safety.

fearsome adj. dreadful, awesome, appalling, formidable, daunting,
frightening, frightful, awe-inspiring, menacing, terrible,
terrifying, intimidating: Last week's typhoon was the most
fearsome storm of the century.

feasibility
n. practicability, workability, applicability, viability,
practicality: The feasibility of the scheme has yet to be
assessed.

feasible adj. practicable, workable, doable, applicable, viable,
practical, possible, realizable, achievable, attainable,

sensible, usable, realistic: The world needs a feasible method
for disposing of nuclear waste.

feast n. 1 banquet, (lavish) dinner, (sumptuous) repast, (Lucullan or
Epicurean) treat, Colloq spread, Brit beanfeast; Slang blow-out,
Brit beano: Dinner at Patrick's is no mere meal - it is a
feast. 2 observance, celebration, rite, ritual, solemnization,
commemoration, memorialization, anniversary, birthday, jubilee,
feast-day, festival, fˆte, holy day, holiday, red-letter day,
occasion, event, gala: Church calendars list both movable and
immovable feasts. 3 treat, delight, pleasure, gratification:
Seeing you again was a feast for the eyes.

--v. 4 dine, wine (and dine), fare well or sumptuously,
(over)indulge, gorge (oneself), gormandize, eat one's fill: We
feasted on roast turkey with all the trimmings. 5 entertain,
feed, wine and dine, treat, regale: Visitors to Arthur's court
were feasted with the finest viands available. 6 delight,
gratify, please, cheer, gladden: Ali Baba feasted his eyes on
the vast treasure in the cave.

feat n. exploit, deed, act, attainment, achievement, accomplishment,
tour de force: Persuading your wife to let you go fishing was
quite a feat.


feature n. 1 characteristic, attribute, trait, mark, hallmark, earmark,
property, character, quality, aspect, facet, peculiarity, quirk,
idiosyncrasy: What are the identifying features of traditional
Chinese architecture? 2 (main) attraction, draw, special
attraction, high point or spot, best or memorable part; main
film; US and Canadian drawing card; column, piece, article,
item: The feature of the show was the appearance of Gracie
Fields. He writes the gardening feature for a Sunday newspaper.
3 features. face, visage, physiognomy, countenance, looks, Slang
mug, kisser, chips and plaice: Her features twisted into a
frown.

--v. 4 present, promote, publicize, advertise, highlight,
spotlight, put into the limelight, star, stress, emphasize, call
attention to, play up, puff up, Colloq headline, hype: He was
featured in many films. 5 be, act, perform, take or have a role
or part, participate, be involved or drawn in: Novels feature
prominently in our publishing programme.


federation
n. combination, confederacy, confederation, amalgamation,
coalition, league, alliance, union, association, Bund, society:
The central government consists of a federation of states.

fee n. 1 charge, price, cost, fare, bill, tariff, toll, Colloq
damage(s): The membership fee is œ25. 2 pay, payment,
emolument, compensation, recompense, honorarium, remuneration,
rate, wage(s), stipend, salary: What is your fee per hour for
proofreading?

feeble adj. 1 weak, infirm, frail, puny, slight, feckless;
debilitated, enervated, decrepit, enfeebled, exhausted,
weakened; effete, delicate, fragile, powerless, impotent,
impuissant, languid, spiritless, sickly, ailing, unsound, faint,
dizzy; Colloq woozy, Brit wonky: The survivors were suffering
from exposure and too feeble to walk. 2 flimsy, weak,
ineffectual, ineffective, namby-pamby, half-baked, lame,
unconvincing, shoddy, thin, insubstantial, poor, unsatisfactory,
insufficient, inadequate, unavailing, meagre, paltry,
insignificant, Colloq wishy-washy, Brit wet: She gave her usual
feeble excuse for being late. 3 weak, obscure, dim,
imperceptible, faint, distant, indistinct, unclear: He could
see little in the feeble light from the one candle. We heard a
feeble cry from under the rubble.

feeble-minded
adj. stupid, dull(-witted), witless, moronic, idiotic,
imbecilic, simple, slow (on the uptake), slow-witted,
weak-minded, dim-witted, addle-pated, halfwitted, deficient,
subnormal, mentally defective, retarded, attocerebral, Brit ESN
(='educationally subnormal'), Colloq dumb, thick, soft in the
head, boneheaded, empty-headed, vacant, Brit gormless, US
exceptional: Why do you spend so much time with that
feeble-minded twit?

feed v. 1 provision, cater or provide (for), victual, purvey,
provender, supply, maintain, nurture, nourish, board, support,
sustain, wine and dine: Is there enough to feed everyone? 2
eat, devour, graze, pasture: Cattle feed most of the day. 3
feed on or upon. subsist or survive or depend or thrive on or
upon, be nourished or gratified or supported by: Swindlers feed

on others' gullibility.

--n. 4 fodder, forage, pasturage, silage, food, provender:
What kind of feed are you giving the sheep?


feel v. 1 touch, see, note, sense, perceive, experience, determine;
handle, manipulate, finger: Feel how rough the skin is at this
spot. 2 stroke, caress, pet, fondle: I like to feel a bare
carpet with my toes. 3 sense, be conscious of, perceive, be
aware or sensible of, experience: I could feel the heat of the
fire across the room. 4 sense, believe, think, perceive, judge,
consider, deem, know, discern, intuit, Colloq get or have the
impression, have a hunch, guess, have a (funny) feeling, feel in
one's bones: I feel I have outstayed my welcome. 5 undergo,
sense, suffer, bear, endure, withstand, stand, abide, brook,
tolerate, go through: Let the other team feel the agony of
defeat for a change. 6 seem, appear, strike one, give the
impression, have a or the feeling: It felt as if a great weight
has been lifted from me. It feels like old times. That feels
silky. 7 seem to be, be, regard or characterize oneself as, take
oneself to be: I feel certain that we've met before. I felt a
perfect fool. 8 feel for. sympathize or empathize with,
commiserate with, bleed for, be sorry for, pity, have compassion
for: She feels for all mothers whose sons have died. 9 feel
like. incline or lean to or towards, prefer, fancy, want,
desire, crave: I feel like a cup of hot tea.

--n. 10 texture, surface, sensation, touch, finish: This wood
has the feel of satin. 11 feeling, air, atmosphere, climate,
ambience, sense, note, tone, quality: It's so cosy here - it
has the feel of home.

feeler n. 1 antenna, tentacle, palp, sensor: Those moths have long,
feathery feelers. 2 overture, hint, suggestion, foretaste,
probe, tester, sensor: The questionnaire is a feeler put out to
test public opinion.

feeling n. 1 (sense of) touch, sensitivity, sense, perception,
sensation, sensibility: I had no feeling in my left side. 2
intuition, idea, notion, inkling, suspicion, belief, hunch,
theory, sense; premonition, hint, presentiment, sense of
foreboding, sensation, impression, opinion, view; instinct,
consciousness, awareness: I have a feeling you're fooling. Do

you ever have the feeling of being watched? 3 regard, sympathy,
empathy, identification, compassion, tenderness, appreciation,
concern, understanding, sensitivity, sensibility: He has a
genuine feeling for animals. 4 ardour, warmth, passion,
fervency, fervour, ardency, intensity, heat, sentiment, emotion,
vehemence: She said she loved me with so much feeling that I
thought she meant it. 5 feelings. emotions, sensitivity,
sympathies, sensibilities, susceptibilities: She hurt my
feelings. 6 feel, mood, atmosphere, climate, sense, air,
ambience or ambiance: There is a feeling of impending doom
about this place.

--adj. 7 sentient, sensitive, tender, tender-hearted,
compassionate, sympathetic: Their behaviour did the soldiers
honour as feeling men.

feint n. distraction, mock attack, bluff, dodge, manoeuvre, false
move, pretence, ruse, ploy, subterfuge, deception, tactic,
stratagem, gambit, artifice: The attack on the flanks is merely
a feint - the main thrust will be at the centre.

fell v. cut or knock or strike down, floor, prostrate, level, hew
(down), flatten, demolish, mow (down); kill: He felled his
opponent with one blow. All the trees in this area must be
felled.

fellow n. 1 man, boy, person, individual, gentleman, one, Colloq guy,
chap, customer, kid, Brit bloke, Slang geezer, gink, US
old-fashioned gazabo: There was a fellow here asking for you
today. 2 colleague, associate, comrade, companion, ally, peer,
compeer: He is going to meet some of his fellows at the club.
3 mate, match, counterpart, partner, complement, concomitant,
accessory: I lost one glove last week and now have lost its
fellow. 4 boyfriend, man, sweetheart, love, young man; lover,
paramour, Formal suitor, Old-fashioned beau, Archaic swain,
Slang guy: Bailey has been Sue's fellow for years.

--adj. 5 associate(d), affiliate(d), allied, auxiliary,
related: Ladies, not accorded membership in the men's club,
belonged to a fellow organization. She shared her sandwiches
with a fellow passenger.

fellowship

n. 1 companionship, camaraderie, comradeship, amity,
brotherhood, fraternization, togetherness, association,
friendship, amity, companionability, sociability, intimacy: I
have always enjoyed the fellowship of my university colleagues.
2 society, club, association, alliance, guild, league, union,
sisterhood, sorority, brotherhood, fraternity, congregation,
circle, community, order, organization, consortium, partnership;
lodge, clan, company, coterie, set, clique, coalition, bloc,
cartel, trust: They belong to the worldwide fellowship of
artists. 3 friendliness, clubbiness, sociability, intimacy,
amicability, affability, kindliness, cordiality, familiarity,
affinity, belonging, congeniality, warmth, hospitality: Being a
club member gives him a feeling of fellowship.


felon n. criminal, outlaw, lawbreaker, offender, culprit, miscreant,
malefactor, wrongdoer: Only if convicted of a certain class of
crime is a person technically a felon.

feminine adj. 1 female, womanlike, womanly, ladylike, submissive,
deferential, amenable, gentle, docile, tender, soft, delicate:
She is much more feminine than her sister. 2 effeminate,
womanish, unmanly, unmasculine, sissy or Brit cissy, sissified
or Brit cissified, effete, affected: Barry's manner and
behaviour seem to become more feminine every day.


fence n. 1 barrier, enclosure, barricade, confine, wall, rampart;
railing(s), palisade: Maurice had a fence put up round his
house. 2 on the fence. undecided, indecisive, vacillating,
uncommitted, uncertain, irresolute; impartial, neutral,
non-partisan, unbiased, unprejudiced, unaligned, non-aligned,
independent: She is on the fence with regard to the issue of
capital punishment.

--v. 3 enclose, encircle, surround, circumscribe, bound, coop,
restrict, hedge, confine, fortify, protect, separate: The
pasture is fenced both to keep the sheep in and the wolves out.
Fence off this area for a garden. 4 parry, avoid, fend off,
sidestep, dodge, evade, hedge, stonewall, equivocate, palter,
tergiversate, vacillate, shilly-shally, quibble, cavil, beat
about the bush, qualify, prevaricate, Colloq Brit waffle:
Awkward questions were adroitly fenced by the chairman. Give a
straight answer and stop fencing.

fend v. 1 fend for oneself. get or scrape along (on one's own), make
out, get by, make do, shift for oneself, take care of or provide
for or support oneself: Mother didn't believe I could fend for
myself. 2 fend off. discourage, parry, keep or hold at bay,
resist, repel, stave or ward or fight off, deflect, turn aside,
avert, divert: We fended off our attackers for three days.

ferment v. 1 boil, effervesce, seethe, bubble, foam, froth, brew; rise,
raise, work, leaven: A rebellion is fermenting in the northern
counties. Adding yeast causes the bread to ferment. 2 excite,
stir up, incite, instigate, agitate, foment, inflame, rouse,
provoke: He helped to ferment a riot.

ferocious adj. fierce, savage, cruel, vicious, feral, fell, brutal,
bestial, merciless, ruthless, pitiless, inhuman, barbaric,
barbarous, violent, destructive, murderous, bloodthirsty,
sanguinary, predatory, fiendish, diabolical, devilish, hellish,
monstrous: Cerberus, a ferocious beast with three heads, guards
the gates of hell.


fertile adj. fruitful, prolific, fecund, productive, bounteous,
profuse, abundant, copious, fructuous, plenteous, generative,
teeming, rich, luxuriant: The land was fertile enough to grow
anything. This book is a fertile source of ideas.


fertilize v. 1 impregnate, inseminate, pollinate, fecundate, fructify:
The flower should be fertilized by pollen from a different
stock. 2 manure, mulch, feed, nourish, enrich, dress, compost:
The earth can be fertilized at any time.


fervent adj. 1 fervid, fiery, burning, glowing, hot, intense,
passionate, impassioned, ardent, hotheaded, inflamed,
fanatic(al), excited, frantic, frenzied: Only the most fervent
acolytes were ordained as ministers of the faith. 2 eager,
earnest, enthusiastic, zealous, animated, intense, heartfelt,
emotional: It is my fervent desire to see you happy. 3
ecstatic, transported, rapturous, rapt, enrapt, enraptured,
captivated: The fervent crowds cheered wildly when Caesar
arrived.


fervour n. fervency, ardour, warmth, passion, vehemence, glow,
intensity, zeal, eagerness, earnestness, enthusiasm, animation,
gusto, ebullience, spirit, verve: She went about her studies

with a fervour we had not seen before.

fester v. 1 ulcerate, suppurate, run, ooze, putrefy, putresce,
necrose, mortify, rot, decay, decompose: His entire body was
covered with festering sores. 2 rankle, smoulder, gall, chafe,
inflame: Bitterness over the way he had been treated festered
inside him for years.

festival n. 1 holiday, holy day, fˆte, feast, commemoration,
anniversary: He wanted to be with his family for the Christmas
festival. 2 celebration, fˆte, festivities, carnival,
entertainment, red-letter day, gala day, anniversary, birthday:
The town organizes a festival every autumn.


festivity n. 1 rejoicing, gaiety, mirth, jubilation, conviviality,
joyfulness, merriment, revelry, merrymaking, glee, jollity,
jollification, felicity, Colloq Brit mafficking: There were
laughter and festivity in the air. 2 festivities.
celebration(s), festival, party, fun and games, entertainment,
amusement, hilarity, boisterousness, frivolity: Come along and
join the festivities at our house tonight.

fetch v. 1 get, go after or for, bring (back), retrieve, deliver,
obtain, carry or convey (back): Would you please fetch my
slippers? 2 summon, bring or draw forth, call, elicit: The
doorbell fetched me from my bath. 3 sell for, bring (in), go
for, yield, earn, make, cost, realize: These days a house near
London fetches a high price.


--n. 4 reach, stretch, range, span, extent: It is quite a long
fetch across the bay.

fetching adj. attractive, alluring, taking, winsome, winning, cute,
enchanting, charming, captivating, intriguing: Fingal's sister
is a fetching young lass.

fˆte n. 1 festival, entertainment, reception, levee, gala,
rejoicing, celebration, party, festivities, get-together,
social, amusement, revel, fair, ball, frolic, spree, jamboree,
carnival, event, occasion, Colloq blow-out, shindig, bash, do,
bust, Slang US and Canadian wingding, blast: You are invited to
our annual fˆte on New Year's Eve.

--v. 2 entertain, feast, roll or bring out the red carpet for,
wine and dine, celebrate, honour, lionize, fuss over, kill the
fatted calf for: Fiona's book was a great success and she was
fˆted all over Europe.


fetish n. 1 charm, amulet, talisman, totem, Rare periapt: Round his
neck he wore the dreaded fetish of the fish god. 2 obsession,
compulsion, fixation, mania, id‚e fixe: It's a fetish of hers
to kiss only under the mistletoe.


feud n. 1 dispute, conflict, vendetta, hostility, strife, enmity,
animosity, hatred, antagonism, rivalry, ill will, bad blood,
hard feelings, contention, discord, grudge, dissension,
disagreement, argument, quarrel, bickering, squabble, falling
out, estrangement: A silly feud broke out over whose turn it
was to bring the Christmas goose.

--v. 2 dispute, quarrel, bicker, disagree, conflict, row,
fight, fall out, clash, be at odds, be at daggers drawn: The
Hatfields and McCoys feuded for decades.

feverish adj. inflamed, flushed, burning, fiery, hot, ardent, fervent,
hot-blooded, passionate, frenzied, frantic, excited, frenetic,
zealous; Pathology febrile, pyretic, pyrexic: I was looking
forward to our rendezvous with feverish excitement.

few adj. 1 hardly or scarcely any, not many, insufficient;
infrequent, occasional: Few people came to my party. He is a
man of few words.


--n. 2 handful, some, scattering: I invited a lot of people,
but only a few came.

--pron. 3 (only) one or two, not many: Many apply but few are
chosen.

6.3 fianc‚(e)...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



fianc‚(e) n. betrothed, wife- or bride- or husband-to-be, intended: He
went out to buy a ring for his fianc‚e.

fiasco n. failure, disaster, muddle, mess, abortion, botch, Colloq
fizzle, flop: My effort to help Donald with his maths homework
was a complete fiasco.


fib n. 1 falsehood, (little) white lie, untruth, prevarication,
fabrication, invention, misrepresentation, story, (fairy) tale,
fiction; lie; Colloq tall story, US tall tale, cock-and-bull
story, whopper: I told a little fib when I said my grandmother
was ill.


--v. 2 prevaricate, misrepresent, fudge, falsify, misspeak,
palter; lie; Colloq waffle: They admitted they had fibbed about
who had thrown the egg.


fibre n. 1 filament, thread, strand, fibril, tendril: This fabric is
woven from cotton fibre. 2 texture, structure, material,
fabric: The fibre of this rock is granular. 3 essence,
character, nature, mould, composition, constitution, substance,
quality, stripe, cast, make-up: Love for him is wrapped up in
the very fibre of her being.

fickle adj. flighty, capricious, frivolous, unpredictable, moody,
giddy, fanciful, whimsical, fitful, mercurial, volatile,
unstable, changeable, mutable, inconstant, changeful, unsteady,
unsteadfast, indecisive, undecided, vacillating or rarely
vacillant, unsure, uncertain, irresolute, wavering, erratic,
unreliable, undependable, irresponsible, untrustworthy,
faithless, unfaithful, disloyal, Colloq wishy-washy: That
fickle woman has already taken up with someone else. You should
know how fickle the tastes of the public are.

fictional adj. unreal, imaginary, invented, made-up, mythical, fanciful;
legendary, fabulous: The newspaper article was a hoax -
completely fictional. Lorna Doone is Janet's favourite fictional
heroine.

fictitious
adj. 1 imagined, imaginary, non-existent, unreal, made-up,
invented, fabricated, mythical, fancied, fanciful, fictive,
untrue, apocryphal: The claim that an article had appeared was
completely fictitious. 2 false, counterfeit, bogus, artificial,
spurious; assumed, improvised, made-up, invented, make-believe,
imaginary, Colloq phoney or US also phony: When arrested they

gave fictitious names.

fiddle v. 1 Often, fiddle with. meddle (with), tamper (with),
interfere (with), alter, falsify, fix; cheat, swindle, flimflam;
Colloq finagle, Brit cook: The treasurer had been fiddling the
accounts for years. 2 Often, fiddle with or about or around.
toy or trifle or fidget (with), twiddle or play or tinker
(with), fool or fuss (with), Colloq mess or muck (about or
around) (with), frivol (away), monkey (around) (with): He sat
there nervously fiddling with his ear. Stop fiddling about and
get on with your work.

--n. 3 Brit swindle, fraud, racket, thimblerig, US shell-game,
Slang skin game, funny business, monkey business: The tax
inspector caught him in some fiddle with his business expenses.
4 violin, viola, viol, cello, violoncello, kit: He played
fiddle for the tsar.

fiddlesticks
interj. Nonsense!, Rubbish!, Colloq Fiddle-de-dee!,
Balderdash!, Stuff and Nonsense!, Poppycock!, Pish and tush!,
Tommy-rot!, Hogwash!, Eyewash!, Boloney!, Bilge-water!,
Moonshine!, Humbug!, Bosh!, Fiddle-faddle!, Bull!, Rot!, Brit
Codswallop!, Taboo slang Bullshit!, Balls!, Crap!, Horseshit!,
Brit Bollocks! or Ballocks!: When he said he'd pay what he
owed, I just said, 'Fiddlesticks!'

fidget v. 1 squirm, twitch, shuffle, wriggle, wiggle, fiddle, fuss;
fret, chafe: Stop fidgeting and tell me the truth!


--n. 2 fusspot, fuss-budget, cat on hot bricks, US cat on a hot
tin roof, Colloq US nervous Nellie: If her conscience is clear,
why is she such a fidget? 3 the fidgets. restlessness,
fidgetiness, dither, uneasiness, the jitters, nervousness,
itchiness, Colloq heebie-jeebies, jim-jams, ants in one's pants:
Whenever he tells a lie he gets a bad case of the fidgets.

field n. 1 ground, land, arable, pasture, grassland, meadow, green,
lawn, common, clearing, tract, area, acreage, Literary
greensward, lea, sward; Archaic mead: The house looks out over
the fields. 2 battlefield, battleground, airfield; (cricket)
pitch, football or hockey or soccer field, American football
gridiron: We marched onto the field prepared for anything. 3

competition, competitors, players, entrants, contestants,
participants, candidates, possibilities, applicants: Who can
match you among today's field? 4 area, domain, realm,
department, territory, province, sphere, scope, division,
interest, line, m‚tier, discipline, bailiwick, speciality,
specialization, expertise, forte, strength: She is certainly
the leading expert in her field. My field is biochemistry.

--v. 5 catch, stop, return, retrieve, pick up: Did you see how
Border fielded that ball? 6 answer, reply to, respond to,
handle, manipulate, deal with, react to, cope with: The
candidate adroitly fielded questions from the press.

fiend n. 1 See devil. 2 addict, maniac, fanatic; fan, aficionado,
enthusiast, devotee, hound, follower, Colloq buff, nut, Slang
freak: He's a Welsh rarebit fiend.

fiendish adj. cruel, savage, inhuman, monstrous, ghoulish, malignant,
malevolent, malicious, wicked, evil, bad, black-hearted,
satanic, devilish, Mephistophelian, demonic, demoniac(al),
diabolic(al), cacodemonic, hellish, infernal: He sniggered with
fiendish glee as he tightened the thumbscrew.

fierce adj. 1 ferocious, savage, wild, truculent, brutish, feral,
bestial, tigerish, brutal, cruel, fell, murderous, bloodthirsty,
sanguinary, homicidal, barbaric, barbarous, inhuman, dangerous:
The fierce beasts will tear you limb from limb. 2 intractable,
angry, furious, hostile, aggressive, vehement, frenzied, stormy,
violent, turbulent, wild, tempestuous, tumultuous, raging,
merciless, uncontrollable: The old curmudgeon is in a fierce
mood again today. A fierce storm raged for three days. 3 severe,
awful, dreadful, intense, keen, dire, bitter, biting, racking:
Wear warm clothes to protect you from the fierce cold.


fiercely adv. very, extremely, exceedingly, vehemently, intensely,
impetuously, violently, furiously, ferociously, viciously,
savagely: She refuses to deal with anyone who is so fiercely
competitive.


fiery adj. 1 burning, flaming, blazing, hot, red-hot, white-hot,
overheated; afire, on fire, in flames, ablaze: Fiery lava burst
from the volcano. 2 glowing, red, incandescent, brilliant,
luminous, glaring, gleaming, radiant; aglow, afire: We watched

the fiery sunset fade into azure hues. 3 ardent, eager,
spirited, passionate, excited, excitable, peppery, irascible,
touchy, irritable, edgy, hotheaded, fierce: I had best not be
late as my boss has a fiery temper.


fight v. 1 contend (with), battle, conflict (with), encounter, war
(against), engage, clash, take up arms (against), feud (with),
combat, bear or take up arms (against), brawl, struggle or
strive (with or against), cross swords (with), close (with),
come to or exchange blows (with), go to or wage war (with or
against), joust (with), grapple or wrestle (with), skirmish
(with), tussle or scuffle (with or against); box, spar;
Old-fashioned broil: He offered to fight anyone in the place.
Why are the boys always fighting? 2 dispute, question, confront,
contest, oppose, contradict, defy, confute, protest, resist,
rail or struggle, against, withstand, refute, oppugn, make or
take a stand against, contravene, confound: He has sworn to
fight prejudice wherever he finds it. 3 rise up, make or take a
stand, struggle, take up arms: It is better to fight for the
good than to rail at the ill. 4 argue, dispute, bicker,
quarrel, wrangle, squabble, spat, tiff, fall out (over), have
words, disagree, row, altercate, debate: I hear the neighbours
fight every night. 5 fight off. repel, repulse: Prepare to
fight off anyone trying to come over the side! 6 fight shy of.
avoid, keep or remain aloof from or of, keep away from: She
usually fights shy of going to cocktail parties.

--n. 7 battle, conflict, bout, duel, (single) combat,
monomachy, one-on-one, action, warfare, clash, hostilities, war,
match, struggle, engagement, meeting, encounter, contest,
fighting, brawl, Donnybrook, affray, fray, fracas, disturbance,
riot, row, mˆl‚e or melee, tussle, scuffle, scrimmage, skirmish,
brush, Colloq free-for-all, set-to, scrap, Brit scrum, bovver,
Slang US rumble, Old-fashioned broil: Three policeman were
injured in the hour-long fight. 8 altercation, argument,
quarrel, feud, dispute, run-in, disagreement, dissension,
dissidence, dissent, difference (of opinion), squabble,
bickering, spat, misunderstanding, row, discord, Colloq ruckus:
Such fights between husband and wife happen all the time. 9
pugnacity, mettle, militancy, belligerence, truculence, spirit,
pluck, zeal, enthusiasm, zest: She had enough fight left in her
to go on to win.

figure n. 1 physique, build, shape, form, configuration, conformation,
build, body, outline, silhouette; cut, cast; Slang bod, chassis:
It's exercise that gives Kathy such a fine figure. 2
appearance, image, likeness, representation, semblance: The
vision came to him in the figure of a dragon. 3 person,
individual, human (being): A burly figure loomed up out of the
fog. 4 statue, effigy, sculpture, bust, mould, cast, image,
representation, idol, icon: Hundreds of figures are carved into
the stone of the temple fa‡ade. 5 picture, illustration,
diagram, drawing, sketch, plate: See Figure 12 for a graph
showing the rate of inflation for the past decade. 6
personality, celebrity, somebody, leader, personage, worthy,
notable, individual, presence, force, character: Chaplin looms
large as a figure in the history of comedy. 7 number, numeral,
cipher, digit; character, symbol, device, sign; design, pattern,
motif, emblem: His salary is in six figures.

--v. 8 Often, figure up. calculate, compute, reckon, work out;
count, enumerate, numerate, total, tot up, tally, sum: Please
figure up how much I owe you. 9 picture, imagine, think, take,
reckon, consider, calculate, judge, believe; assume, presume,
suppose; accept, acknowledge, concede: I never figured her to
be the guilty one. 10 act, participate, take or play a part or
role, appear, feature, have a place; be included or mentioned,
be featured or conspicuous: He does not figure in my plans. 11
figure on or upon. a rely or depend on or upon, count on or
upon, trust in, put faith in: You mustn't figure on his help.
b plan on or upon, take into consideration or account, consider,
make allowance for: They were figuring on consumer demand for a
better mousetrap. 12 figure out. a calculate, reckon, compute,
work out: I haven't yet figured out last year's profits and
losses. b decipher, translate, understand, interpret, solve,
grasp, get, fathom, see, perceive, Colloq dig, make head(s) or
tail(s) of, get through one's head, get the hang or drift of,
catch on (to), get a fix on, Brit twig, suss out: Can you
figure out what this article is trying to say?

figurehead
n. puppet, dummy, marionette, mouthpiece, Brit man of straw, US
and Canadian straw man, Colloq front man, Chiefly US front: The
king is a mere figurehead with no power at all.

file n. 1 document, documentation, dossier, case, data, folder,

portfolio, information: Interpol has files on Cowdery's
activities going back ten years. 2 line, queue, column, row,
rank: The file of armoured vehicles stretched for miles.


--v. 3 classify, organize, systematize, categorize,
alphabetize, chronologize, order, arrange, pigeon-hole,
interfile, put or place in order, register, record, enter: Must
all this correspondence be filed today? 4 submit, send in,
complete, fill in or US and Canadian also fill out, enter: I
have already filed my application for a transfer. 5 walk,
march, troop, parade: Please file into the classroom and take
your seats.

fill v. 1 crowd, stuff, cram, jam, load, burden, pack, squeeze: A
huge number of people filled the stadium. 2 top (off), top up,
fill up, make full; inflate, swell, stretch, blow up, distend,
expand: Pour in just enough to fill the bottle. See if you can
fill the balloon. Wind filled the sails. 3 Sometimes, fill up.
supply, provide, furnish: Irena has filled her house with
paintings. 4 meet, satisfy, fulfil, answer: Will a dozen fill
your needs for a while? 5 satisfy, satiate, bloat, sate, gorge,
stuff; stock: The guests filled themselves with choice foods at
the reception. 6 abound in, overflow, be abundant or plentiful
in: Trout filled the lake. 7 close, stop (up), block, stuff,
plug, caulk, seal: The dentist had to fill two cavities. 8
occupy, take over, discharge, carry out, do, execute: Can you
fill her job while she's away? 9 fill in or US and Canadian
also out. a make out, complete, answer: Please fill in this
application. b take the place, stand in, substitute: Could you
fill in during my secretary's absence? c inform, tell, advise,
let in on, notify, bring up to date, share, let in on: Don will
fill you in on the details later. 10 fill out. a swell,
expand, grow, distend, stretch; fatten, increase: The sails
filled out in the freshening breeze. b US fill in. See 9(a).


--n. 11 one's fill. plenty, enough; surfeit, sufficiency: We
ate our fill and left.

filling n. filler, stuffing, padding, wadding; contents, components,
Colloq innards: What kind of filling do you like in a pie?

film n. 1 coating, skin, coat, membrane, peel, integument, layer,
overlay, covering, cover, sheet, dusting, veil, Technical

pellicle: There is a film of grease over everything. 2 motion
picture, movie, picture; videotape; Colloq flick, pic; video:
Why do they show the same films every Christmas? 3 veil,
screen, murkiness, blur, smokescreen, haze, mist, haziness,
mistiness, cloud, vapour, fog, steam: I could barely make out
the road through the film on the windscreen.

--v. 4 film over, coat, cover, dim, obscure, fade (away), veil,
screen, blur, blear, mist, cloud, glaze,: The pond filmed over
with bacteria. Her eyes filmed with tears. 5 photograph, shoot,
take, (video)tape: If the director insists, then the scene must
be filmed again.

filmy adj. 1 gauzy, gossamer(-like), sheer, delicate, diaphanous,
transparent, translucent, flimsy, light, cobwebby,
insubstantial, see-through, peekaboo: Phoebe looked very
seductive in her filmy negligee. 2 murky, blurry, cloudy, hazy,
misty, bleary, blurred, dim, clouded, beclouded, milky, pearly,
opalescent: We inched down the cliff in the filmy light of the
moon.

filter n. 1 sieve, colander, riddle, screen, strainer, gauze, cloth,
cheesecloth, membrane: To allow the liquid to pass through, a
clean filter must be used.


--v. 2 Sometimes, filter out. strain, screen, sift, winnow,
clarify, refine, purify, clean; separate, weed out, exclude,
eliminate: Some people filter tap water to improve its taste.
This company would be improved if we could filter out the
undesirable elements. 3 leach, percolate, drip, seep, dribble,
trickle, drain, run or pass through, ooze: The rainwater is
filtered through fine sand to purify it.

filth n. 1 sewage or sewerage, dirt, slime, muck, sludge, sullage,
effluent, pollution, trash, rubbish, garbage, refuse, ordure,
(night-)soil, excrement, faeces, excreta, manure, droppings,
guano, dung, foul matter, filthiness, offal, leavings, carrion,
decay, putrescence, putrefaction, Slang crud, Brit gunge, US
grunge, Taboo slang shit: Cleaning the filth from the Augean
stables was the fifth labour of Hercules. 2 corruption,
vileness, baseness, foulness, rottenness, debasement,
defilement, taint, pollution, adulteration, perversion,
degradation, taint; sullying, besmirchment: Sodom and Gomorrah

were destroyed along with their filth. 3 indecency, obscenity,
smut, pornography, corruption, nastiness, vulgarity, grossness:
The censors forbade the showing of films with any hint of filth.


filthy adj. 1 defiled, polluted, tainted, foul, nasty, dirty, unclean,
vile, putrid, rotten, fetid or foetid, maggoty, fly-blown,
purulent, feculent, faecal, scummy, slimy, mucky, Slang cruddy,
Brit gungy, US grungy: That city's public lavatories are the
filthiest I have ever seen. 2 dirty, unwashed, begrimed,
squalid, sordid, shabby, soiled, low, stained, grimy,
bedraggled, unkempt, slovenly, sloppy, mean, scurvy, disgusting,
miserable, wretched, Slang Brit gungy, US grungy: The filthy
beggar turned out to be Holmes in disguise. 3 immoral, taboo or
tabu, indecent, impure, obscene, smutty, pornographic, X-rated,
depraved, corrupt, dirty, lewd, lascivious, licentious, gross,
offensive, coarse, bawdy, ribald, blue, suggestive,
foul-mouthed, dirty-minded, filthy-minded: Customs officers
confiscated thousands of filthy books, magazines, films, and
videos.


final adj. 1 ending, concluding, terminating, finishing, closing,
last, terminal, ultimate, end: The final sentence needs
rewriting. 2 conclusive, decisive, unalterable, irreversible,
irrevocable, incontrovertible, irrefutable, indisputable,
unchangeable, immutable, definitive; settled, fixed, absolute,
certain, sure: Those are my final words on the subject. We made
a final series of measurements.

finality n. conclusiveness, decisiveness, unalterability,
irreversibility, irrevocableness, incontrovertibility,
irrefutability, indisputability, unchangeability, immutability,
definitiveness, certainty, certitude, sureness, fixedness:
There is an air of finality in the way she gives orders.


finalize v. conclude, settle, complete, decide, Colloq wrap up, clinch,
sew up: We finalized the agreement yesterday by signing the
contract.

finally adv. 1 at (long) last, lastly, eventually, in the end,
ultimately, at length, when all is said and done, in the long
run, at the end of the day, at the last moment: We finally
arrived in port. 2 conclusively, once and for all, decisively,
irrevocably, in fine, completely, inexorably, absolutely,

definitively, definitely, for good, for ever, for all time: I
didn't want to commit myself finally till I'd seen the plans.

finance n. 1 resource(s), banking, accounting, economics, money
(management), business, commerce, (financial) affairs,
investment: Bendick is the officer in charge of finance for the
company. 2 finances. capital, money, cash, funds, resources,
assets, holdings, wealth, wherewithal: Have you the finances
needed to buy the house?


--v. 3 fund, subvene, invest in, back, capitalize, underwrite,
subsidize, pay for, Colloq US bankroll: The new enterprise is
being financed entirely by small investors.


financial adj. monetary, pecuniary, fiscal, economic: We must get the
financial affairs of the country in order.

financier n. capitalist, banker, plutocrat, investor, backer, US
money-man, Colloq angel: The financiers suggest switching
investment from shares to bonds.

find v. 1 discover, come across, happen or come on or upon, hit upon
or on, chance or stumble on or upon; encounter, bump into:
We've found a tiny bistro on the Left Bank where we like to go.
2 Often, find out. uncover, discover, unearth, lay one's hand(s)
on, turn up, come up with, reveal, bring to light, light upon or
on, catch sight of, see, espy, descry, detect, learn, spot,
locate, track down; find out, identify, become aware of,
determine, ascertain, put one's finger on, point to, Colloq
tumble to, Brit twig; Slang finger, rumble, Brit suss out: The
police are trying to find the murderer. Can you find who did it?
3 discover, perceive, see, understand, notice, mark, remark,
note, distinguish, discern; realize: I find nothing odd about
her attire. 4 consider, think, regard, view, feel or discover
to be: I have always found Lady Sharpless exceedingly dull. He
finds it impossible to refuse her demands. 5 get, obtain,
procure, secure, acquire, win, gain; experience: We despair of
finding customers for our services in these hard times. He found
relief only in painkillers. 6 recover, locate, get back;
repossess, recoup: I hope you find the earring you lost. 7
summon (up), call up, command, gather (up), muster (up), rouse,
arouse, awaken: I tried to find the courage to ask her to marry
me. 8 set aside, allot, assign, manage, get: Have you found

the time to read Connie's new book? 9 judge, decide or
determine to be, pronounce, declare: A jury found her guilty.
The judge found in favour of the plaintiff.


--n. 10 discovery, catch, bargain, deal; boon, windfall: The
gold doubloon was the find of a lifetime.

finding n. 1 discovery, find: The findings from Pompeii are in the
Museum of Portici. 2 judgement, decree, verdict, decision,
determination, pronouncement, declaration, conclusion: The
findings of the Law Lords are final.

fineฐ adj. 1 superior, excellent, superb, magnificent, supreme,
marvellous, exceptional, splendid, exquisite, elegant,
first-class, first-rate, prime, choice, select, top-grade,
high-grade, top-drawer, quality, admirable, great, good,
satisfactory, Colloq out of this world, great, OK or okay,
peachy, neat, keen, Brit tickety-boo, US neat, Australian
bonzer, Slang swell, cool, Brit old-fashioned ripping, Dialectal
champion: He is a connoisseur of fine paintings. She turned in
a fine performance. 2 sunny, fair, bright, clear, cloudless,
balmy, pleasant, dry, nice: It was a fine day for a picnic. 3
enjoyable, satisfying, entertaining, amusing, good, interesting,
pleasant, nice: Thank you for inviting us to such a fine party.
4 accomplished, skilful, consummate, outstanding, masterly,
brilliant, virtuoso: Ann-Sofie is a fine pianist. 5 delicate,
subtle, exquisite, well-made, dainty, elegant; superior,
excellent, outstanding: What a fine example of
miniature-painting! 6 delicate, dainty, thin, gossamer,
diaphanous, gauzy, sheer, slender, frail, flimsy, filamentous,
threadlike: The sword hung over Damocles' head by a fine
thread. 7 powdered, powdery, pulverized, comminuted, crushed,
fine-grained: As soon as they touched the papyrus, it
disintegrated into a fine powder. 8 sharp, keen, keen-edged,
razor-sharp, pointed, acute: The points of the sea urchin's
spines are so fine you don't feel them enter. 9 subtle,
delicate, refined, acute, keen, discriminating, critical,
precise, nice, hair-splitting: There is sometimes a fine
distinction between pleasure and pain. 10 good-looking,
handsome, attractive, striking, beautiful, pretty, lovely,
seemly, fair, comely, Colloq US cute, Scots bonny: Jeanette
married a fine young man. 11 meritorious, worthy, commendable,
admirable, excellent, superb, splendid, good, Colloq great: She

has displayed fine courage in the face of terrible family
problems. 12 healthy, well, healthful, robust, all right, Colloq
OK or okay: I told the doctor that I was feeling fine. 13
close: Arriving at the airport with only minutes to spare is
cutting it pretty fine.

fine n. 1 penalty, charge, fee, mulct, forfeit, amercement;
forfeiture: He was unable to pay the parking fine.


--v. 2 penalize, charge, mulct, amerce: She was fined for
parking at a bus stop.

finery n. decoration(s), ornaments, trappings, trinkets, frippery,
showy dress, Colloq best bib and tucker, Sunday best, Sunday
clothes, gear, glad rags: They were all dressed in their finery
at the reception.

finesse n. 1 artfulness, subtlety, cunning, craftiness, cleverness,
strategy, shrewdness, skill, style, dash, ‚lan, panache, knack,
skilfulness, talent, adroitness, expertness, expertise,
adeptness, proficiency, ability, facility: I admire the finesse
with which she persuaded him to give the painting to the museum.
2 trick, artifice, stratagem, wile, ruse, scheme, machination,
intrigue, device, expedient, manoeuvre, deception, deceit: He
used every finesse in the book to get her to work for him. 3
tact, diplomacy, discretion, grace, taste, delicacy, polish,
refinement, elegance: With infinite finesse, Lord Lacey
suggested that the duchess might like to stay the night.


--v. 4 manoeuvre, manipulate, bluff, trick, delude, deceive,
fool, outwit, hoodwink, Colloq finagle, Slang con: She was
finessed into making him heir to her fortune.

finger n. 1 digit: How many fingers am I holding up? 2 have a finger
in. be or become or get involved in, figure in, have a hand in,
influence, interfere in, tamper or meddle or tinker or monkey
with: I knew that Lightfoot must have had a finger in the deal.
3 keep one's fingers crossed. hope or pray for the best, touch
or esp. US knock wood: I'm sure you'll win, but I'll keep my
fingers crossed just the same. 4 lay or put a finger on. (so
much as) touch, strike, hit, punch: If you lay a finger on her,
you'll have to answer to me! 5 lay or put one's finger on. a
recall, remember, recollect, bring or call to mind, think of,

pin down: I can't quite put my finger on the date when we met.
b locate, find, discover, unearth, lay or put one's hands on,
track down, get hold of, come by, acquire; buy, purchase: I was
finally able to put my finger on the book you asked for. c
indicate, identify, point to, pin down, Colloq zero (in) on:
Frank put his finger on the problem at once. 6 (not) lift or
raise (even) a (little) finger. make an attempt or effort,
offer, make a move, contribute, do one's part, do anything or
something: She didn't so much as lift a finger when I needed
her. 7 pull or get one's finger out. get on with it, stop
delaying or procrastinating, Colloq get cracking: He should
have finished by now, and I wish he'd pull his finger out. 8 put
the finger on. accuse, inform on or against, tell or tattle on,
betray, bear witness, Slang snitch or squeal on, peach on:
After Louise put the finger on the kingpin, the cops arrested
him. 9 slip through one's fingers. elude, escape, get away,
vanish, disappear: Despite the cordon round the house, the
fugitive slipped through our fingers. 10 twist or wrap around
one's little finger. control, dominate, lord it over, have under
control, manipulate, manoeuvre, wield power or authority over,
have under one's thumb, have the upper hand over, be master of,
influence, make subservient: She has her father twisted around
her little finger, and can do no wrong in his eyes.


--v. 11 touch, handle, feel; toy or play or fiddle with: He
was quite nervous and kept fingering his tie. 12 identify,
point out, put the finger on: It was too late, the mob had
already fingered Slats for assassination.


finicky adj. 1 finical, fussy, fastidious, critical, difficult,
meticulous, hard to please, (over-)delicate, (over-)dainty,
(over-)particular, over-nice, over-precise, niminy-piminy,
punctilious, (over-)scrupulous, Colloq pernickety or US also
persnickety, choosy, nit-picking, picky: No one can work for
him - he's too finicky. 2 fussy, elaborate, detailed, fine,
delicate: Notice the tiny, finicky engraving on this
watch-case.

finish v. 1 stop, conclude, end, cease: When you have finished
eating, please clear the table. 2 complete, accomplish,
perfect, achieve, carry out, fulfil, consummate, clinch, write
'finis' to, Colloq wrap up: We finished the work on time. 3
Sometimes, finish off. dispose of, dispatch or despatch,

exhaust, consume, eat or drink (up), use (up), devour, drain,
Colloq polish off: We finished the last of the beer last night.
4 Sometimes, finish off. kill, exterminate, annihilate, destroy,
get rid of, dispose of, dispatch or despatch, put an end to,
administer or deliver or give the coup de grƒce, bring down,
overcome, beat, defeat, conquer, best, worst, Colloq polish off,
terminate, Slang bump off, rub out, US waste, ice: The cavalry
finished off the last of the enemy. The contender was finished
in the third round. 5 Sometimes, finish up. conclude, close,
terminate, wind up, end, culminate: He goes straight home when
he finishes work. When will you finish? 6 Sometimes, finish up.
end up, settle: Where did you finish up after the party? 7
Sometimes, finish off. perfect, put the final touches on,
polish, put a finish on: He finishes fine furniture for a
living. 8 finish with. release, let go, have or be done with,
let loose, set free: I'll finish with you later, young man!

--n. 9 conclusion, termination, end, close, closing,
completion, culmination, ending, finale, Colloq winding up, US
wind-up: Tomorrow is the finish of the hunting season. 10
death, killing, annihilation, extermination, downfall,
destruction, defeat: A major catastrophe spelt the finish of
the dinosaurs. 11 polish, surface, texture: Just feel the
finish on this gunstock!


finite adj. limited, bounded, bound, restricted, delimited, numerable,
countable: It has been shown that there are a finite number of
grains of sand in the universe.


fire n. 1 flame(s), blaze; conflagration, holocaust, inferno: We
gathered round the roaring fire. 2 feeling, passion, ardour,
ardency, fervour, fervency, intensity, vigour, spirit, energy,
vim, vivacity, sparkle, animation, liveliness, verve, pep, ‚lan,
‚clat, dash, vitality, eagerness, enthusiasm, fever,
feverishness: I have never seen the role of Carmen performed
with such fire. 3 firing, fusillade, volley, barrage,
bombardment, salvo, cannonade, shelling, broadside, flak: The
fire from the guns shook the house. 4 hang fire. delay, be
delayed, be in abeyance, be suspended, be shelved, be put off,
be postponed, be up in the air, Colloq be put on hold, be (put)
on the back burner: The decision is hanging fire till tomorrow.
5 on fire. afire, burning, blazing, alight, aflame, flaming;
ardent, passionate, fervent, fervid, hot-blooded, intense,

aroused, stirred, stimulated, enthusiastic, fired up, eager,
inspired, excited: The building is on fire: you must leave at
once. My very soul is on fire when I think of you. 6 play with
fire. undertake a risk or hazard or peril, run a risk, risk
(something or everything), imperil or endanger (something),
tempt fate, live dangerously: He warned people not to play with
fire by stirring up racial hatred. 7 set fire to. See 8, below.

--v. 8 a set fire to, set afire, set on fire, ignite, set
alight, kindle, spark (off), put to the torch, burn, Slang US
torch: Arsonists fired our headquarters last night. b
Sometimes, fire up. inflame, impassion, incite, excite, provoke,
foment, whip up, arouse, rouse, work up, fire up, enkindle,
light a fire under, stimulate, inspirit, motivate, move, stir,
animate, inspire, awaken, energize, vitalize, vivify: She fired
the crowd's emotions with her impassioned speech. 9 discharge,
shoot, let go (with), launch, propel, throw, catapult, hurl: He
fired the missile towards the enemy. 10 detonate, set off,
ignite, set fire to, light, let off: It is against the law to
fire any explosives in this area. 11 discharge, dismiss, oust,
let go, cashier, give (someone) notice, Brit make or declare
redundant, Colloq Brit ask for or get (someone's) cards, US give
(someone) a pink slip; Slang bounce, give (someone) the bounce,
axe, give (someone) the axe, show (someone) the door, can, give
(someone) the (old) heave-ho, give (someone) his or her (Brit)
marching orders or (US) walking papers, Brit sack, give
(someone) the sack, boot (someone) out, give (someone) the boot:
They fired me last month and I can't find work.


firm adj. 1 compact, solid, dense, compressed, condensed,
concentrated, rigid, stiff, hard, unyielding, inflexible,
inelastic: I prefer a firm mattress. 2 stable, fixed, fast,
secure, steady, solid, stationary, anchored, moored, unmovable,
immovable: This pole is firmer than that one. 3 steady,
strong, sturdy, tight, unwavering, unshakable or unshakeable,
unswerving: What we need is a firm hand at the controls. 4
resolute, determined, dogged, definite, resolved, positive,
decisive, decided, set on or upon, steadfast, constant,
unflinching, staunch, unshaken, unshakeable or unshakable,
immovable, inflexible, rigid, unwavering, undeviating,
unchanging, unchangeable, obstinate, obdurate, stubborn, strict,
unyielding, unbending, unalterable: Father was firm about my
not staying out past midnight.


--v. 5 Often firm up. consolidate, establish, settle (down),
solidify, resolve, determine, set up: We firmed up the terms of
the contract. Sugar prices firmed today.


--n. 6 company, organization, corporation, limited company,
public limited company, plc, partnership, proprietorship,
business, enterprise, concern, house, conglomerate,
multinational (company), cartel, Colloq outfit; US jargon CIA,
Central Intelligence Agency: He works for a firm in the City.

firmament n. heaven, the heavens, sky, the skies, vault (of heaven),
Literary welkin, empyrean: Sirius is one of the brightest stars
in the firmament.


firmly adv. 1 solidly, strongly, securely, tightly, rigidly, fast,
immovably: The column is set firmly into the concrete. 2
resolutely, steadfastly, determinedly, staunchly, unwaveringly,
decisively, unhesitatingly, constantly: Jacquelyn firmly
supports John in anything he says.

first adj. 1 foremost, leading, chief, head, premier, prime, primary,
principal, pre-eminent: The Kennedys were regarded as among
'the first people of Boston'. I heard that your son is now
first violinist in the Philharmonic. 2 earliest, original,
senior, oldest; initial, beginning, maiden, opening: The first
clock in England was made about 1288. The first assault resulted
in great loss of life. 3 fundamental, elementary, basic,
primary, cardinal, key, essential: It is necessary to return to
first principles.

--adv. 4 before, in front, earliest, beforehand, ahead, sooner,
foremost: Bannister came in first. 5 in the first place,
firstly, before all or anything else, initially, at the outset
or beginning, to begin or start with, from the start, Colloq
first off: First, I want to thank you all for coming to my
party.

--n. 6 beginning, start, inception, commencement, outset,
Colloq word go: I knew you'd win from the first. 7 first
place, blue ribbon, gold (medal), triumph, victory; win:
Britain achieved three firsts in yesterday's athletics meeting.
8 at first. initially, in the beginning, at the start or outset,

Colloq from the word go: I didn't believe him at first.

first-rate
adj. first-class, high-grade, prime, excellent, superior,
superb, great, remarkable, admirable, fine, exceptional,
outstanding, extraordinary, unparalleled, matchless,
unsurpassed, Colloq A-1 or A-one, top-notch, tiptop, crack, top,
ace, Brit whiz-bang or whizz-bang, wizard: Sarah is a
first-rate pianist.


fiscal adj. financial, economic, budgetary, pecuniary, monetary: It
is against our fiscal policy to deal in off-shore securities.

fishy adj. 1 piscine, fishlike, piscatory, piscatorial: On the
fishmonger's slab lay an array of fishy offerings, only a few of
which I could recognize. 2 dubious, doubtful, questionable,
unlikely, far-fetched, suspicious, not kosher, peculiar, odd,
queer, strange, suspect, improbable, implausible, Colloq shady,
funny: There is something fishy about this deal.


fitฐ adj. 1 fitting, appropriate, fitted, suitable, suited, adapted,
apt, meet, apropos, applicable; befitting, becoming, convenient,
proper, right, correct, fitting: Those books are not fit for
children. It's not a fit night out for man or beast. 2 prepared,
ready, able, capable, qualified, worthy, right, adequate: The
question is, is such a man fit to lead men into battle? 3
healthy, well, hale, hearty, stalwart, vigorous, strong, sturdy,
robust, strapping, able-bodied, in good shape or trim or
condition, in fine fettle: Is she fit enough to run in the
marathon? 4 ready, angry, troubled, upset, inclined, disposed,
ready or likely or about to, exhausted enough: I worked till I
was fit to drop. Mr Barrett was coughing fit to burst.

--v. 5 befit, suit, become, be suited to, be suitable or
appropriate for, answer, satisfy: This computer program does
not fit my needs. 6 join, conform, go (together), match,
correspond, dovetail, tally: I cannot make the parts fit. 7
adjust, modify, change, adapt, alter, accommodate, shape,
fashion: You will just have to fit your schedule to conform to
ours. 8 equip, supply, furnish, provide, outfit, fit out or up,
install or instal, rig out, gear up: I am having my boat fitted
with radar.

fit n. 1 attack, seizure, convulsion, spasm, spell, paroxysm, bout,
throe: She has periodic fits of severe depression. 2 outburst,
outbreak, paroxysm, spell, period: Occasionally, Gurning would
go into a fit of hysterical laughter. 3 tantrum; eruption,
explosion: She throws a fit if I so much as mention Maria's
name. 4 by fits and starts. sporadically, occasionally,
fitfully, spasmodically, intermittently, erratically,
haphazardly, now and then, irregularly, unsystematically;
unreliably: The fridge works only by fits and starts.


fitful adj. irregular, sporadic, intermittent, occasional, periodic,
erratic, spasmodic, haphazard, unsystematic, changeable,
unstable, capricious, varying, fluctuating, variable, uneven:
The dying torch emitted a fitful light. No true patriot pays
merely fitful allegiance to his country.

fitness n. 1 aptness, appropriateness, suitability, suitableness,
competence, pertinence, seemliness; eligibility, adequacy,
qualification(s): There is some doubt about Henryson's fitness
as a leader. 2 health, healthiness, (good) (physical)
condition, vigour, well-being, (good) shape, (fine) fettle,
tone, wholesomeness, salubriousness or salubrity: Tony is a
fanatic about physical fitness and exercises daily.


fitted adj. custom-made, tailor-made; tailored, bespoke: The house
boasts a fully fitted kitchen.

fitting adj. 1 fit, befitting, suitable, appropriate, meet, becoming,
proper, comme il faut, seemly, apt, apropos, apposite, germane,
relevant: Is it fitting to send flowers? It was a fitting end
to the story.

--n. 2 fittings. fitments, attachments, accessories, elements,
pieces, parts, units, fixtures; appointments, extras,
installations, furnishings, trappings, furniture, equipment,
accoutrements, paraphernalia, trimmings: Gold-plated bathroom
fittings are available at extra cost.

fix v. 1 affix, pin, fasten, make fast, attach, secure, stick,
connect, link, tie, couple, clasp, clamp, rivet, cement, weld,
fuse: Fix this sign to the door. 2 establish, set, settle,
agree to, determine, organize, stabilize, firm up, solidify,
decide, conclude, arrive at, define, specify, resolve, arrange,

install or instal, institute: The new limits must be fixed by
tomorrow. 3 repair, mend, fix up, remedy, rectify, correct,
emend, adjust, patch (up), regulate, put or set to rights,
doctor, straighten out: My watch is at the jeweller's being
fixed. 4 hold, fasten, focus, direct, level, rivet,
concentrate, freeze; fixate: He fixed his attention on the
ice-cream. 5 hold, rivet, spellbind, mesmerize, hypnotize,
fascinate, freeze, immobilize: She fixed him with a baleful
stare. 6 concentrate, focus: Fix your thoughts on how we're
going to get out of here. 7 harden, congeal, thicken, set,
consolidate, solidify, rigidify, become rigid, stiffen, freeze:
Mould the clay before it becomes fixed. 8 establish, set,
settle, organize, install or instal, situate, locate, position,
place: Her family is comfortably fixed. 9 impose, assign,
allocate, attribute, ascribe, specify, pin, attach, fasten,
establish: They tried to fix the responsibility for the
accident. 10 settle, set, stabilize, freeze, solidify: The
introduction and spread of printing fixed many spellings. 11
bribe, suborn, buy (off), corrupt, influence, manipulate, Colloq
grease (someone's) palm: He attempted to fix a judge. 12
arrange, prearrange, predetermine, set up, contrive, Colloq
fiddle, pull strings, rig: We knew the winner as they had fixed
the race. 13 desexualize, desex, alter, cut; castrate,
emasculate, see to, eunuchize, geld, caponize; spay,
oophorectomize, ovariectomize: Animals that have been fixed are
usually more tractable. 14 retaliate against, wreak vengeance
on, hit or strike or get back at, get even with, even the score
with, make reprisal against, avenge oneself against, take
revenge or retribution on or against, repay, pay back, Colloq
settle (someone's) hash, cook (someone's) goose, sort (some)
out: I'll fix him for tattling to the teacher! 15 fix on or
upon. decide (on or upon), set, agree (on or upon), choose,
select, settle (on), determine, finalize: We can't fix on a
date till we know David's schedule. 16 fix up. a furnish,
supply, provide, accommodate, set up, Brit lay on: Her mother
fixed her up with a nice young man. Can you fix me up with a
room for the night? b (re)decorate, furnish, renovate, restore,
furbish, refurbish; straighten out or up, organize, do up, set
up: I like the way you've fixed up the basement. Please fix up
your room before the guests arrive. c clear up, resolve,
reconcile, sort out, settle: Have they fixed up their
differences yet? d repair, patch (up): Fix up my car so it
will run at least till I get home.


--n. 17 dilemma, predicament, difficulty, corner, double bind,
catch-22, quandary, mess, (bad) situation, strait(s), Colloq
pickle, jam, hole, (tight or tough) spot, pinch, US bind: You
could help me get out of a terrible fix. 18 arrangement,
prearrangement, fiddle; bribery, subornation; Slang chiefly US
and Canadian set-up: The fix is on for her to win at roulette.

fixation n. mania, obsession, compulsion, fixed idea, id‚e fixe, fetish,
monomania, preoccupation, infatuation, Colloq hang-up, thing,
kick: He has a health-food fixation.

fixed adj. 1 fastened, attached, anchored, set, secure(d), firm,
stable, settled, immovable, immobile, stationary, rigid, rooted,
solid; immobilized, stuck: While this part rolls, the other
remains fixed. There was a fixed smile on her face. 2
established, secure, unalterable, steadfast, set, firm,
unchangeable, unchanging, persistent, unfluctuating, unflagging,
unwavering, inflexible, undeviating, unflinching, unblinking,
rigid, rooted, immutable, definite, resolute, resolved,
determined, intent; obstinate, stubborn: I admire Philip's
fixed determination to persevere. 3 settled, resolved, agreed,
regular, habitual, decided, arranged, prearranged, definite,
established: We have a fixed date on which we meet each month.
4 arranged, prearranged, set-up, framed; crooked, dishonest,
bent, Colloq rigged, put-up: He lost everything in a fixed
poker game.

fixture n. 1 meet, meeting, event, match, occasion, occurrence: The
Davis Cup tennis championship is an annual fixture. 2
appliance, accessory, fitting, equipment, apparatus, device,
instrument, tool, gadget, contrivance, appendage, fitment: The
landlord forbids the removal of any fixture.


fizz v. 1 bubble, effervesce, sparkle, froth, fizzle; hiss, sputter,
sizzle: The champagne fizzed in my glass.

--n. 2 effervescence, sparkle, carbonation, bubbling, froth,
fizzle, fizziness: All the fizz is gone from my drink! 3 hiss,
hissing, sibilance: The steam escaped with a loud fizz. 4 US
soda, soda water, club soda, seltzer, Dialect plain; soft drink,
tonic: May I have a little fizz with my scotch? 5 champagne,
Colloq Brit champers: We celebrated with oysters and a bottle

of fizz.

fizzle v. 1 fizz: This headache powder makes the water fizzle. 2
Often, fizzle out. die (out or away), fizz out, expire, peter
out, come to nothing or naught, fail, fall through, miscarry,
abort, come to grief, misfire, collapse, cave in: Her grandiose
plans for staging an extravaganza quickly fizzled out.

6.4 flabby...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



flabby adj. 1 limp, loose, lax, flaccid, slack, floppy, sagging,
drooping, baggy, pendulous, quaggy, soft: After forty, he began
to get a bit flabby around the middle. 2 weak, spineless,
feeble, impotent, ineffective, ineffectual: The critics found
the characterizations flabby and the plot non-existent.

flagฐ n. 1 banner, ensign, standard, pennant, banneret, pennon,
streamer, bunting, jack, gonfalon, vexillum: Our flag was
raised over the fort.

--v. 2 Often flag down. warn, signal, hail, inform, stop: A
workman flagged us down because the bridge was out. 3 mark,
tag, label, tab, identify, Brit tick (off), US and Canadian
check (off): Flag the supplies you need that are listed here.

flag v. 1 droop, sag, dangle, hang down, swag, festoon: In the
doldrums the sails flagged soggily about the masts. 2 weaken,
languish, falter, fail, dwindle, fade, deteriorate, waste away,
degenerate, die, decline, diminish, decrease, lessen, abate,
peter out, taper off, let up, ease (up), subside, slump, fall
off, wane, ebb, sink, lag: When he reached eighty, he sometimes
complained that his sexual appetite was flagging.


flagrant adj. blatant, brazen, bold, barefaced, audacious, arrant,
glaring, outrageous, shocking, shameless, scandalous, atrocious,
infamous, notorious, defiant, egregious, obvious, conspicuous,
open, complete, out-and-out, utter, flagitious, monstrous,
heinous, cruel, villainous, treacherous, nefarious, awful,
gross, rank, inconsiderate, scornful, contemptuous;
reprehensible; contemptible: Speeding shows a flagrant
disregard for the safety of others.


flair n. 1 talent, ability, aptitude, feel, knack, genius, skill,
mind, gift, faculty, propensity, bent, proclivity, facility: He
showed a flair for music at an early age. 2 chic, panache,
dash, ‚lan, ‚clat, style, stylishness, glamour, verve, sparkle,
vitality, elegance, taste, Colloq savvy, pizazz or pizzazz,
Old-fashioned oomph: She dresses with great flair.

flak n. flack, criticism, disapproval, censure, abuse, blame,
aspersion, complaint(s), disapprobation, condemnation, Colloq
brickbats: He took a lot of flak from the press for his
comments.

flake n. 1 snowflake; scale, chip, bit, piece, scrap, particle, tuft,
flock, scurf, fragment, shaving, sliver; wafer, lamina,
Technical squama: A flake of slate caught him in the eye.

--v. 2 Often, flake off. scale, chip, fragment; Technical
desquamate, exfoliate: The paint is flaking off on this side.
3 flake out. a collapse, go to or fall asleep, drop off (to
sleep), pass out, keel over: After the game, I flaked out on
the couch for ten hours. b become flaky, act crazy: He flaked
out when he heard the new record.


flamboyant
adj. 1 elaborate, ornamented, ornate, decorated, embellished,
baroque, rococo, florid: We chose a flamboyant wallpaper with
purple peacocks. 2 extravagant, ostentatious, showy, gaudy,
flashy, dazzling, brilliant, splendid, dashing, rakish,
swashbuckling, jaunty; high, wide, and handsome: With a
flamboyant display of swordsmanship, d'Artagnan dispatched his
attacker.

flame n. 1 fire, blaze; conflagration: The flame began to lick about
my feet. 2 passion, fervour, ardour, intensity, warmth, fire,
zeal, feverishness, enthusiasm, eagerness: The flame of love is
still burning. 3 boyfriend, girlfriend, lover, heartthrob,
sweetheart, beau: Linda is an old flame of Trevor's.


--v. 4 burn, blaze, glow, flare: Flaming embers from the
chimney set fire to the roof. Here and there civil unrest flamed
up in the countryside.

flaming adj. obvious, conspicuous, blatant, flagrant, egregious,
extravagant, Slang bloody, bleeding, blasted, damned, blooming:
That flaming idiot was appointed to the Ministry of Defence!


flammable adj. inflammable, combustible, burnable: The warning on the
tin says the contents are flammable.

flank n. 1 side, quarter; loin, haunch: The enemy was about to
attack our flank. The pony drew back with trembling flanks.


--v. 2 edge, border, line: Armed guards flanked the entrance.
3 skirt, outmanoeuvre, outflank, circle, go (a)round: They have
enough troops to flank our forces to the east.


flannel n. 1 flattery, humbug, nonsense, blarney, rubbish,
prevarication, Colloq eyewash, hogwash, boloney, soft soap,
weasel words, sweet talk, bull, crap, Brit waffle, cock, US
bushwa; Taboo slang bullshit, horseshit, (load of) shit, Brit
codswallop, bollocks or ballocks: Don't believe a thing Fordyce
says - it's all flannel.

--v. 2 flatter, hedge, mislead, pull the wool over (someone's)
eyes, Colloq soft-soap, sweet-talk, Taboo slang bullshit,
horseshit, shit: They aren't sincere - they're just flannelling
you.

flap v. 1 slap, slat, beat, flail, wave, wag, waggle, flutter,
thresh, thrash, oscillate, vibrate: An ornithopter is an
aeroplane that flaps its wings like a bird. The Union Jack was
flapping in the breeze.

--n. 2 flapping, beat, wave, wag, waggle, flutter, oscillation:
With a flap of its wings, the bird flew away. 3 fold, fly,
lappet, lap, tail, tab: Leave a flap of cloth to cover the
pocket. 4 upset, agitation, to-do, ado, commotion, panic,
flurry, fuss, distress, Colloq state, tizzy, sweat, Brit
kerfuffle: She's in a flap about what to wear to the dance. 5
quarrel, argument, dispute: There was a big flap over which car
model to buy.


flare v. 1 Often, flare up. blaze or flame (up), flash, erupt, break
out; dazzle, flicker, glimmer, shimmer, flutter: The fire
flared up briefly when he tossed the paper onto it. 2 Often,

flare out. spread (out or outwards), widen, broaden, expand,
increase, enlarge, bulge, swell: The sides of the vase flare
out near the top. 3 Often, flare up. anger, lose one's temper,
chafe, seethe, fume, rage, throw a tantrum, become incensed or
angry (etc.); blow up, burst forth, erupt, explode; Colloq get
one's back up, get one's Irish or dander up, see red, get worked
up, fly off the handle, lose one's cool, go out of or lose
control, get hot under the collar, blow one's top: He flares up
at the very mention of her name. Tempers flared when we touched
on the subject of politics.

--n. 4 blaze, flame, burst, outburst, flash, glare, dazzle,
incandescence, brilliance, luminosity: A bright orange flare
erupted from the mouth of the cave. 5 beacon, light, signal,
torch, flambeau, link: We prayed that the rescue party would
see our flares. 6 spread, broadening, widening, expansion,
swelling, bulge, increase, enlargement: I like that slight
flare at the hem of the skirt.


flash n. 1 blaze, flame, flare, burst, dazzle, spark, sparkle,
coruscation, fulguration, glitter, twinkle, twinkling, flicker,
flickering, scintilla, scintillation, glint, shimmer, glimmer,
gleam, beam, ray, shaft: There was a blinding flash of blue
light and the little man was gone. 2 (sudden or momentary)
display, stroke, show, manifestation, outburst, outbreak, sign,
indication, exhibition; touch, hint, suggestion: She has
occasional flashes of insight bordering on genius. 3 moment,
(split) second, instant, twinkling (of an eye), trice, minute,
Colloq two shakes (of a lamb's tail), jiffy, shake, before you
can say 'Jack Robinson': In a flash he was at her side.

--v. 4 burn, blaze, flame, flare, burst (out), dazzle, spark,
sparkle, coruscate, fulgurate, glitter, twinkle, flicker,
scintillate, shimmer, glimmer, gleam, beam, glare, shine: The
light flashed every eight seconds. 5 race, speed, dash, streak,
flick, tear, rush, hurry, hasten, fly, zoom, shoot, bolt,
whistle; run, sprint, dart, scuttle, scamper, Colloq scoot,
skedaddle, take off, whiz or whizz: The train flashed by, doing
about 100.


--adj. 6 dazzling, showy, ostentatious, smart, chic, Colloq
swish, classy, ritzy, snazzy: Barbara's new car looks very
flash. 7 See flashy, 1.


flashy adj. 1 flash, gaudy, flamboyant, glaring, fulgurous, showy,
ostentatious, loud, garish, vulgar, cheap, meretricious,
pretentious, tawdry, tasteless, Colloq tacky, Slang jazzy, US
glitzy: He was attracted by her flashy appearance. 2
superficial, cosmetic, skin-deep, surface, shallow, glib, slick,
facile, insubstantial, thin: The reviewer called it a flashy
interpretation of the Bard.


flat adj. 1 level, horizontal, even, smooth, plane, unbroken,
uninterrupted: I looked out over the flat surface of the frozen
bay. 2 prostrate, prone, supine, lying (down), stretched out,
recumbent, outstretched, reclining, spread-eagle(d), spread out,
outspread: I lay flat on my back staring up at the sky. 3
collapsed, levelled, overthrown, laid low: The air raid had
left all the buildings completely flat. 4 downright, outright,
unqualified, unreserved, unconditional, absolute, categorical,
explicit, unconditional, definite, firm, positive, out-and-out,
unequivocal, peremptory, unambiguous, unmistakable, direct,
complete, total: The request for clemency was met with the
judge's flat refusal. 5 featureless, monotonous, dull, dead,
uninteresting, unexciting, vapid, bland, empty, two-dimensional,
insipid, boring, tiresome, lifeless, spiritless, lacklustre,
prosaic, stale, tired, dry, jejune: The critics wrote that she
turned in a very flat performance. 6 deflated, collapsed,
punctured, ruptured, blown out: We had a flat tyre on the way.
7 unchangeable, unchanging, invariable, unvaried, unvarying,
standard, fixed, unmodified, unmodifiable, Colloq US
cookie-cutter: They charge the same flat rate for children, the
elderly, and all between. 8 dead, insipid, stale, tasteless,
flavourless, unpalatable; decarbonated, non-effervescent: My
beer has gone flat. 9 exact, precise: It's a flat ten minutes
from here to the railway station. 10 definite, certain, sure,
irrevocable: I said I'm not going, and that's flat. 11 dull,
slow, sluggish, inactive, depressed: Business has been a bit
flat since Christmas. 12 dull, mat or matt or matte, unshiny,
non-gloss(y), non-reflective, non-glare, unpolished: The table
looks better with a flat finish. 13 lacking perspective,
two-dimensional, lifeless, unrealistic: Some of his paintings
seem pretty flat to me.

--n. 14 Often, flats. a US low shoes, loafers, sandals, Colloq
flatties: Cynthia said that wearing flats makes her feet hurt.

b lowland(s), plain(s), tundra, steppe(s), prairie(s), savannah
or savanna, heath, moor, pampas; mud-flat(s); shallow(s), shoal,
strand; marsh, bog, fen, swamp: Before us was a large flat of
barren ground. 15 rooms, suite, apartment: How can you afford
to keep a flat in London?

--adv. 16 absolutely, completely, categorically, utterly,
wholly, uncompromisingly, irrevocably, positively, definitely,
directly; exactly, precisely, flatly: He has come out flat in
favour of the status quo. When he started drinking, she left him
flat. 17 flat out. a at maximum or top or full or breakneck
speed, speedily, quickly, apace, on the run, rapidly, swiftly,
at full speed or gallop, post-haste, hell for leather, like a
bat out of hell, like a shot, like (greased) lightning, like the
wind: Someone shouted 'Fire!' and we headed flat out for the
exits. b flatly, unhesitatingly, directly, at once,
immediately, forthwith, without delay; plainly, openly, baldly,
brazenly, brashly: He asked to borrow some money and she told
him 'No', flat out.


--n. 18 room(s), flat, suite (of rooms), chambers, tenement;
garden flat, maisonette, penthouse, studio, Brit bedsitter,
bedsit; accommodation, living quarters, Colloq Brit digs , US
and Canadian apartment, furnished room, walk-up, duplex,
triplex, garden apartment: We rented a two-bedroom flat in a
good neighbourhood.

flatten v. 1 level or even (off or out); smooth (out), press or iron
(out), roll: The children's noses were flattened against the
window of the toy shop. You will have to flatten the lawn if you
want to play croquet on it. 2 knock down or over, knock out,
floor, prostrate: Menges flattened the champion in the first
round. 3 raze, tear down, demolish, level: The bomb flattened
every house in the area.


flatter v. 1 butter up, play up to, compliment, praise, fawn (on or
upon), toady to, truckle to, court, curry favour with, Colloq
flannel, soft-soap, oil; Slang shine or suck up to, boot-lick,
Taboo kiss (someone's) arse, brown-nose: Flattering the boss
won't get you a salary increase. 2 enhance, complement, suit,
show to advantage: That colour flatters her complexion. 3
cajole, wheedle, coax, inveigle, beguile, sweet-talk: He was
flattered into signing that contract.


flatterer n. toady, sycophant, fawner, wheedler, time-server, courtier,
backscratcher, sponge, parasite, leech, hanger-on, sweet-talker,
backslapper, truckler, lickspittle, Colloq yes-man; Slang
bootlicker, Taboo brown-noser , Brit arse-kisser, arse-licker,
bum-sucker, US ass-kisser, ass-licker: Don't believe anything
that flatterer tells you.

flattering
adj. 1 complimentary, becoming, kind, enhancing: That is quite
a flattering portrait of Dorian. 2 adulatory, laudatory,
gratifying, fulsome, honeyed, sugary, fawning, ingratiating,
unctuous, slimy, Chiefly Brit smarmy: Authors once wrote the
most flattering dedications to their patrons.


flattery n. adulation, cajolery, blandishment, sweet talk, beguilement,
wheedling, gloze, Colloq soft soap, Slang boot-licking, Taboo
brown-nosing, Brit arse-kissing, arse-licking, bum-sucking, US
ass-kissing, ass-licking: A judicious use of flattery moved him
up the corporate ladder.

flaunt v. display, show (off), parade, flourish, exhibit, sport,
disport, spotlight: They were like all the other nouveaux
riches who flaunt their wealth in the stylish continental
resorts.

flavour n. 1 taste, savour, tang, piquancy, zest; tastiness,
savouriness; essence, extract, seasoning, flavouring, seasoning,
spice; aroma, odour, scent; Rare sapor: Overcooking destroys
the flavour of food. This sweet has a minty flavour. 2
character, spirit, nature, quality, property, mark, stamp,
essence, characteristic, style, taste, feel, feeling, ambience
or ambiance, sense, tinge, aroma, air, atmosphere, hint,
suggestion, touch, soup‡on: We all agreed that the new play has
a Shavian flavour.

--v. 3 season, spice: She flavours her teacakes with ginger.

flaw n. 1 fault, defect, imperfection, error, mistake, blemish,
blot, stain, taint, (black) mark, damage, disfigurement,
failing, weakness, weak spot; loophole: Flaws in the casting
give this bell a dull sound. I can see flaws in your argument. 2
crack, break, breach, chink, chip, fracture, rupture, fissure,

cleft, split, slit, cut, gash, rent, rift, tear, rip, puncture,
hole, perforation: The tiniest flaw may reduce the value of a
pot to a collector.


--v. 3 damage, harm, spoil, ruin, mark, weaken, disfigure:
Careless workmanship has flawed many of the objects they
produced. 4 discredit, stigmatize, damage, hurt, harm; taint,
mar, stain, blot: Her reputation has already been flawed.


flawed adj. damaged, harmed, marred, weakened, tainted, stained,
tarnished, defective, imperfect, unsound, faulty: His flawed
record prevented him from getting work.

flawless adj. 1 perfect, pristine, pure, uncorrupted, chaste, virgin,
intact, whole, clean, immaculate, unsullied, unspoilt, unsoiled,
impeccable, unblemished, faultless, undamaged, unimpaired,
spotless, untarnished: Two flawless artefacts were found in the
tomb. Many envied her flawless reputation. 2 undeniable,
unassailable, unimpeachable, unquestionable, irrefutable,
foolproof, sound, demonstrable: The prosecutor's evidence
appears to be flawless.

flecked adj. spotted, dappled, pied, (be)speckled, (be)sprinkled,
dotted, marked, stippled, dusted, specked, spattered, freckled:
His lank brown hair was flecked with grey.

flee v. 1 quit, run away or off, escape, get away, fly, take flight,
bolt, go (away), decamp, abscond, seek safety, avoid, make off,
make an exit, make (good) one's escape, make a (clean) getaway,
beat a (hasty) retreat, take to one's heels, show a clean pair
of heels, turn tail, make tracks, make a run for it, cut and
run, vanish, disappear, Brit levant, Colloq take off, scoot,
make oneself scarce, beat it, clear out, fly the coop,
skedaddle, scram, Brit scarper, Australian and New Zealand shoot
through, US and Canadian take a (run-out) powder, skip (town),
cut out, hightail it, Old-fashioned skiddoo; Slang split, Brit
bugger off, do a moonlight flit, do a bunk, US and Canadian
vamoose, lam out, take it on the lam, blow, bail out: He fled
the town and was never seen again. When they saw what they had
done, they fled. She fled to Brazil to avoid the tax
authorities. 2 avoid, evade, shun, escape from, eschew: She
fled the responsibilities of caring for her children.

fleece v. cheat, overcharge, swindle, bilk, defraud, victimize,
plunder, strip, milk, rob, Colloq take, flimflam, gyp, diddle,
bleed, take for a ride or to the cleaners, Slang rip off,
chisel, pluck, rook, clip, soak: The gang stole credit cards
and fleeced the companies out of millions.

fleetฐ n. armada, flotilla, navy, naval (task) force, task force,
squadron, convoy, division: A fleet of submarines was sent to
harass shipping in the Atlantic.


fleet adj. swift, rapid, fast, speedy, quick, nimble, expeditious,
agile: Nowadays, the fleetest transportation in a large city is
by bicycle.


fleeting adj. transitory, fugitive, transient, temporary, passing,
ephemeral, fugacious, evanescent, momentary, short-lived,
fly-by-night, short, brief: I caught only a fleeting glimpse of
the car as it sped by.


flesh n. 1 meat; tissue, muscle: We ate the flesh and threw away the
fat, bones, and skin. 2 body, corporeality, flesh and blood,
human nature, physicality; mortality: The spirit is willing but
the flesh is weak. 3 flesh and blood. real, physical,
corporeal, human, natural: He pointed out that he was flesh and
blood, not a robot. 4 in the flesh. personally, in person,
really, physically, bodily, alive, living, in life: She stood
before me, in the flesh. 5 one's (own) flesh and blood. kin,
kinsfolk or US and Canadian kinfolk, family, stock, blood, kith
and kin, relatives, relations: How could she treat her own
flesh and blood that way?

--v. 6 flesh out. substantiate, fill (in or out), give or lend
substance or dimension to, incorporate, embody, colour: The
idea is good, but it needs fleshing out.


flex n. 1 wire, lead, cord, cable, extension: Replace this flex
before you have a short circuit.

--v. 2 bend, give, stretch, curve: The plastic tube can be
flexed many times without breaking. 3 exercise, tense, tighten,
contract: He flexed his muscles before lifting the weight.

flexibility

n. 1 pliability, pliancy or pliantness, elasticity, resilience
or resiliency, suppleness, flexibleness, bendability,
limberness, stretch, give, spring, springiness, ductility:
Chemists improved the flexibility of the substance by adding
more plasticizer. 2 conformability or conformableness,
adaptability, versatility, adjustability or adjustableness,
compliance or compliancy, manageability, tractability or
tractableness, malleability, obedience, submissiveness,
docility, agreeableness, conformity: Fletcher has the
flexibility needed to move from one department to another.

flexible adj. 1 pliable, pliant, elastic, resilient, supple, bendable,
limber, lithe, stretchy, stretchable, springy, extensible or
extensile, ductile, flexile, tensile, yielding, willowy: The
foil is a thin, flexible duelling sword. 2 modifiable,
adaptable, conformable, compliant, malleable, obedient,
tractable, manageable, cooperative, amenable, persuadable or
persuasible: English seems to be an infinitely flexible
language. Nicole is flexible in her attitude towards politics. 3
easy, facile, submissive, complaisant, docile: Discipline at
the school might be a little too flexible.

flicker v. 1 twinkle, blink, waver, glimmer, glint, sparkle, shimmer,
flare, gutter: A slight draught made the candles flicker. 2
flap, flutter, quiver, twitter, fluctuate, oscillate, shake,
tremble, vibrate: Dozens of tiny flags flickered in the wind.

--n. 3 glimmer, glint, glimmering, sparkle, spark, twinkle,
twinkling, gleam, flare, glare: With a dying flicker the torch
went out. 4 hint, suggestion, trace, glimmer, vestige,
scintilla, spark: I thought I detected a flicker of recognition
when our eyes met.

flightฐ n. 1 flying, soaring, winging, excursion: The flight above the
mountains was exhilarating. He is subject to wild flights of the
imagination. 2 (air) voyage or journey or trip: We had a fine
flight from New Delhi. 3 aeroplane, airliner, plane, aircraft:
Our flight was delayed in Istanbul. 4 flock, swarm, cloud,
covey (of grouse or partridge), bevy (of quail), skein (of
geese), exaltation (of larks): A flight of migrating birds
passed overhead. 5 feather: The flights on this dart are
broken.

flight n. 1 escape, retreat, departure, exit, exodus, getaway,
fleeing, bolting, Slang split: Mohammed's flight from Mecca to
Medina in 622 is called a 'hegira'. 2 put to flight. chase or
drive (off or away), disperse, send off or away, send packing,
dismiss, rout, stampede: They put the Saracens to flight in a
decisive battle. 3 take flight. flee, go or run away or off,
abscond, desert, depart, (beat a) retreat, exit, bolt, decamp,
withdraw, take to one's heels, show a clean pair of heels,
Colloq light out, shove off, Brit scarper, US take a (run-out)
powder, take it on the lam, lam out; Slang split, Brit do a
bunk, do a moonlight flit, bugger off: The constable blew his
whistle and the thief took flight.

flighty adj. 1 fickle, frivolous, inconstant, capricious, fanciful,
changeable, variable, mercurial, skittish, volatile, unstable,
unsteady, giddy, wild: These flighty girls never stay in a job
more than a month. 2 irresponsible, light-headed,
rattle-brained, silly, hare-brained, dizzy, crazy, mad,
reckless, thoughtless, Colloq nutty, screwy, dotty, dippy: It
was flighty of Caroline to pour the brandy into the well.

flimsy adj. 1 slight, frail, weak, insubstantial or unsubstantial,
feeble, makeshift, fragile, frangible, breakable, rickety,
ramshackle, dilapidated, jerry-built, gimcrack, slight,
delicate: That flimsy ladder will never support me. He lives in
a flimsy shack near the railway. 2 slight, trivial, paltry,
feeble, unconvincing, weak, makeshift, implausible,
unbelievable, unsatisfactory, insubstantial or unsubstantial,
poor, inadequate: Her flimsy excuse was that she had a
headache. 3 sheer, light, gauzy, transparent, thin, filmy,
diaphanous, gossamer, delicate: She was wearing a flimsy pink
blouse.

flinch v. wince, draw back, withdraw, cower, cringe, recoil, start,
quail, blench, shrink (from), shy (away) (from), dodge, duck:
Each time he raised the whip, I flinched.

fling v. 1 toss, pitch, throw, cast, hurl, heave, sling, propel,
fire, let fly, send, Colloq lob, chuck: The smugglers had flung
the contraband into the sea.

--n. 2 indulgence, debauch, binge, spree, party, Colloq
blow-off: This will be my last fling before going into the

army. 3 gamble, risk, venture, attempt, try, go, shot, Colloq
crack, whirl, bash: Her brief fling at an acting career was
unsuccessful.


flip v. 1 toss, flick, snap, flop, turn, twist, spin: Flip a coin
to see who goes first. 2 anger, become angry or furious, go
mad, go crazy, go berserk, US also flip out, Colloq go off the
deep end, lose one's cool, Slang flip one's lid or Brit top,
Brit freak, US freak out, lose it: Father flipped when I said I
was quitting college.

flippancy n. 1 frivolousness, facetiousness, levity, light-heartedness,
frivolity, jocularity, offhandedness, unseriousness: I was
chagrined that she should treat my proposal of marriage with
such flippancy. 2 disrespect, disrespectfulness, impudence,
impertinence, irreverence, sauciness, rudeness, discourtesy,
brazenness, brashness, pertness, insolence, Colloq cheek,
cheekiness, lip, mouth, Slang Brit side: The headmaster will
not tolerate flippancy on serious subjects such as religion and
race relations.

flippant adj. 1 frivolous, facetious, light-hearted, jocular,
offhand(ed), unserious, shallow, thoughtless, superficial;
supercilious, belittling, scornful, dismissive: I don't
appreciate your flippant remarks when I'm trying to be serious.
2 disrespectful, impudent, impertinent, irreverent, saucy, rude,
pert, discourteous, brazen, brash, insolent, Colloq cheeky,
flip: He disapproves of Charles's flippant attitude towards the
royal family.


flirt v. 1 coquette, play or act the coquette, tease, tantalize, toy,
lead on, dally, philander, Colloq Brit chat up; Slang US come on
to: Amanda enjoys flirting with the boys. 2 flirt with. trifle
or toy or play or tinker with, contemplate, consider, entertain,
give a thought to, think about or of, Colloq Brit try on: Many
teenagers flirt with the idea of leaving home.

--n. 3 coquette, tease, vamp, hussy, playgirl, minx;
philanderer, playboy, Slang lady-killer, Old-fashioned wolf,
sheik, masher, lounge lizard, Taboo slang cock-teaser,
prick-teaser: They are both such flirts, I can't tell if their
advances are genuine.

flirtatious
adj. coquettish, vampish, seductive, flirty, coy, philandering,
provocative, enticing, alluring, amorous, come-hither: They
exchanged many flirtatious looks across the table.


flit v. move, go, fly, flee, dart, skip, skim, flick, hop, whisk,
flutter, flash: As a bee flits from flower to flower, she flits
from man to man.


float v. 1 hover, poise, bob, waft, be suspended, hang; sail, drift,
glide, swim: In the clear Caribbean waters, the boat seemed to
float in mid-air. 2 launch, establish, set up, organize, found,
initiate, get going or moving: The financiers are trying to
float a new company. 3 negotiate, arrange, transact, bring or
carry off, get, effect, consummate, Colloq pull off, swing:
Were you able to float a loan on your house?

--n. 4 raft, Brit platform: I can swim out to the float. 5
buoy; pontoon: The bridge is supported by floats. 6 (parade)
exhibit or display: Our parade float won first prize.

flock n. 1 body, company, group, band, pack, bunch, troop, set,
collection, assembly, convoy, gathering, congregation, crowd,
mass, mob, throng, gang, multitude, number, quantity, host,
horde, swarm, drove; herd, flight, troupe, fleet, school; bevy:
A huge flock of buyers sought bargains in the post-Christmas
sales.

--v. 2 assemble, meet, collect, gather, come or go together,
congregate, crowd, mass, mob, throng, pour, flood, swarm, herd
(together), band together, go: People flocked around the
speaker.

flog v. 1 whip, lash, horsewhip, strap, flagellate, flay, scourge,
thrash, thresh, beat; chastise, castigate, punish: He will be
flogged, then drawn and quartered. He was flogged for stealing a
loaf of bread. 2 sell; promote, publicize: Her latest job is
flogging encyclopedias door-to-door.


flood n. 1 inundation, deluge, overflow(ing), d‚bƒcle: The hurricane
was accompanied by a devastating flood. 2 torrent, cataract,
freshet, overflow, stream, spate: A flood of lava poured down
the mountain. 3 abundance, deluge, overflowing, surge,

outpouring, torrent, tide, tidal wave, stream, rush, flow, glut,
surfeit, satiety, profusion, over-abundance, superabundance,
nimiety, plethora, excess, surplus, superfluity: A flood of
invective poured from her lips.


--v. 4 inundate, submerge, overflow, swamp, immerse, deluge,
pour over, drown: The water flooded everything in the basement.
5 overwhelm, glut, oversupply, saturate, choke: The market is
being flooded with cheap imitations. 6 sweep, flow, swarm,
surge, rush, crowd, pour: As soon as the doors opened, the
people flooded in. 7 permeate, fill, engulf, cover, pour into
or throughout or over: I open the curtain and sunlight floods
the room.


floor n. 1 flooring, parquet, boarding, planking, Nautical or colloq
deck: The floor is mopped once a week. 2 storey, level; deck:
On which floor is your flat? 3 minimum, bottom, base, lower
limit, lowest (level): Owing to inflation, the wage floor was
raised. Share prices went through the floor in today's trading.


--v. 4 knock over or down, bowl over, prostrate, fell,
overthrow, bring down, (make) fall; beat, defeat, conquer,
destroy, rout, overwhelm, crush, whip, trounce, thrash, drub,
best, worst: The champion was floored by a blow to the head. 5
stump, bewilder, baffle, dumbfound or dumfound, confuse,
confound, disconcert, nonplus, perplex, puzzle, astound,
astonish, amaze, surprise, shock: Alexandra was floored when
she received a gift from her ex-husband.


flop v. 1 collapse, drop (down), fall (down), tumble, topple, plump
down, plop down, flounce down: I was so exhausted that I
flopped into bed at once. 2 flap, wave, swing: The door,
unfastened, flopped back and forth in the wind. 3 fail, fall
flat, come to naught or nothing, founder, Colloq fold, US bomb:
The musical flopped on the first night.

--n. 4 failure, fiasco, disaster, non-starter, d‚bƒcle, US
fizzle, Colloq dud, washout, clanger, US lead balloon, bomb;
Slang lemon, Brit cock-up, damp squib: His idea for a new
corkscrew was a complete flop.

flounce n. 1 frill, furbelow, peplum, ruffle, ornament, valance,
trimming: The dress has decorative flounces round the skirt.


--v. 2 fling, toss, bounce, twist, strut, toss, parade, march,
storm, stamp, US sashay: She flounced out of the room in high
dudgeon.


flounder v. grope, blunder, stumble, tumble, struggle, stagger, plunge
about: We floundered about in the dark till someone found the
light switch.


flourish v. 1 prosper, thrive, grow, develop, luxuriate, bloom, blossom,
flower, bear fruit, fructify, boom, burgeon or bourgeon, mature,
ripen, increase, succeed, get ahead, do or fare well, make good;
go up or rise in the world; Slang go great guns: We understand
that Amy's medical practice has flourished. 2 wave, wield,
brandish, wag, swing, twirl, flaunt, vaunt, swagger, swish,
shake: The band-leader flourished his baton.

--n. 3 decoration, embellishment, floridness, floweriness,
ornamentation, elaboration, adornment, frill, embroidery,
curlicue, furbelow: His signature is characterized by all these
flourishes. 4 fanfare, display, show, showiness, dash,
gesturing, wave: With a flourish of his hand, the king
signalled the tourney to begin.


flourishing
adj. luxuriant, lush, thriving, prospering, blooming,
blossoming, fruitful, flowering, burgeoning or bourgeoning,
successful, prosperous, booming, growing, increasing: Patel
runs a flourishing flower shop in Bicester.


flout v. deride, scorn, disdain, contemn, spurn, decry, denounce,
misprize, blaspheme, depreciate, degrade, abase, belittle,
minimize, deprecate, disparage, denigrate, mock, jeer, guy,
ridicule, scoff, sneer, gibe or jibe (at), taunt, twit, insult,
affront, Archaic fleer; Colloq put down, chaff, rag, knock:
When introduced in the sixties, miniskirts brazenly flouted
convention.

flow v. 1 stream, pour, run, rush, course, surge, move, go, proceed,
progress, drift; gush, glide, purl, roll, ripple, trickle,
gurgle, bubble; swirl, whirl, circulate: People continue to
flow past the window. The Thames flows silently to the sea. 2
rush, gush, surge, well (forth), stream, spring, issue, spout,

spurt, squirt, spew, flood, cascade, fall, rain; brim, overflow,
spill, teem: Open the gates to allow water to flow into the
lock. A stream of insults flowed from his lips. Her tears flowed
like wine. 3 issue, originate, come, emanate, rise, begin: With
the dam repaired, water will once again flow from the reservoir.
The authority of the state constitutions does not flow from
Congress. 4 spread, overspread, cover: The paint flowed
effortlessly onto the canvas.


--n. 5 rush, gush, surge; current, course, stream, run,
movement, drift: A dam blocks the flow of water here. The sound
of a shot interrupted the flow of conversation. 6 abundance,
superabundance, flood, plethora, excess, overflow(ing), deluge,
tide, supply; plenty: London experiences an unending flow of
tourists.

flower n. 1 blossom, bloom, floret or floweret, bud, Technical
efflorescence: He brought me flowers for my birthday. 2 cream,
best, pick, ‚lite, crŠme de la crŠme, finest, choicest: The
flower of the city's youth were put to death by the wicked
caliph.

--v. 3 blossom, bloom, bud, burgeon or bourgeon, come out,
open, unfold, Technical effloresce: The century plant was so
called because it was thought to flower only once every hundred
years.

flowery adj. florid, ornate, fancy, elaborate(d), decorated,
ornamented, overwrought, embellished, rococo, baroque,
arabesque, euphuistic, Gongoristic, Ossianic, grandiloquent,
bombastic, inflated, pompous, affected, artificial, high-flown,
showy: Many find his flowery style of writing difficult to
stomach.


fluctuate v. vary, change, alternate, see-saw, swing, vacillate,
undulate, waver, oscillate, shift: Prices fluctuate according
to supply and demand.

fluctuation
n. Sometimes, fluctuations. variation(s), change(s),
alternation(s), swing(s), vacillation(s), wavering(s),
oscillation(s), undulation(s), ups and downs, instability,
unsteadiness, inconstancy: We can expect fluctuation in

temperatures during the coming week.

fluency n. articulateness, eloquence, control, command, ease, grace,
effortlessness, facility, felicity, smoothness, polish,
slickness, glibness, volubility: His extemporaneous speeches
are marked by an enviable fluency.

fluent adj. articulate, eloquent, well-spoken, felicitous, graceful,
facile, easy, natural, effortless, ready, smooth, polished,
flowing, voluble, glib, slick; expressive: She is a fluent
speaker of Spanish.

fluff n. 1 down, fuzz, feather(s), thistledown, floss, lint, dust,
dust-ball, fuzz ball: Be sure you clean the fluff from under
the beds. 2 bit of fluff. poppet, girl (friend), mistress,
Slang bit of all right, (bit of) crumpet, (bit of) skirt or
stuff, Old-fashioned Brit popsy: Bickerley keeps some fluff on
the side. 3 blunder, error, slip, mistake, Colloq howler, Brit
bloomer, US and Canadian blooper: They showed a video of the
fluffs actors make during recordings.

--v. 4 muddle, spoil, ruin, make a mess of, bungle, botch,
Colloq foul up, screw up, mess up, US snafu, Slang Brit cock up,
balls up, US ball up, Taboo fuck up: I have a funny story about
how Barrymore fluffed Hamlet's soliloquy. 5 fluff up. puff up,
shake out or up, aerate: He doesn't like the pillows on his bed
fluffed up.

fluffy adj. 1 soft, downy, puffy, whipped up, light, airy, puffy,
feathery, wispy: Beat the egg whites till they are fluffy. 2
frivolous, superficial, trivial, unimportant, airy, thin,
lightweight, light, insubstantial, gossamer, Brit airy-fairy:
Mr Piffle is too fluffy-headed to offer anything useful.


fluid n. 1 liquid, solution, liquor, ichor; gas, vapour: It might
surprise some to learn that physicists consider gases to be
fluids.

--adj. 2 liquid, flowing, running, runny, watery, aqueous:
Once the metal has become fluid, it is poured into the moulds.
3 changeable, mutable, flexible, adjustable, variable, pliant,
unformed, formless, unfixed, unstatic or non-static, plastic,
protean, mercurial, mobile, unstable, shifting, uncertain,

indefinite, unsettled: The situation is fluid and the decision
could go either way.

fluke n. lucky or successful stroke, stroke of (good) luck, lucky or
big break, (happy) accident, quirk or twist of fate, windfall,
fortuity, serendipity: If he won first prize, it was by a
fluke.

flummox v. confuse, baffle, perplex, bewilder, confound, throw into
confusion, stymie, stump, puzzle, mystify, fox, deceive,
hoodwink, nonplus: We were completely flummoxed by the
licensing requirements.

flunkey n. 1 servant, retainer, lackey, footman, menial, minion,
hireling, underling, subordinate, inferior; slave; Colloq
dogsbody, Slang US and Canadian gofer: A company flunkey drove
me to the airport. 2 toady, hanger-on, yes-man, jackal,
doormat, stooge, lickspittle, sycophant, Colloq US and Canadian
apple-polisher, Taboo brown-noser: He has a collection of
flunkeys waiting about for hand-outs.

flurry n. 1 activity, commotion, ado, to-do, fuss, upset, hubbub,
pother, stir, excitement, disturbance, agitation, tumult, whirl,
furore, bustle, hurry, hustle, flutter, fluster; burst,
outburst; Colloq tizzy: I was happy to leave the worry and
flurry of the city. There was a brief flurry of activity at the
Stock Exchange today.

--v. 2 confuse, bewilder, agitate, put out, disturb, excite,
fluster, disconcert, upset, perturb, unsettle, shake (up),
Colloq rattle: He was quite flurried by the arrival of the
police.

flushฐ v. 1 blush, redden, crimson, glow, burn, colour (up): When he
told her she was pretty she flushed a bit. 2 Often, flush out.
rinse, wash (out or away), douse, douche, hose down, flood,
drench, clean out, cleanse, purge, discharge, empty: Oil
tankers are flushed out far from shore. 3 animate, stir,
inflame, impassion, quicken, arouse, excite, elate, encourage,
cheer, delight, thrill, gladden: Suzie was flushed with the
success of having got the job.

--n. 4 blush, redness, bloom, rosiness, colour, blood, glow,

radiance: When he was asked what had happened to the money, a
flush rose to his cheek. 5 flood, deluge, drenching, soaking,
overflow, inundation, rush, gush, surge, stream, flow: The
flush of water washed away all the debris. 6 thrill,
excitement, passion, quickening, arousal, stir, stirring,
animation, elation, euphoria, delight, encouragement, thrill,
tingle: In the first flush of success, they were overwhelmed
with orders. He felt a flush come over him when he won the
race.


flush adj. 1 (on the same) plane or level (with), even, smooth, flat,
square, true, continuous; adjacent, next to: See that the
tabletop is flush with the countertop. The mirror should be
flush against the wall. 2 full, overflowing, replete, abundant:
Turn off the water when it is flush with the top of the basin.
3 solvent, well supplied, comfortable; well-to-do, well off,
well-found, wealthy, rich, prosperous, affluent, moneyed, Colloq
well-heeled, on Easy Street, in the money, US in the chips;
Slang loaded, rolling (in money or it): He's flush enough to
take us all out to dinner.

--adv. 4 even(ly), square(ly), levelly, plumb, directly: Cut
this branch off flush.


fluster v. 1 agitate, stir (up), discompose, discomfit, discomfort,
disconcert, shake (up), upset, disquiet, discommode, bother, put
out or off, disturb, perturb, flurry, flutter, make nervous,
throw off, distract, confuse, baffle, confound, puzzle, perplex,
befuddle, bewilder, daze, dazzle, Colloq rattle, throw,
discombobulate, hassle, faze: Don't be flustered by her rude
manner.

--n. 2 agitation, upset, discomfort, disquiet, bother,
disturbance, commotion, perturbation, dither, flurry, flutter,
nervousness, distraction, confusion, bafflement, befuddlement,
perplexity, bewilderment: All this fluster came about through
the absence of a coherent plan.

flutter v. 1 flap, flop, fluctuate, vacillate, wave, waver, oscillate:
The paper streamers fluttered in the breeze. 2 flit, flicker,
flitter, hover, dance; fuss: We shall never get done if you
keep fluttering about. 3 tremble, shake, quiver, dither, jump,
vibrate, twitch: She is fluttering with anticipation waiting

for the postman.

--n. 4 fluttering, flapping, flopping, fluctuation,
fluctuating, vacillation, vacillating, wave, waving,
oscillation, oscillating, trembling, quiver, quivering: The
slightest flutter of her fan communicates volumes. 5 See
fluster, 2.

flux n. instability, change, mutation, modification, fluctuation,
unrest, swing, swinging, wavering, movement, motion,
oscillation, indecision, indecisiveness: The economic
indicators are in a constant state of flux.

fly v. 1 take wing, take flight, take to the air, wing, soar, sail,
hover; flutter, flit, flap: A stork flew overhead. Daedalus
taught Icarus to fly. 2 Also, fly away or off. take flight,
depart, leave, flee, decamp, bolt, run away or off, escape, make
(good) one's escape, take to one's heels, show a clean pair of
heels, rush or nip off or out or away, (make a) run (for it), go
or get away or off, abscond, make a getaway, cut and run, beat a
(hasty) retreat, take off, scoot, Colloq light out, beat it,
clear out or off, skedaddle, scram, US cut out, hightail (it),
take it on the lam, take a (run-out) powder, lam out, take to
the hills, take to the woods; Slang Brit scarper, bugger off, US
vamoose, blow: She flew off before I could get her telephone
number. 3 hasten, hurry, rush, run, race, dash, sprint, tear,
scamper, scoot, Colloq make tracks: I must fly if I'm to catch
the train. 4 pass (by), elapse, go (by), expire, run its
course, slip or slide by or away: Time flies quickly when
you're having fun. 5 aviate, pilot; jet: Parker flies his own
plane. I flew down to Paris with him. 6 fly in the face of.
flout, defy, go against, contemn, scorn, scoff at, oppose, go or
run counter to, counter, counteract, countervail, countermine,
contradict, contravene, thumb one's nose at, Colloq Brit cock a
snook at: His actions fly in the face of conventional
behaviour. 7 fly off the handle. fly into a rage or fury or
temper or passion, lose one's temper, have a fit or tantrum, be
fit to be tied, go berserk, go crazy or mad, explode, Colloq
lose or blow one's cool, blow one's top, hit or go through the
roof, US hit the ceiling, blow one's stack, get worked up
(over); Slang blow a fuse or a gasket, flip (one's lid), have a
haemorrhage, Brit flip one's top: Rudolf flies off the handle
at the slightest provocation. 8 let fly. a throw, toss, cast,

hurl, fling, heave, pitch, lob, sling, chuck, shoot, fire (off),
let rip, discharge, launch, propel, let go or off: They let fly
a volley of arrows. b let go with, let (someone) have it, lash
out, vent one's spleen, lose one's temper, burst out or forth,
burst into, Colloq pull no punches, tear into: That was the
last straw, and she really let fly at him.

--n. 9 Often, Brit flies. flap, fly front, Brit zip, US zipper:
He was embarrassed to find his flies were open. 10 fly in the
ointment. hitch, snag, impediment, obstacle, obstruction,
problem, difficulty, drawback, detraction, rub, hindrance,
bugbear, bogey, bugaboo, Offensive nigger in the woodpile: The
one fly in the ointment is that my mother won't give me
permission to go.


fly-by-night
adj. 1 temporary, short-lived, transitory, fugitive, ephemeral,
transient, fleeting, passing, brief, impermanent, here today,
gone tomorrow: That fly-by-night operation was in business for
less than a month. 2 unreliable, untrustworthy, disreputable,
irresponsible, dubious, questionable; shifty, dishonest, sharp,
crooked, Colloq shady, Brit cowboy: Guarantees on double
glazing are worthless if installed by some fly-by-night company.


6.5 foam...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



foam n. 1 bubbles, froth, spume, lather, suds; effervescence,
sparkle, carbonation, fizz: The foam leaves spots when it
dries.

--v. 2 bubble, froth, spume, lather, suds, soap up: Watch the
solution foam when I drop this tablet into it.


focal adj. central, focused, concentrated, convergent, centred,
centralized: The light rays come together at this focal point.
Harris's address was the focal point of the conference.


focus n. 1 centre, concentration, focal point, heart, core, target,
convergence, hub, nave; cynosure: Why should Anita always be
the focus of attention? 2 in focus. clear, distinct, well- or
sharply defined: With the telescope in focus, you feel as if

you can almost touch the distant shore. 3 out of focus. unclear,
indistinct, blurred, blurry, fuzzy, woolly: The photos are so
out of focus that I can't tell who's who.


--v. 4 concentrate, centre, converge, meet, pinpoint,
spotlight; bring into focus; Colloq zero in: Without
distractions, we can focus on the problem at hand.

fog n. 1 mist, haze, smog, vapour, cloud, Colloq pea-souper: Our
flight was grounded because of fog. 2 trance, daze, stupor,
brown study, confused state; coma: He's in a fog and didn't
hear a word you said.

--v. 3 dim, obscure, cloud, bedim, becloud, blind, stifle: The
purpose of all that verbiage is merely to fog the issue. 4
Usually, befog. bewilder, mystify, perplex, confuse, muddle,
puzzle, nonplus: I was completely befogged by the technical
language he used. 5 Also, fog up or over. mist over or up,
cloud up or over, shroud: My bathroom mirror fogs when I take a
hot shower.

fogy n. Also, fogey. Usually, old fogy or fogey. conservative,
relic, Colloq fuddy-duddy, fossil, antique, stick-in-the-mud,
back number, square: That old fogy still dances the foxtrot.


foible n. weakness, imperfection, weak point, fault, frailty,
shortcoming, flaw, defect, failing, blemish, infirmity;
peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, quirk, crotchet, eccentricity,
preoccupation, kink, Colloq hang-up, bug: One of her foibles is
that she loves junk food.

foilฐ v. thwart, offset, defeat, baffle, balk, parry, frustrate,
counter, check, impede, hamper, outwit, circumvent, checkmate,
daunt, disconcert, discomfit, disappoint, pull the rug out from
under (someone), cut the ground from under someone's feet,
nullify, nip in the bud, countervail (against), Brit put a spoke
in (someone's) wheel, Colloq clip (someone's) wings, cut
(someone) down to size, spoil (someone's) game, Chiefly US and
Canadian faze: The villain and his evil plan were again foiled
by the arrival of the sheriff.

foil n. layer, lamina, lamination, sheet, membrane, film, coating,
flake, scale, wafer: Cigarettes once came packaged in tin foil.


foist v. palm or pass off, impose, unload, put (off), push (off),
Colloq lay (off), Brit fob off: Don't try to foist those fake
paintings on me!


fold v. 1 bend, ply, double (over or up), overlap, crease, pleat,
gather, crimp: Fold the letter before putting it into the
envelope. 2 enclose, envelop, enfold, wrap, enwrap, clasp,
clip, embrace, hug, gather: He folded her in his arms. 3 give
way, collapse, fail, close (up or down), shut down, go out of
business, go bankrupt, Colloq go under, go broke, go bust, Brit
go to the wall: The company folded and ten employees were made
redundant.


--n. 4 crease, wrinkle, crinkle, pucker, pleat, gather, crimp,
overlap, lap: The folds will remain crisp if you use starch
when ironing.

folk n. people, tribe, (ethnic) group, clan, race; society, nation,
(general) public, populace, population, citizenry:
Archaeologists refer to these people as the 'Beaker Folk'. Some
folks disliked the performance.

follow v. 1 go or come after or next; go or walk or tread or move
behind, bring up the rear, Colloq string or tag along: You go
on ahead and I'll follow shortly. Please see the comments that
follow. 2 adhere to, cleave to, support, believe in, accept,
adopt, conform to, comply with, obey, be guided by, be modelled
after or on, observe, heed, mind, go along with, reflect,
mirror, echo, imitate, copy, mimic, ape: This newspaper follows
strict party policy. 3 attend, accompany, escort, go (along)
with; serve: Mary's little lamb followed her everywhere. 4
chase, pursue, dog, hunt (down), stalk, run down, track, trail,
tail, trace, shadow: The detective swore to follow him to the
ends of the earth. 5 succeed, supersede, step into the shoes
of, take the place of, replace, supplant: Who followed Henry
VIII on the throne? 6 practise, pursue, engage in, carry on,
occupy oneself with, apply or dedicate or devote oneself to,
cultivate: After the war he followed a career as a teacher. 7
result from, ensue, issue, flow, arise, develop: The conclusion
follows logically from the premise. 8 understand, fathom,
comprehend, get, grasp, see, catch, appreciate, take in, keep up
with, Colloq dig: Were you able to follow everything in that

lecture? 9 watch, be a fan or aficionado of, pursue, take an
interest in, keep up with, keep abreast of, cheer or root for,
admire: He follows international yacht racing. 10 follow
through (on). persist or persevere, continue, perform, conclude,
realize, consummate, pursue, carry out, see through, make good,
discharge, adhere to, keep: I only hope she follows this
through and delivers the goods. 11 follow up (on). a pursue,
go after, track, investigate, pursue, check (out), check up
(on), inquire, make inquiries, look into: MacGregor is very
good at following up on the most obscure references. b pursue,
prosecute, reinforce, consolidate, support, buttress, augment,
bolster, ensure: The Romans followed up their success with an
attack on Olbia.


follower n. 1 disciple, adherent, student, pupil, apprentice,
prot‚g‚(e): They were followers of Buddha. 2 attendant,
henchman, servant, retainer, bodyguard, myrmidon: Louie walked
in with two of his followers. 3 supporter, devotee, fan,
aficionado, promoter, enthusiast, booster, advocate, proponent,
US rooter, Colloq groupie: She is a faithful follower of The
Dirty Knees, a rock group.

follow-through
n. perseverance, diligence, persistence, steadfastness,
endurance, stamina, indefatigableness, sedulousness, sedulity,
pursuance, tenacity, resolve, determination, Colloq US
stick-to-it-iveness: One needs imagination for new ideas but
follow-through to make them succeed.


follow-up n. reinforcement, support, backup, bolstering; consolidation:
The failure of the sales campaign was attributed to lack of
follow-up.

folly n. 1 foolishness, nonsense, absurdity, daftness, silliness,
preposterousness, absurdness, senselessness, fatuousness,
fatuity, rashness, stupidity, asininity, inanity,
nonsensicalness, idiocy, imbecility, irrationality, lunacy,
insanity, madness, craziness, eccentricity, weak-mindedness,
feeble-mindedness, simple-mindedness, muddle-headedness,
thickheadedness, stolidity, stolidness, obtuseness,
brainlessness, Colloq dumbness, dopiness, nuttiness, US and
Canadian kookiness: They saw the folly of fighting against such
enormous odds. It would be folly to leave in this storm. 2

absurdity, mistake, blunder, error, faux pas, gaffe, Colloq
goof, fluff: What follies have been committed in the name of
honour!


foment v. rouse, stir or whip up, awaken, waken, provoke, incite,
instigate, initiate, prompt, start, motivate, inspire, work up,
inflame, fan the flames (of), kindle, galvanize, rally, excite,
stimulate, encourage, promote, foster, forward, further,
advance, cultivate, sow the seeds of, spur, goad, egg on, urge:
He is always fomenting ill will against the management.

fond adj. 1 tender, loving, affectionate, warm, adoring, caring:
She clasped him in a fond embrace. 2 foolish, bootless, empty,
vain, na‹ve: She had fond hopes of his being elected. 3 fond
of. partial to, (having a) liking (for), soft on or about,
affectionate towards, attached to, having a fancy or taste for,
fancying, predisposed or inclined to or towards; addicted to,
Colloq hooked on: She is inordinately fond of chocolate.


fondle v. caress, stroke, pet, pat, touch, cuddle, snuggle; handle,
touch: See that couple over there fondling one another? He
fondled his dagger.

fondly adv. affectionately, lovingly, tenderly, warmly, adoringly,
caressingly: Martin regarded his wife fondly.

food n. nourishment, nutriment, aliment, sustenance, subsistence;
foodstuffs, edibles, eatables, viands, bread, victuals, rations,
provisions, comestibles, Brit commons, Colloq grub, eats, chow,
Brit scoff, prog: Without any food for days, the survivors were
near starvation.

fool n. 1 simpleton, ninny, ninny-hammer, nincompoop, ass, jackass,
dunce, dolt, halfwit, numskull or numbskull, blockhead,
bonehead, pinhead, silly, feather-brain, loon, goose, booby,
jay, goon, mooncalf, idiot, ignoramus, dim-wit, nitwit, halfwit,
imbecile, moron, clod, clodpole, clodpoll, clodpate, oaf,
Psychology retardate, Scots gomerel, Colloq birdbrain,
dumb-bell, fat-head, chump, twit, knuckle-head, chucklehead,
nit, twerp or twirp, Brit pillock, US and Canadian jerk, retard;
Slang sap, dope, Brit git, Australian boofhead: He's such a
fool he'll believe anything. 2 (court) jester, clown, comic,
comedian or comedienne, entertainer, zany, buffoon, merry

andrew, farceur, joker, jokester, droll, Punch, Punchinello,
pierrot, harlequin: In Shakespeare's plays, the fool is often
the wisest character. 3 butt, dupe, gull, victim, cat's-paw,
Colloq chump, greenhorn, (easy) mark, US fall guy; Slang pigeon,
sucker, stooge, Brit mug: His co-workers liked to make a fool
out of him.

--v. 4 trick, deceive, take in, swindle, defraud, hoax, cheat,
fleece, cozen, hoodwink, bluff, dupe, gull, humbug, delude,
mislead, make a fool of; pull the wool over (someone's) eyes,
have (someone) on, pull (someone's) leg, tease, twit, Archaic
chouse; Colloq kid, con, snow, do a snow job on, bamboozle, put
one or something over on, pull something or a fast one on, Brit
twist, Chiefly US and Canadian josh; Slang pluck, Brit nobble:
When he said the diamond was fake, he certainly fooled me. I
think she was fooling when she said she'd inherited millions. 5
joke, jest, banter, tease, twit, feign, fake, pretend, make
believe, Colloq kid: She insists that she is not fooling but
dead serious. 6 fool with or around or about (with). play
(around or about) (with), toy or trifle (with), mess or fiddle
(around or about) (with), monkey (around or about) with, meddle
(with), tamper with, fribble (with): Please stop fooling with
the dials on the radio. 7 fool around or about. a play or mess
around or about, gambol, frolic, romp, cavort: Stop fooling
around and get serious. b waste or fritter away or squander or
kill time, fribble, loiter, dawdle, idle, Brit potter (about),
lark or muck about or around, US putter around or about, Colloq
footle: She's always fooling around instead of getting on with
her work.


foolhardy adj. rash, imprudent, impetuous, reckless, brash, venturesome,
bold, cheeky, daring, audacious, temerarious, adventurous,
daredevil, incautious, hotheaded, careless, heedless,
devil-may-care, hasty, thoughtless, unthinking, irresponsible,
wild, madcap, Colloq US and Canadian nervy, Slang gutsy: It is
foolhardy to go scuba diving without a companion.

foolish adj. 1 senseless, incautious, imprudent, impolitic, indiscreet,
unwise, injudicious, ill-considered, ill-advised, misguided,
short-sighted, impetuous, headlong, rash, brash, reckless,
hasty, heedless, unwary, foolhardy, thoughtless, mindless:
Standing under a tree in a thunderstorm is foolish. 2
nonsensical, stupid, asinine, inane, silly, fatuous, fatuitous,

dim-witted, scatterbrained, hare-brained, crazy, mad, insane,
demented, irrational, erratic, unstable, crack-brained,
feather-brained, bird-brained, simple-minded, light-headed,
muddle-headed, numskulled or numbskulled, addle-pated,
rattle-brained, bemused, confused, feeble-minded, moronic,
idiotic, imbecilic, halfwitted, dull-witted, slow-witted,
witless, brainless, empty-headed, blockheaded, boneheaded,
thickheaded, obtuse, stolid, Colloq dumb, balmy or Brit barmy,
loony, nuts, nutty, batty, dopey or dopy, soft (in the head),
dim, thick, dippy, dotty, dizzy, Brit potty, daft, Slang cuckoo,
goofy, screwy, wacky: Tracy was foolish to believe him when he
said he loved her. 3 preposterous, ridiculous, absurd,
irrational, illogical, unreasonable, ludicrous, wild: They have
some foolish idea about building a hotel in Antarctica.


foolproof adj. safe, certain, sure, trustworthy, dependable, reliable,
infallible, unfailing, guaranteed, warranted, Colloq sure-fire:
She claims to have a foolproof way of preventing unwanted
pregnancies.


footing n. 1 foundation, basis, base, ground(s): The events put our
entire relationship on a new footing. 2 standing, status,
level, condition, position, terms, state, rank: The two
departments are on an equal footing as far as funding is
concerned. 3 foothold, toe-hold; balance, stability: She lost
her footing on the icy pavement and down she went.

footstep n. 1 step, footfall, tread: I recognized her footstep. 2
Usually, footsteps. footprint(s), track, trail, trace, spoor,
footmark(s); tradition, example, way of life: He followed in
his master's footsteps.

for prep. 1 representing, championing; in favour of, Brit on or US
and Canadian also in behalf of, on the side of, in support of,
in the service of, as a service to, for the benefit of, pro:
Are you for or against the candidate? She did it for herself. 2
in search or quest of, seeking, looking for or after, after,
with a view or an eye to: We're just here for the beer. 3
instead of, in place of, representing, as a replacement for,
Brit on or US and Canadian in behalf of; in return or exchange
for, in compensation or recompense or payment or repayment for,
in requital for: I am acting for my father. This cheque is for
the toaster. Will you accept nothing for your pains? 4 for the

treatment of, as a remedy for, against; for the purpose or
object of: This medication is for skin infections only. It's
for your own good. 5 for the sake of, Brit on or US and Canadian
also in behalf of, in the interest of: Would you really do that
for me? 6 in the direction of, to, towards, into: Head for the
hills! 7 to save, in the interest or benefit of, for the sake
or benefit of, conducive to; because of, on account of, by
reason of: Every summer, they went to Carlsbad for their
health. She hated him for what he represented. 8 to go to,
destined for: I am leaving for Tierra del Fuego tomorrow. 9
suitable or suited for, fit or fitted or fitting for,
appropriate for, proper for: I am not sure that this colour is
for you. Is it right for me to speak out now? 10 for the
duration of; over (the extent of), during, in the course of,
throughout, through: She stayed for a week. 11 despite, in
spite of, notwithstanding, allowing for: For all his
complaining, he seemed satisfied. 12 as for. regarding, in
regard to, as regards, respecting, concerning, as far as
(something or someone) is concerned: As for Betty, let her do
as she likes.

--conj. 13 because, since, as, inasmuch as, seeing that, owing
or due to the fact that: I was unable to see him, for he was
out of the office.


forbid v. prohibit, ban, hinder, stop, exclude, debar, preclude,
prevent; outlaw, interdict, disallow, proscribe, taboo; veto: I
was forbidden from entering. They forbid smoking in the
classrooms.


forbidding
adj. 1 repellent, repulsive, offensive, odious, abhorrent: In
his long cloak and mask, he presented a forbidding appearance.
2 hostile, unfriendly, stern, harsh, menacing, threatening,
ominous, dangerous, bad, nasty, ugly, unpleasant: The coast
here is rocky and forbidding. The old crone gave him a
forbidding look and we cringed.

force n. 1 power, might, energy, strength, potency, vigour,
intensity, violence, impact; dynamism, pressure: The force of
the blow knocked me down. 2 coercion, pressure, constraint,
duress, compulsion, arm-twisting: When persuasion failed, the
guards resorted to force. 3 troops, soldiers, army: NATO

forces are on manoeuvres. 4 weight, persuasiveness,
persistence, cogency, effectiveness, efficacy, strength,
validity, significance, value: The force of his argument was
sufficient to convince us. 5 meaning, import, significance:
Are they able to cope with the full force of the word 'God'? 6
in force. in effect, effective, in operation, operative, valid,
binding, current: The ancient customs still remain in force.
The law came into force at midnight.


--v. 7 make, oblige, require, compel, coerce, exact, constrain,
enforce, impel, intimidate, pressure or Brit also pressurize,
press, dragoon, twist (someone's) arm, Colloq bulldoze, put the
squeeze on (someone): Each of us was forced to dig his own
grave. 8 push, drive, thrust, propel; prise or prize, break,
wrench, crack, jemmy, US pry: The tornado forced the chair
through the wall. He forced open the safe and took the money. 9
exact, extort, extract, wrest, wring, drag: The CIA tried to
force a confession from her.


forced adj. artificial, unnatural, contrived, stilted, calculated,
studied, laboured, strained, stiff, false, feigned, fake(d),
mannered, affected, self-conscious, Colloq phoney or US also
phony: Her forced joviality failed to conceal her contempt for
those present.


forceful adj. 1 vigorous, energetic, compelling, dynamic, intense,
potent, strong, mighty, powerful, aggressive, weighty,
effective, convincing, persuasive: The colonel was known as a
forceful leader of men. 2 effective, efficacious, cogent,
logical, impressive, telling, convincing, persuasive, strong,
mighty, forcible, powerful, compelling, irresistible; pithy,
meaty: The most forceful arguments came from Catherine towards
the end of the discussion.


forcible adj. 1 See forceful, 2. 2 drastic, forceful, violent,
aggressive, coercive, severe, stringent: The plan involves the
forcible repatriation of refugees.

foreboding
n. 1 apprehension, apprehensiveness, feeling, sense, misgiving,
dread, suspicion, intuition, anxiety, fear: An atmosphere of
foreboding filled the crypt. 2 premonition, augury, prophecy,
prediction, prognostication, warning, foretoken, foreshadowing,

presentiment, omen, sign, portent, intimation, forewarning,
presage, advance word: I had a strange foreboding of horror as
I entered the room.


forecast v. 1 predict, foretell, prophesy, prognosticate, foresee,
augur, presage, vaticinate, anticipate; forewarn, calculate:
Seers forecast coming events; meteorologists forecast the
weather.


--n. 2 prediction, prophecy, prognosis, prognostication,
foresight, augury, vaticination, anticipation; forewarning,
calculation: Have you heard the weather forecast for tomorrow?

foregoing adj. preceding, above, former, previous, precedent, prior,
antecedent; earlier, preliminary, anterior; aforementioned,
aforesaid: The foregoing paragraph set forth the principles.

foregone adj. Usually in foregone conclusion. assumed, established,
pre-established, predetermined, fixed, inevitable, set,
accepted, cut and dried: His incarceration for the crime was a
foregone conclusion.

foreign adj. 1 alien, imported, non-native; overseas, distant,
tramontane, transalpine, transatlantic, transpacific: Duty is
payable on foreign goods. We holiday in a different foreign
country each year. 2 strange, outlandish, exotic, unfamiliar,
peculiar, odd, curious: She regards anything except beans and
toast as foreign food. 3 unknown, unfamiliar, strange,
inappropriate, unrelated, unconnected, unassimilable, remote,
extrinsic, extraneous: Their philosophy is completely foreign
to my way of thinking.

foreigner n. alien, non-native, immigrant, newcomer, new arrival,
outsider, outlander, stranger: The word xenophobia means 'dread
of foreigners'.

foreman n. superintendent, manager, boss, supervisor, overseer, Brit
shopwalker, US floor-walker, Colloq super, Brit gaffer, US straw
boss: The foreman insists we use the time clocks.


foremost adj. 1 first, primary, prime, leading, pre-eminent, supreme;
prominent, notable, noteworthy, noted, chief, paramount, main,
best, superior: She is one of the foremost eye surgeons in her

country.

--adv. 2 first, firstly, primarily, primarily, in (the) first
place, before anything else: First and foremost, we must
consider the matter of safety.

forerunner
n. 1 predecessor, precursor, foregoer; herald, harbinger,
envoy; forebear, ancestor, forefather, progenitor: This
dishwasher is better designed than its forerunners. The cuckoo
is thought by many to be the forerunner of spring. 2 omen,
portent, foretoken, premonition, sign, augury, token: A drop in
the barometer is a forerunner of bad weather.


foresee v. presage, foretell, envisage, picture, forecast, predict,
prophesy, augur, US envision: I don't foresee any problems.

foreshadow
v. presage, foretoken, portend, augur, indicate, prophesy,
predict, bode, signal, signify, betoken: The surrender of Ghent
foreshadowed the fate of Flanders.

foresight n. 1 providence, prudence, care, far-sightedness, watchfulness,
caution, precaution, long-sightedness, perspicacity, wisdom,
sagacity, insight, circumspection: The commander demonstrated
foresight in ordering a retreat. 2 prevision, perception,
prospect, vision, foreknowledge, prescience; expectation: A
little foresight could have prevented the calamity.


forestall v. anticipate, prevent, obstruct, hinder, obviate, thwart,
preclude, frustrate, avert, ward or stave or fend off,
intercept, parry, stop, delay: The frigate effectively
forestalled our plan to sail away secretly.


forethought
n. premeditation, planning, plotting, far-sightedness,
long-sightedness: Much forethought went into the assassination
scheme.


for ever adv. 1 forever, always, for good, ever, (for) evermore,
forevermore, eternally, everlastingly, for ever and a day,
undyingly, for eternity, till doomsday, till the end of time,
Colloq till the cows come home, till hell freezes over: They

swore to be true for ever. 2 constantly, continually,
continuously, all the time, unceasingly, incessantly, without
cease or surcease, endlessly, consistently, persistently,
interminably, perpetually: She was forever watching soap operas
on the telly.

foreword n. preface, prologue, prelude, prolegomenon, preamble, Literary
proem; introduction: He set forth the purpose of the book in
the foreword.


forfeit n. 1 penalty, fine, fee, charge, damages, forfeiture,
sequestration, amercement, mulct: You will have to give me a
kiss as a forfeit.


--v. 2 lose, yield (up), give up or over, relinquish,
surrender, be stripped or deprived of, forgo, renounce, waive:
You have forfeited your right to trial and you will be hanged at
dawn.


--adj. 3 surrendered, lost, yielded, relinquished, forgone,
waived, renounced: His life was forfeit the moment he
volunteered to defuse the bomb.

forge v. 1 make, construct, fashion, fabricate, manufacture, shape,
mould, cast, hammer out: This plant forges heavy steel tools.
He forged a new life for himself in the American West. 2 create,
invent, conceive (of), coin, devise, think up, frame: I have
forged a new plan of escape. 3 counterfeit, copy, reproduce,
imitate, falsify, fake, Slang US hang paper: She forged her
employer's name on the cheque. The gang was caught because they
forged three-pound notes.

forgery n. 1 counterfeiting, falsification, fraud, fraudulence: He was
sent to prison for ten years for forgery. 2 counterfeit, fake,
sham, imitation, Colloq phoney or US also phony: The police
have found three forgeries of Dali paintings.

forget v. 1 fail or cease to remember or recall or think of, lose,
draw a blank: I forgot what I was supposed to buy at the
market. 2 leave (behind), omit or neglect (doing or taking): I
forgot my umbrella this morning. 3 ignore, dismiss from (one's)
mind or thoughts, disregard, overlook, consign to oblivion:
Forget the fact that you ever met me.


forgetful adj. amnesiac; absent-minded, distracted, abstracted,
inattentive, preoccupied, neglectful, negligent, careless, lax,
dreamy, dreaming, in dreamland, in the clouds, in
cloud-cuckoo-land or cloud-land or Nephelococcygia, remote,
distrait(e), Colloq not turned on, turned off, out of it:
Franklin is so forgetful he'd lose his head if it weren't
stitched on.


forgive v. 1 pardon, excuse, allow, make allowance(s) for, indulge,
condone, vindicate; overlook, ignore, disregard, pay no
attention to, pass over, US slough over: Please forgive my
curiosity, but where did you get that hat? 2 clear, acquit,
absolve, exculpate, exonerate; spare; Colloq let off: Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. 3 cancel, waive,
abolish, void, nullify, erase, delete; Colloq let off (the
hook): Her dream was to awake one day and find all her debts
forgiven.


forgiveness
n. 1 pardon, reprieve, absolution, remission, acquittal,
acquittance, amnesty, allowance, vindication, exculpation,
exoneration, Archaic shrift: Oh, Lord, I ask forgiveness for my
sins. 2 mercy, mercifulness, compassion, grace, leniency,
clemency, indulgence, tolerance: He begged her forgiveness for
the way he had treated her.

forgiving adj. tolerant, lenient, sparing, forbearing, merciful,
compassionate, conciliatory, magnanimous, humane, soft-hearted,
clement: In a forgiving mood, the judge gave her a light
sentence.

forgo v. 1 give up, renounce, forswear, forsake, abandon, do or go
without, sacrifice, eliminate, omit, leave out or alone, cede,
waive; avoid, shun, eschew, abstain from, turn down, pass up,
deny (oneself): His new diet requires him to forgo all dairy
produce. 2 resign, give up, yield, surrender, relinquish, cede,
waive, renounce, forswear, abdicate, abandon: Did he not forgo
all right to the throne by marrying a commoner?


forlorn adj. 1 miserable, wretched, desolate, woebegone, lost,
pitiable, pitiful, pathetic, woeful, cheerless, joyless,
unhappy, depressed, sad, desolate, disconsolate, gloomy,

lugubrious, glum, despondent, dismal, dejected, dispirited,
low-spirited, comfortless, down, melancholy, dolorous,
sorrowful, mournful, inconsolable: She looked so fragile and
forlorn as she struggled to hold back her tears. 2 abandoned,
forsaken, deserted, neglected, shunned, outcast, alone, lonely,
lonesome, friendless, bereft: We came upon a forlorn little
village.

form n. 1 shape, configuration, conformation, order, organization,
arrangement, formation, construction, structure, construct,
frame, cut, cast, mould, pattern, appearance; manifestation:
The equipment in the playground was in a variety of geometric
forms. In what form will the jinnee appear next? 2 figure, body,
build, shape, physique, anatomy; silhouette, aspect, look,
appearance, profile, contour; carriage, bearing, attitude, pose,
Slang US bod, built: She has the form of a wrestler. 3 type,
kind, variety, sort, breed, species, genus, genre, character,
make, brand, colour, tone, tint, texture, fabric, material,
feather, description, manner, way, nature, style, stamp,
manifestation: What forms of life are not of divine origin? He
revelled in music in all its forms. 4 blank; model, format,
frame, framework, course, procedure, order, regimen, method,
system, ritual, formula, rule(s), practice, technique, way,
means, approach, mode, fashion, manner, style: Fill in the
application form in ink. Please follow the proper form when
submitting articles. 5 condition, state, shape, trim, fettle:
He seems in unusually good form tonight. 6 decorum, behaviour,
deportment, formality, ceremony, convention, etiquette, manners,
conduct, custom, protocol, propriety, ritual: Follow correct
form when writing to the king. Spitting is considered bad form.

--v. 7 make, fabricate, forge, shape, mould, fashion, produce,
turn out, manufacture, construct, assemble, put together, set
up, put up, build, erect, elevate, raise, put up; organize,
codify; develop: The architect takes the many elements and
forms them into a coherent whole. Have you formed an opinion of
the book? 8 create, originate, devise, invent, compose,
formulate, give form or shape, coin, concoct, conceive,
contrive, dream up, imagine, visualize, envisage, US envision:
His ideas of religion were formed when he was very young. A
picture of the battle was formed in my mind. 9 make up,
constitute, be made up of, comprise, be composed of; serve as:
This compound is formed of many elements. Six fugues formed the

main part of the programme. 10 acquire, develop, cultivate,
contract; get: In prison I formed the habit of rolling my own
cigarettes. We formed a lasting friendship. 11 develop, grow,
arise, appear, materialize, show up, take shape or form,
accumulate: When the yeast is added, a barm forms on the
surface.

formal adj. 1 standard, conventional, customary, established,
prescribed, regular, normal, correct, proper; strict, formulaic,
inflexible, punctilious, exacting, unchanging, methodical,
orderly, systematic, set, pro forma, ritual, ritualistic,
ceremonial, proper, official, routine, fixed, rigid, stiff,
stilted, stately, starched, unbending, solemn; confining,
straitened, limited; Colloq straight, square: Formal rules of
behaviour are observed. 2 explicit, express, definite, spelled
out, formalized, express, authorized, official, solemn, legal,
lawful: Formal demands have been made for the withdrawal of our
ambassador. 3 prim, ceremonious, dignified, stuffy,
strait-laced, stiff, precise, exact: He made a formal bow and
left our company.

formality n. 1 Often, the formalities. form, convention, conventionality,
practice, procedure, custom, wont, observance, protocol,
ceremony, rite, ritual: Observe the legal formalities by having
this document witnessed. Formality requires that you walk
backwards out of the room. 2 strictness, punctilio, exactness,
precision, correctness, rigidity, stiffness, inflexibility: We
must maintain the formality of Sunday service. 3 etiquette,
politesse, decorum, punctilio, conformity, propriety: Formality
prohibits casual conversation.

format n. 1 appearance, look(s), aspect, layout, plan, design, style,
form, dimension(s), shape, size: In its present format, the
magazine resembles an academic journal. 2 composition,
content(s), make-up, constitution, arrangement, plan,
organization, order, set-up: Her TV programme has the format of
a chat show.

formation n. 1 development, appearance, materialization, shape,
accumulation, generation, creation, crystallization, forming,
genesis, production: The formation of bubbles indicates that
the acid is working. 2 establishment, institution, creation,
founding, set-up, organizing, organization, development,

composition: We met to discuss the formation of a new company.
3 array, display, pattern, arrangement, structure, grouping,
organization, configuration, disposition: The vast military
formation covered the entire valley.


former adj. 1 previous, earlier, prior, ex-, one-time, preceding,
erstwhile, late, latest, last, recent, ci-devant, quondam,
Archaic whilom: I ran into a former girl-friend at the art
show. 2 old, past, bygone; ancient, (pre)historic, departed,
antediluvian: In former times, one could demand - and get -
decent service.

formerly adv. once, before, previously, hitherto, long ago, at one time,
in the old days, once upon a time, in days gone by, in days or
time past, time was, back then, when the world was young(er),
Colloq way back or US also way back when: Formerly, there were
no tall buildings to block one's view.

formidable
adj. 1 alarming, appalling, dreadful, frightful, awesome,
awe-inspiring, menacing, horrifying, frightening, intimidating,
daunting, petrifying, terrifying: A formidable, fire-breathing
dragon blocked our exit. 2 terrific, fantastic, unbelievable,
incredible, impressive, prodigious, mind-boggling, awesome,
Colloq mind-blowing, freaky: They are a formidable talent and
will sell a million records this year. 3 arduous, indomitable,
overwhelming, staggering, powerful, mighty, difficult,
challenging, burdensome, onerous: She has formidable obstacles
to overcome before becoming a doctor.


formula n. recipe, rubric, formulary; rule(s), prescription,
directions, instructions, blueprint, method, technique, means,
way, pattern, procedure, modus operandi, Colloq US MO: Ali Baba
uttered the formula, 'Open sesame!', and the rock opened.
Alchemists sought to discover a formula for making gold from
lead.

formulate v. 1 systematize, codify, define, specify, articulate,
particularize, denote: You must try to formulate your ideas
more clearly. 2 devise, originate, create, think up or of,
dream up, conceive, concoct, invent, improvise, Colloq cook up:
I have formulated a plan in my mind to deal with the problem. 3
develop, forge, evolve, work out, design, map out, block out,

draw up: You have three days to formulate a workable procedure.

forsake v. 1 abandon, desert, quit, leave, flee, depart, vacate: He
forsook balmy California to dig for gold in the Klondike. 2
abandon, desert, leave, jilt, reject, throw over, jettison, cast
off: She has forsaken Michael for another man. 3 give up,
yield, renounce, repudiate, relinquish, forgo, forswear,
surrender, resign, abdicate, recant, deny, have or be done with,
turn one's back on: Would you forsake a throne for the love of
a woman?

forte n. talent, strong point, gift, speciality, strength, aptitude,
genius, Colloq long suit: His forte is carving ivory
miniatures.


forthcoming
adj. 1 approaching, nearing, impending, imminent, coming,
(close) at hand, upcoming; near or close (by), (near or close)
at hand, in the offing, on the horizon, Colloq Brit on the
cards, US in the cards: The forthcoming tax increase will
affect everyone. A new regulation is forthcoming. 2 awaited,
expected, anticipated, looked-for, watched for, prospective,
foreseen: The forthcoming payment will be be a little late. 3
outgoing, friendly, amiable, affable, sociable, accessible,
expansive, chatty, talkative, communicative, informative, open,
free, revealing, unreserved: Barry was most forthcoming when
questioned about his finances.

forthright
adj. straightforward, direct, blunt, candid, frank,
above-board, unambiguous, unequivocal, open, outspoken,
uninhibited, unreserved, unconstrained, unrestrained: She has
always been forthright and honest in her dealings with me.


fortify v. 1 strengthen, reinforce, shore up, buttress, brace, bolster,
secure: Steel plates were used to fortify the walls. 2 cheer,
encourage, hearten, buoy, invigorate, energize, embolden,
reassure, brace: Her enthusiasm fortified him to face what was
coming. 3 supplement, enhance, enrich, boost, augment: The
drink was fortified by the addition of whisky.

fortitude n. strength, mettle, backbone, courage, nerve, resolution,
resoluteness, perseverance, endurance, tenacity, pertinacity,

grit, determination, will-power, Colloq guts: His encouragement
gave me the fortitude to carry on.

fortunate adj. 1 lucky, in luck, fortuitous, blessed: You were fortunate
to have survived the crash. 2 favoured, advantageous,
propitious, auspicious, providential, favourable, opportune,
timely, well-timed: It was a fortunate time to be buying a
house.


fortune n. 1 position, worth, means, assets, holdings, wealth,
property, estate, possessions; wealth, riches, affluence,
opulence, treasure, money, prosperity: Each member is liable to
the full extent of his fortune. He acquired his fortune from
oil. 2 luck, chance, fortuity; lot, fate, kismet, destiny,
karma; future; US happenstance: It was just fortune that put me
in the right place at the right time. She'll tell your fortune
if you cross her palm with silver. 3 Usually, fortunes.
circumstance(s), experience(s), adventures, expectation(s), lot:
My fortunes of late have been poor.


fortune-teller
n. oracle, soothsayer, prophet, diviner, augur, seer,
clairvoyant, prognosticator, sibyl, haruspex, crystal-gazer,
tea-leaf reader, palmist, palm reader, star-gazer; futurologist:
The fortune-teller said to beware the Ides of March.

forward adj. 1 advance, leading, foremost, front, head, first: The
forward contingents of the army moved into the town. 2 bold,
pert, impudent, brash, insolent, impertinent, disrespectful,
brazen, audacious, rash, unashamed, unabashed, saucy, flippant,
presumptuous, cheeky, Colloq flip, fresh, pushy: It was a bit
forward of you to call the chairman by his nickname. 3
(well-)advanced, (well-)developed, progressive, precocious,
forward-looking: She was quite a forward girl at fifteen.


--adv. 4 forwards, ahead, onward, along; clockwise, deasil: I
moved forward to the head of the queue. Set the clock forward an
hour tonight. 5 up, out, forth, to the fore, into consideration,
into view, into the open, to the surface, on to the table:
Cooper brought forward an interesting proposal.

--v. 6 advance, further, promote, back, foster, support, aid,
assist, help; patronize, encourage, nourish, nurse along: He

did his best to forward her career. 7 dispatch or despatch,
send, ship, deliver, transmit, express, post, mail, consign,
remit; send on: The shipment will be forwarded as soon as
payment is received. The post office will forward mail to my
new address. 8 speed (up), accelerate, advance, hasten,
expedite, hurry, quicken, step up: This mixture is said to
forward the flowering of plants.

foster v. 1 promote, encourage, stimulate, further, forward, advance,
cultivate, nurture, nourish, support, back, assist, help, aid,
succour, patronize: Cutting back these offshoots fosters growth
of the main stem. Representatives have fostered acceptance of
our products throughout Europe. 2 bring up, rear, raise, take
care of, maintain, care for: The Cartwrights have fostered
eight orphans in their home.

foul adj. 1 offensive, loathsome, disgusting, obnoxious, revolting,
repulsive, repellent, repugnant, sickening, nauseous,
nauseating, nasty, beastly, Archaic fulsome: The bartender
makes a foul concoction he swears will cure a hangover. 2
filthy, unclean, nasty, polluted, putrid, putrescent,
putrefactive or putrefacient, defiled, soiled, spoiled, rotten,
decayed, decomposed, rancid, soured, turned, tainted, mouldy,
impure, adulterated, contaminated, stale, bad, Brit off: The
hamburger place was closed when public health inspectors found
foul food in the freezer. 3 smelly, stinking, noisome, fetid or
foetid, rank, evil-smelling, foul-smelling, malodorous, musty,
mephitic, graveolent: A foul odour emanated from the cabinet.
4 wicked, vile, bad, base, abominable, low, sordid, iniquitous,
evil, flagitious, atrocious, monstrous, nefarious, sinful,
immoral, amoral, vicious, villainous, scandalous, infamous,
dishonourable, shameful, disgraceful, ignominious; detestable:
They were finally brought to justice for their foul deeds. 5
dirty, obscene, filthy, profane, scatological, gross, smutty,
foul-mouthed, blue, licentious, salacious, lewd, indecent,
improper, coarse, uncouth, vulgar, rude, scurrilous, rough,
indelicate, immodest, risqu‚, off colour, suggestive, bawdy,
ribald, Rabelaisian, Fescennine, US raw, Slang raunchy: My
mother forbids my reading books containing foul language. 6
abusive, offensive, affronting, insulting, disparaging,
maligning, thersitical, calumnious or calumniatory, aspersive,
slanderous, defamatory, libellous, denigrating, derogatory,
deprecatory or deprecative, depreciatory or depreciative,

denunciatory or denunciative, derisory, derisive, scornful,
belittling, fulminous, objurgatory or objurgative, vituperative,
invective: Keep your foul tongue to yourself. 7 dishonest,
unfair, unjust, unsportsmanlike, dishonourable, fraudulent,
underhand(ed), double-dealing, two-faced, corrupt, venal, dirty,
treacherous, perfidious, traitorous, unscrupulous, Colloq
crooked, shady, Slang chiefly Brit bent: Thrupp will get his
way by fair means or foul. 8 nasty, dangerous, rough,
disagreeable, unfavourable, sloppy, stormy, adverse; windy,
blustery; snowy, sleety, wet, rainy: We ran into a spot of foul
weather at Dover. 9 obstructed, blocked, choked, stopped (up),
plugged (up), clogged (up): The drain is foul with all that
rubbish. 10 tangled, entangled, caught, ensnared, enmeshed,
snarled: A foul anchor is a common nautical symbol. 11
illegal, prohibited, forbidden, interdicted, not fair; dirty:
In boxing a hit below the belt is a foul blow.

--v. 12 dirty, pollute, sully, befoul, defile, soil,
contaminate, adulterate, taint: Effluent from the factory was
fouling the river. 13 tangle, entangle, catch, snare, ensnare,
enmesh, snag, snarl, jam, twist: We can't hoist the mainsail
because the halyard is fouled. 14 disgrace, dishonour, sully,
taint, besmirch, defile, soil, stain, smear, tarnish, blacken,
denigrate, debase, degrade, abase, demean, disparage, defame,
derogate, asperse, devaluate, depreciate, vitiate, belittle,
discredit, bring or call into disrepute: That act of treachery
will foul the family name for generations. 15 obstruct, block,
choke, stop or plug or clog (up): Dead leaves fouled the
downpipe. 16 foul up. a See def. 13. b mismanage, mishandle,
botch, bungle, make a mess (of), mess up, spoil, ruin, Colloq
muff, Brit throw a spanner in(to) (the works), US throw a monkey
wrench into (the machinery); Slang muck up, goof (up), blow,
screw up, louse up, Chiefly Brit bugger (up), US and Canadian
snafu: Give him a chance and he's sure to foul up. She fouled
up my hi-fi.

--n. 17 violation, infringement, infraction, illegality: The
Rangers' forward has already been charged with two fouls.


--adv. 18 afoul, in conflict, in trouble, in violation:
Curshaw has fallen foul of the law again.

foul play n. treachery, chicanery, perfidy, perfidiousness, duplicity,

double-dealing, deception, guile, crime, sharp practice,
skulduggery, dirty work or business, dirty trick(s); murder,
homicide, manslaughter; Colloq hanky-panky: The travellers
suspected foul play when the aeroplane failed to arrive. The
hacked up corpse suggested foul play to Detective LemaŒtre.

found v. 1 establish, originate, institute, set up, organize,
inaugurate, start, initiate, create, bring about, develop: The
society was founded a hundred years ago. 2 base, ground,
establish, set, build; rest: This charity was founded on love
and concern for children.

foundation
n. 1 basis, base, substructure, understructure, underpinning,
bottom, foot, basement, cellar: This foundation is of stone. 2
basis, base, fundamental, (underlying or fundamental) principle,
grounds, groundwork, rationale, raison d'ˆtre, purpose: Their
morality finds its foundations in Judaeo-Christian culture. 3
founding, establishment, instituting, institution, creation,
origination, setting up, organizing, organization, inauguration,
endowment: We voted for the foundation of an institute to study
the English language.

founderฐ n. originator, creator, progenitor, author, framer, father,
architect, designer, builder, initiator, establisher,
institutor: Today we honour the founder of this great
university.

founder v. 1 sink, go down or under, go to Davy Jones's locker, be
wrecked or destroyed: Many a proud vessel has foundered on this
rock. 2 fail, miscarry, collapse, come to nothing or naught,
fall through, abort, falter, break down, come to grief, die:
After Alice left to get married, the business foundered. 3
trip, stumble, stagger, lurch, fall, topple (over or down),
collapse; go lame: He drove the horse too hard and caused it to
founder.

foundling n. orphan, waif; stray, outcast: We are trying to raise money
for a hospital for foundlings.


fountain n. 1 fount, spring, font, jet, spout, spray, well, well-spring,
well-head, fountain-head: Bathing in the city fountains is
forbidden. 2 source, origin, genesis: Miss Corbell was a

fountain of wisdom on the subject of basket-weaving.

foxy adj. 1 clever, sly, cunning, wily, crafty, tricky, guileful,
shifty, devious, slippery, smooth, slick, artful, resourceful,
ingenious, calculating, designing, plotting, scheming,
disingenuous, knowing, shrewd, sharp, astute, wise; foxlike,
vulpine; Colloq cagey or cagy: Be careful dealing with him, for
he can be foxy. 2 attractive, alluring, seductive, vampish,
Colloq sexy: Margo is a very foxy lady.


6.6 fracas...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



fracas n. 1 trouble, disturbance, commotion, rumpus, fuss, hubbub,
pandemonium, hullabaloo, uproar, disorder, scramble, scuffle,
brawl, rough-house, rough-and-tumble, turmoil, tumult,
free-for-all, riot, fray, brouhaha, mˆl‚e or melee, Law affray;
Brit scrum, US brannigan; Colloq ruckus, punch-up, Slang Brit
bovver: It was football hooligans who caused the fracas after
the game. 2 argument, disagreement, quarrel, dispute, discord,
wrangle, altercation, squabble, spat, tiff, fight, row, tussle,
Donnybrook, brawl, Colloq barney, scrap: After the referee's
ruling, a fracas broke out.


fracture n. 1 break, breakage, breaking: An old fracture makes him walk
with a limp. 2 break, crack, split, rupture, breach,
separation, cleavage, division, rift: We can permit no fracture
in the united front we present to the voters.


--v. 3 break, rupture, crack, split, breach, separate, cleave:
He fractured three vertebrae in the accident.

fragile adj. frail, breakable, brittle, frangible, delicate, dainty,
thin, light, slight, weak, feeble, infirm, decrepit; tenuous,
shaky, flimsy, rickety, unsubstantial or insubstantial: Because
of her great age, her bones had become fragile. The argument in
favour of acquittal is very fragile, indeed.


fragment n. 1 piece, portion, part, chip, shard or sherd, splinter,
sliver, scrap, bit, speck, snippet, morsel, crumb, particle,
remnant, shred, snatch: A fragment of the airliner was found
twenty miles from the crash. 2 fragments. smithereens; debris,

Literary disjecta membra: The car was blown into thousands of
fragments. I tried to pick up the fragments of my former life.

--v. 3 shatter, splinter, break or split (up), explode,
disintegrate, come or go to pieces, come apart: I picked up the
skull and it fragmented in my fingers.

fragmentary
adj. disconnected, piecemeal, incomplete, scattered,
disjointed, incoherent, sketchy: Accounts of the disaster are
still fragmentary.

fragrance n. fragrancy, scent, aroma, smell, odour, redolence, perfume,
bouquet, balm: The fragrance of orange blossom filled the room.


fragrant adj. aromatic, odorous, redolent, perfumed, balmy, odoriferous,
ambrosial, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling: A fragrant breeze
wafted over the meadow.


frail adj. 1 See fragile. 2 ailing, unwell, ill, sick, sickly,
poorly, thin, skinny, slight, puny, scrawny, wasting or fading
away, languishing, infirm, feeble; crippled, consumptive,
phthisic: She is too frail to see visitors.


frailty n. 1 weakness, infirmity, delicate condition, feebleness,
fragility, delicacy: The doctors are concerned about his
frailty. 2 susceptibility, liability, suggestibility,
impressionability, vulnerability; fallibility, foible, flaw,
defect, imperfection, fault: You just said that to take
advantage of my frailty. Her vanity is her greatest frailty.

frame n. 1 framework, shell, form, skeleton, support, chassis,
framing, structure, fabric, scaffolding, construction: We made
a frame of sticks over which the canvas was stretched. 2
border, casing, case-mounting, mount, edge, edging; setting:
This picture would look best in a gold frame. 3 system, form,
pattern, scheme, schema, plan, order, organization, framework,
structure, construct, construction, arrangement, blueprint,
design, layout, composition, context, make-up, configuration:
The proposed new department does not fit into the present frame
of the company. 4 physique, build, bone structure, body,
skeleton, figure: He has an unusually large frame for a dancer.
5 frame of mind. mood, humour, state, condition, attitude, bent,

disposition: I am not in the right frame of mind to put up with
your nonsense at the moment.

--v. 6 construct, build, put together, assemble, set up, put
up, erect, raise, elevate: We framed the entire house in two
days. 7 make, fashion, form, mould, carve out, forge,
originate, create, devise, compose, formulate, put together,
conceive, draw up, draft, shape, block out, give form or shape
to; contrive: The founding fathers met to frame a new
constitution. 8 enclose, box (in); set off: I like the way
you've framed that painting. 9 set up, incriminate
(fraudulently), trap, entrap: Did Dr Crippen kill his wife or
was he framed?


frank adj. 1 open, free, candid, direct, outspoken, unreserved,
uninhibited, honest, sincere, genuine, truthful, plain-spoken,
forthright, downright, explicit, unrestrained, unchecked,
unconstrained, unrestricted, unabashed: I asked for a frank
appraisal of my work and, unfortunately, he gave it. 2 candid,
na‹ve, guileless, artless, ingenuous, innocent, (open and)
above-board, on the up and up, Colloq upfront, on the level:
The boy's description of the events was completely frank.

frantic adj. frenzied, excited, frenetic, nervous, overwrought,
excitable, wrought up, distracted, distraught, beside oneself,
hysterical, wild, berserk, mad, running amok; upset, agitated,
perturbed, at one's wit's end, disconcerted, confused; hectic;
Colloq in a state, in a tizzy, up the wall, in a dither, out of
one's mind, Chiefly US and Canadian discombobulated: They are
frantic because they haven't heard from Edmund in a week.

fraternal adj. brotherly, platonic, friendly, comradely, idealistic,
intellectual: He insists that his interest in her is purely
fraternal.


fraternity
n. 1 community, brotherhood, crowd, set, clique, coterie,
circle, society, US club: Rumours have been circulating in the
academic fraternity for months. 2 brotherliness, kinship,
fellowship, camaraderie, sodality, comradeship, friendship,
companionship, relatedness, closeness, association, affiliation,
solidarity, unity, esprit de corps, clannishness: A sense of
fraternity prevents them from betraying one another. 3 company,

guild, clan, league, club, union, society, association: She has
joined the fraternity of legal clerks.

fraternize
v. consort (with), associate (with), socialize (with), go
(around or round) with or together, spend time with or together,
keep company (with), hobnob with, mingle (with), mix (with),
take up with or together, keep up (with), fall in with, rub
shoulders (with), Colloq hang out (with or together), hang about
or around with or together: Soldiers are forbidden to
fraternize, which means they are not allowed to fraternize with
local people.

fraud n. 1 deception, trickery, cheating, sharp practice, chicanery,
deceit, swindling, double-dealing, duplicity, artifice, craft,
guile, humbug, humbuggery, treachery, Colloq monkey business,
funny business, hanky-panky: The company directors have been
convicted of fraud. 2 trick, hoax, swindle, deception, cheat,
wile, stratagem, dodge, bilk, ruse, sham, fake, subterfuge,
Colloq flimflam, Slang gyp, rip-off, scam: The investigation
exposed extensive fraud in the handling of local government
funds. 3 deceiver, trickster, cheat(er), impostor, swindler,
charlatan, humbug, sharper, shark, bilk(er), quack, mountebank,
fake(r), pretender, bluff(er), confidence man, inveigler,
defrauder; scoundrel, rogue, Archaic knave; Colloq con man or
artist, phoney or US also phony, flimflam artist, flimflammer,
US and Canadian four-flusher; Slang US barracuda: He is a fraud
who extracts protection money from the elderly.


fraudulent
n. 1 fake, counterfeit, forged, false, falsified, spurious,
imitation, sham, pinchbeck, Colloq phoney or US also phony:
These banknotes are fraudulent. 2 deceitful, dishonest,
criminal, deceptive, tricky, artful, crafty, double-dealing,
duplicitous, shifty, guileful, sharp, Colloq shady, crooked,
bent: Substituting paste for diamonds is a fraudulent act.

fraught adj. 1 Usually, fraught with. filled or charged or packed with,
loaded with, teeming or replete or overflowing with,
oversupplied with, abounding or abundant in, attended or
accompanied by: The scene was fraught with emotion. 2 tense,
taut, stressful, trying, anxious, distressing, distressful,
upsetting, nerve-racking or nerve-wracking, fretful, strained,

traumatic: Relations between the two countries became even more
fraught following the incident.

frayฐ n. disturbance, skirmish, fight, battle, brawl, tussle,
scuffle, fracas, mˆl‚e or melee, Donnybrook, wrangle, rumpus,
row, quarrel, dispute, altercation, Law affray, Colloq ruckus,
punch-up: He leapt into the fray and fought like a tiger.

fray v. shred, wear (thin or threadbare), wear out, rub, abrade,
chafe, ravel, unravel, frazzle: He saves his frayed shirts to
wear at home.

freak n. 1 monstrosity, monster, mutant, deformity: The show
features freaks such as a two-headed calf and a bearded lady. 2
anomaly, rarity, abnormality, irregularity, oddity, curiosity,
rara avis, rare bird, Brit one-off, Colloq one-shot: Biologists
regard the albino giraffe as a freak of nature. 3 whim,
caprice, vagary, crotchet, quirk, eccentricity, fancy,
idiosyncrasy, peculiarity: The snow in New York in July was a
freak. 4 enthusiast, fan, devotee, aficionado; fanatic, addict;
Colloq buff, fiend, nut: She's been a jazz freak for years.

--adj. 5 freakish, freaky, abnormal, anomalous, extraordinary,
unique, rare, atypical, unusual, odd, queer, strange,
exceptional, bizarre, weird, unparalleled, unforeseen,
unexpected, unpredicted, unpredictable, Brit one-off, Colloq
one-shot: He claims he had a freak experience with a lion that
had a thorn in its foot.


free adj. 1 at liberty, unfettered, unchained, unshackled,
unconfined, untrammelled, unencumbered, unrestrained,
unrestricted, unconstrained, uncontrolled, free-born,
independent, self-governing, self-governed, self-ruling,
autonomous, democratic, sovereign: These people want to be
free. It's a free country. 2 liberated, at large, let go, let
off, emancipated, delivered, manumitted, set free, unshackled,
unfettered, released, freed, loose, out, Colloq sprung, on the
loose: After ten years he was free at last. 3 unoccupied,
unengaged, at liberty, not busy, available, accessible; unused,
vacant, empty, spare, extra, uninhabited, untenanted: Are you
free for dinner tonight? Here is a free room we can use for the
meeting. 4 cost-free, free of charge, complimentary, gratis, for
nothing, without cost (or obligation), unencumbered, Colloq for

free, on the house: The food was free but we paid for our
drinks. 5 unattached, unfastened, untied, loose: Tie the free
end of the rope round your waist. 6 unasked for, unsolicited,
gratuitous, unbidden, voluntary, spontaneous, unconditioned,
unconditional: Let me give you some free advice. 7 generous,
lavish, open, liberal, munificent, unstinting, bountiful,
open-handed, unsparing; charitable: Fred is quite free with his
donations to good causes. 8 relaxed, casual, informal, free and
easy, easy, natural, unceremonious, Colloq laid-back: He is
quite free about letting me use his car. 9 open, above-board,
honest, direct, outspoken, uninhibited, unconstrained,
unrestrained, relaxed: You can be free in your criticism. 10
unhindered, unimpeded, unencumbered, unhampered, unobstructed,
allowed, permitted, able, clear, unrestricted, unregulated:
She's free to do as she pleases. The two countries have signed a
free-trade agreement. 11 free of. rid of, exempt(ed) from,
relieved of, safe from, not liable or subject to, immune from,
unaffected by, above, without, untouched by: He thinks he is
free of her influence.


--adv. 12 freely, openly, at will, unrestrictedly, loose;
loosely: Our dog runs free on the farm. Let the rope hang free.
13 gratis, at no cost, free of charge, without charge: They
give new businesses advice free.


--v. 14 set free, set at liberty, enfranchise, release, let go,
liberate, let out, let loose, unloose, unchain, unfetter,
uncage; emancipate, disenthrall, manumit; pardon, parole,
furlough: Bail was paid and we were freed. Lincoln freed the
slaves. He was freed after six years in prison. 15 disengage,
untie, unbind, loose, unfasten, undo, unshackle, unlock, open,
release, disentangle, loosen, detach, extricate: Free the end
of that rope. 16 relieve, rid, unburden, disburden,
disencumber, unbosom; rescue, redeem: Free yourself of any
preconceived notions on the subject.

freedom n. 1 liberty, independence, self-government,
self-determination, self-direction, autonomy: Democracy is
based on the freedom of the individual. 2 release, deliverance,
liberation, emancipation, manumission: Will these people ever
get their freedom? 3 exemption, immunity, deliverance,
liberation, relief: All citizens should enjoy freedom from
want. 4 range, latitude, scope, play, deregulation,

non-interference, discretion, margin, free hand, discretion;
facility, ease, licence, permission, right, privilege,
authority, authorization, power, carte blanche: He must have
the freedom to make decisions. I have the freedom to do as I
wish. 5 free time, leisure, spare time: I like a lot of freedom
to do things in my own time. 6 candour, honesty, openness,
frankness, candidness, unrestraint, unconstraint, naturalness:
Freedom of speech is practised here. 7 boldness,
overfamiliarity, audacity, audaciousness, forwardness,
brazenness, brass, impertinence, impudence, disrespect,
arrogance, presumption, presumptuousness, nerve, gall: Where
does she get the freedom to talk to you that way?

freely adv. 1 candidly, frankly, openly, unreservedly, without
reserve, unrestrainedly, without restraint, unconstrainedly,
without constraint, unceremoniously, plainly: Please speak
freely. 2 willingly, spontaneously, readily, voluntarily, on
(one's) own, independently, of (one's) own accord, of (one's)
own volition or free will: I didn't send for her - she came to
me freely. 3 unrestrainedly, unrestrictedly, without
restriction, without let or hindrance, without interference: He
was allowed to move freely about the island. 4 liberally,
lavishly, unreservedly, generously, unstintingly, open-handedly,
ungrudgingly, munificently, amply, plentifully, abundantly: He
has no money to donate but he gives freely of his time. 5
readily, easily, smoothly, cleanly, unobstructedly: With the
obstacle removed, the water ran freely through the pipes.

freeze v. 1 chill, refrigerate, ice, deep-freeze, flash-freeze, frost:
If you freeze the leftovers, they keep better. 2 solidify,
congeal, harden, stiffen, ice up or over: When the lake
freezes, we can go skating. 3 fix, immobilize, paralyse, stop
(dead or dead in one's tracks), stay, pin, transfix, Gorgonize;
become fixed, stand (stock-)still or motionless; peg, stick,
set: She froze him with an icy stare. He froze to the spot in
horror. Rates of exchange are no longer frozen. 4 freeze out.
exclude, debar, ban, reject, ostracize; eject, drive away or
out, expel, force out: When he tried to join the club, he was
frozen out.


--n. 5 frost, Brit freeze-up, US ice-up, deep-freeze: There
will be a freeze tonight in northern counties. 6 fix,
immobilization: The government has put a freeze on wages.


freezing adj. frigid, icy, arctic, frosty, boreal, hyperboreal, numbing,
Siberian, polar, glacial, ice-cold, wintry, bone-chilling,
bitter, biting, bitter(ly) cold, perishing, cold, chill,
tooth-chattering; chilled to the bone, frozen, shivering,
Archaic frore: The rescue was performed under freezing
conditions. We were freezing in our thin jackets.

freight n. 1 transport, transportation, carriage, conveyance, shipping,
shipment, freightage, delivery: The charges for freight are
included. 2 goods, cargo, tonnage, freightage; load, boatload,
shipload, lorry load, haul, consignment, payload: How much
freight passes through here?


frenzy n. 1 excitement, agitation, fury, fever, Brit furore or US
furor, passion, turmoil, transport: The crowd was whipped into
a frenzy at the match. 2 distraction, paroxysm, seizure,
outburst, bout, fit: She went into a frenzy of despair after
the death of her family.


frequent adj. 1 recurrent, recurring, habitual, regular, familiar,
everyday, customary, usual, ordinary, normal, common, repeated,
iterative, reiterative, persistent, continuing, continual,
constant; many, numerous, countless, innumerable: She was a
frequent visitor at our house. She paid us frequent visits.

--v. 2 haunt, patronize, visit, resort to, go to or attend
regularly, Colloq hang out or around at: Yes, Inspector, I used
to frequent the pub called The Saracen's Head.


frequently
adv. 1 often, regularly, continually, repeatedly, over and over
(again), again and again, a lot, many times, many a time, time
after time, time and (time) again, Archaic oftentimes,
oft-times: She has visited me frequently during the past weeks.
2 often, habitually, customarily, regularly, usually,
ordinarily, generally, commonly, every so often, many a time, as
often as not, Archaic oftentimes, oft-times: He frequently
stops at The Golden Hind after work.


fresh adj. 1 new, today's, brand-new; (most) recent, late(st): Don't
you love the smell of fresh bread? This is the product of fresh
research. 2 new, modern, up to date, novel, original,

newfangled, unusual, unconventional, different, alternative,
unorthodox: We are seeking a fresh approach. 3 raw,
inexperienced, untested, unsophisticated, green, untried,
unfledged, immature, untrained, na‹ve, callow, (still) wet
behind the ears, Brit still in nappies; US still in diapers:
These troops are too fresh to send into battle. 4 additional,
new, further, renewed, extra, supplementary: We need a fresh
supply of paper towels. 5 alert, refreshed, vigorous,
energetic, invigorated, spry, lively, full of vim and vigour,
fresh as a daisy, keen, bright, brisk, active, Colloq
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed: Put the horses through the
dressage while they are fresh. 6 wholesome, healthy, well,
refreshed, glowing, fair, rosy, ruddy, blooming, flourishing:
She came back to work fresh from a week's rest. 7 moderate,
brisk, strong; cool, clean, pure, clear, unpolluted: Sailing
conditions were ideal: a fresh breeze and good visibility. Open
the window for some fresh air. 8 bold, impudent, impertinent,
brazen, brassy, forward, disrespectful, saucy, pert, cheeky,
presumptuous, insolent, rude, Colloq smart-alecky or
smart-aleck, US sassy, flip: That fresh kid called her an old
bag.

freshen v. 1 strengthen, increase, blow harder: The wind began to
freshen as we sailed past the headland. 2 Sometimes, freshen
up. invigorate, revive, refresh, enliven, (re)vitalize,
stimulate, titivate, rouse, liven up: I'll just freshen up
before dinner. Freshen these flowers by changing the water. 3
ventilate, air out, deodorize, purify: We freshen the rooms by
opening all the windows. 4 strengthen, spike, lace, fortify:
May I freshen your drink?

fret v. 1 worry, be concerned, agonize, lose sleep, be upset or
distressed or anxious or disturbed, grieve, brood, whine, fuss,
complain, Colloq stew, tear one's hair: Your kitten is safe
now, so stop fretting. 2 worry, concern, distress, vex, annoy,
irritate, torment, provoke, US rankle: She fretted herself
about Henry's health.

fretful adj. irritable, vexed, ill-tempered, bad-tempered, peevish,
edgy, cross, petulant, testy, touchy, tetchy, splenetic,
irascible, choleric, crabby, fractious, short-tempered, grumpy,
sulky, moody, fault-finding, carping, querulous, whining,
complaining, captious, ill-natured, disagreeable, impatient,

snappish, waspish, short, abrupt, curt, US and Canadian cranky:
Are you always so fretful before breakfast?

friction n. 1 abrasion, rubbing, abrading, chafing, fretting, attrition,
scraping, grating, erosion: Friction is always accompanied by
heat. 2 disagreement, discord, conflict, contention, dispute,
dissension, disharmony, controversy, dissent, bickering,
argument, wrangling, ill feeling, ill will, bad blood,
animosity, rivalry, hostility, antagonism, strife: Politics
have always been a source of friction between them.

friend n. 1 (boon) companion, partner, comrade, crony, familiar,
confidant(e), intimate, Achates, alter ego, ally, compeer;
acquaintance, playmate, pen-pal or Brit also pen-friend; Colloq
chum, pal, Brit cocker, Chiefly Brit and Australian and New
Zealand mate, Australian cobber, US and Canadian (bosom) buddy,
SW US compadre; Slang Brit (old) china: She is spending the
weekend with some friends. 2 ally, associate, fellow,
confederate, colleague, co-worker, confrŠre, compatriot,
consociate, US cohort: A friend from the office is coming to
dinner. 3 room-mate, bunk-mate, flatmate, soul mate, bedfellow,
lover, sweetheart, escort; girl, woman, girlfriend, concubine,
mistress, Old-fashioned doxy; man, boyfriend, Old-fashioned
beau; Colloq US alternative other, POSSLQ (= 'Person of the
Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters'), roomie; Slang baby,
moll, sugar-daddy, US squeeze, twist, Chiefly Brit bird: Chris,
why don't you introduce us to your new friend? 4 benefactor,
patron, supporter, advocate, adherent, backer, financier,
Maecenas; angel, investor: He has long been associated with the
Friends of the Library.

friendly adj. 1 amicable, congenial, sociable, companionable, comradely,
convivial, familiar, well-disposed, close, on good terms,
simpatico, comfortable, at home, neighbourly, clubby, fraternal,
brotherly, sisterly, Colloq chummy, pally, thick, Brit matey, US
palsy-walsy, buddy-buddy: We've always been friendly with the
people next door. 2 amiable, affectionate, loving,
demonstrative, cordial, warm-hearted, warm, genial, agreeable,
good-natured, pleasant, kind, kindly, kind-hearted, agreeable,
affable, approachable, accessible, unreserved, open, Brit
clubbable: Clare can be very friendly when she wants to be.

friendship

n. 1 amity, congeniality, sociability, companionability,
comradeship, fellowship, conviviality, familiarity, closeness,
neighbourliness, harmony, clubbiness, fraternity, brotherhood,
sisterhood, alliance: I hope that this affair will not affect
the friendship between our countries. 2 friendliness,
amiability, amicability, esteem, warmth, devotion, affection,
fondness, attachment, (deep) regard, rapport, intimacy, love:
What can I do to regain your friendship?


fright n. 1 fear, alarm, terror, dread, horror, panic, trepidation,
dismay, consternation, apprehension, Colloq (blue) funk: He
almost dies of fright at the sight of blood. 2 scare, shock:
Here, sip this brandy; you've had a terrible fright. 3 spectre,
monster, eyesore, Colloq sight, mess: He looked a perfect
fright when I saw him after the accident.

frighten v. terrify, scare, alarm, panic, startle, shock, petrify,
horrify, dismay, appal or US appall, unnerve, distress, daunt,
cow, intimidate, Colloq scare out of one's wits, make one's hair
stand on end, scare the (living) daylights [etc.] out of, scare
stiff, Brit put the wind up (someone), put the frighteners on
(someone): She was frightened by the neighbours' vicious dog.
Are you frightened of aeroplanes?


frightening
adj. terrifying, alarming, startling, shocking, petrifying,
horrifying, dismaying, appalling, unnerving, dire, distressing,
daunting, intimidating, formidable, frightful, fearful,
hair-raising, harrowing, dreadful, Colloq scary, spooky:
Skydiving can be a frightening experience. The sight of their
mangled bodies was frightening.

frightful adj. 1 See frightening. 2 awful, dreadful, terrible,
disagreeable, atrocious, abhorrent, loathsome, grisly, ghastly,
lurid, macabre, horrible, horrifying, horrid, horrendous, nasty,
hideous, vile, unspeakable, nauseating, nauseous, repugnant,
repulsive, shocking, revolting, abominable, offensive, ugly:
Brixton police report a frightful crime of decapitation.


frightfully
adv. awfully, very, extremely; amazingly, surprisingly: We saw
a frightfully good play last night.

frigid adj. 1 cold, arctic, frosty, frozen, glacial, icy, hyperboreal,
polar, bone-chilling, boreal, Siberian, freezing, wintry,
chilly, chill, Archaic frore: We were huddled in that frigid
alpine hut for two days. 2 cold, cool, cold-hearted,
forbidding, austere, unemotional, unfeeling, stiff, rigid, prim,
strait-laced, stony, callous, steely, obdurate, thick-skinned,
impervious, inaccessible, remote, unapproachable, unfriendly,
standoffish, haughty, aloof, reserved: His behaviour to his
ex-wife has always been frigid. 3 unapproachable, unresponsive,
impassive, passive, indifferent, cold; impotent: She says he's
impotent and he insists that she's frigid.

frill n. 1 trimming, decoration, ornament, furbelow, flounce, ruffle:
This dress would be suitable without the frill. 2
ornamentation, frippery, falderal or fal de rol or folderol,
frou-frou, showiness, ostentation, embellishment, luxury,
trimming, extra, addition, superfluity, gewgaw, (bit of)
paraphernalia, Colloq US foofaraw, bells and whistles, Slang
jazz: They ordered a computer system that has every imaginable
frill.

fringe n. 1 trimming, edge, edging, border, frill, flounce, ruffle,
purfle, purfling, ruff, ruche or rouche, ricrac or rickrack,
ornament, decoration, furbelow: The curtains would look better
without that pink fringe. 2 border, perimeter, edge, boundary,
bounds, periphery, limits, margin, outskirts, march(es);
Technical fimbria: We live on the fringes of Oxford.

--v. 3 edge, border, trim, surround: The grounds are fringed
with trees.

frisk v. 1 caper, gambol, cavort, frolic, skip, trip, romp, curvet,
leap, dance, prance, play, rollick: She was frisking about like
a lamb. 2 search, inspect, examine, check (out), go over: At
the airport, we were frisked for weapons.

frisky adj. lively, frolicsome, rollicking, playful, active, animated,
(high-)spirited, coltish: Tell Frances to calm down - she's
getting a bit too frisky.


fritter v. fritter away. squander, waste, idle away, misspend,
dissipate: Stop frittering away your time watching television.
She frittered away every penny of her inheritance.


frivolous adj. 1 trifling, inconsequential, unimportant, trivial,
nugatory, insignificant, minor, petty, paltry, niggling,
peripheral, superficial, worthless, Colloq small-time, Brit
twopenny, two a penny, US two-bit, penny-ante, nitty-gritty:
Don't waste my time with frivolous details. 2 scatterbrained,
bird-brained, silly, feather-brained, irresponsible, flippant,
casual, flighty, giddy, foolish, childish, puerile; airy, light,
slight, Brit airy-fairy, Colloq flip: Try to be serious and
less frivolous about such important matters.

frolic n. 1 merriment, merrymaking, gaiety, sport, fun (and games),
high jinks, jollity, mirth, jollification, festivity,
celebration, revelry, play, horseplay, Colloq skylarking,
partying: After we won the cup there was great frolic in the
town. 2 romp, party, spree, revel, gambol, caper, gambado,
antic; escapade, prank: The noise of our frolics echoed across
the square.


--v. 3 frisk, cavort, caper, skylark, gambol, rollick, romp,
cut capers, curvet, play, skip, sport, have fun, Colloq party,
make whoopee, horse around or about: Gregory frolics about
instead of getting on with his work.


frolicsome
adj. playful, merry, frisky, sportive, gay, lively, sprightly,
animated, spirited, coltish: Irene may seem frolicsome but she
has her sober side as well.


front n. 1 face, fa‡ade, facing, fore-part, anterior; obverse: The
front of the door has a painting on it. This dress buttons up
the front. 2 frontage, forefront: The front of the property
measures only 40 feet. 3 beginning, head, fore, vanguard,
forefront, van: At the front of the parade marched the mayor.
4 bearing, demeanour, mien, air, face, countenance, fa‡ade,
mask, expression, show, appearance, aspect, look, exterior:
Despite her grief, she put on a brave front at the wake. 5
disguise, cover, guise, mask, cover-up, show, pretext, fa‡ade:
The restaurant was merely a front for a narcotics operation. 6
movement, organization, league, bloc, party, group, faction,
wing: A new popular front was formed out of a coalition of
several opposition groups. 7 haughtiness, overconfidence,
effrontery: He frightens away potential clients by showing so

much front. 8 in front. first, leading, ahead, to the fore, in
the forefront, in the vanguard or van, in advance, in the lead,
before; winning: In this picture the man in front is my father.
My horse was in front all the way. 9 upfront. a See 8, above.
b open, straightforward, honest, direct, forthright, frank,
candid: Why can't you be upfront instead of conspiring against
me?

--adj. 10 first, advance, foremost, leading, head; main: The
front carriage was smashed in the train wreck. Enter by the
front door.

--v. 11 overlook, face, look out on or towards, be opposite:
Our house fronts the river. The flat fronts on the street. 12
front for. act for, represent; substitute for, replace: I hate
formal affairs and hoped that you might front for me.

frontier n. front line; border, boundary, bound(s), marches, (far)
reaches, limit(s), pale, extreme(s), bourn: We'll need our
passports to cross the frontier into Italy.

froth n. 1 foam, spume, suds, lather, bubbles; head: The froth
tickles my nose. 2 trivia, rubbish, nonsense, twaddle, babble,
gibberish, drivel, Colloq hot air, gas, gab, piffle: His
sermons were just so much froth.

--v. 3 foam, spume, bubble, fizz, effervesce, aerate: You are
supposed to drink the medicine while it is frothing. 4 foam,
salivate; lather: He was so angry he began to froth at the
mouth.

frown v. 1 scowl, glower, glare, knit one's brows, grimace, give a
dirty look, Brit lour or lower, US lower: Don't frown so much
or you'll get wrinkles. 2 frown on or upon. disapprove (of),
(look on or regard or view with) disfavour, discountenance, look
down on or upon, look askance at, not take kindly to, not think
much of, look disapprovingly upon, Colloq take a dim view of, be
turned off by: My parents frown on my seeing you.


--n. 3 scowl, glower, glare, grimace, dirty look, Brit lour or
lower, US lower: Her forehead is always furrowed by a frown.

frugal adj. 1 thrifty, sparing, economic(al), careful, prudent,

provident, saving, conservative, conservational, moderate:
Mother had to become quite frugal when father fell ill. 2
parsimonious, penurious, penny-pinching, cheese-paring, mean,
miserly, stingy, niggardly, tight(-fisted), close(-fisted), hand
to mouth: He led a frugal existence on his earnings as an
artist. 3 meagre, paltry, poor, skimpy, scant(y), small,
negligible, piddling: His frugal meal consisted entirely of
bread and water.


fruit n. Often, fruits. product(s), result(s), revenue(s), outgrowth,
outcome, consequence(s), return(s), advantage(s), benefit(s),
profit(s), emolument, payment, income, compensation, recompense,
desert(s): He didn't live to enjoy the fruit of his work.


fruitful adj. 1 productive, fertile, prolific, fecund; fructiferous,
frugiferous, fructuous: The soil in this valley is extremely
fruitful. 2 effective, worthwhile, well-spent, profitable,
successful, useful, rewarding, advantageous, beneficial,
productive, fertile: We had a fruitful meeting and accomplished
a great deal. 3 plentiful, abundant, bounteous, bountiful,
prolific, plenteous, copious, luxurious, rich, flourishing: We
expect another fruitful harvest this year.

fruition n. realization, fulfilment, consummation, achievement, success,
materialization, maturity, ripeness, maturation, completion;
perfection: I saw my plans for the town brought to fruition.

fruitless adj. barren, unfruitful, unproductive, worthless, bootless,
futile, pointless, useless, vain, idle, unavailing, ineffectual,
ineffective, unprofitable, for naught, to no avail,
unsuccessful, unrewarding, abortive: Our search for a new
manager has so far been fruitless.

frustrate v. 1 thwart, foil, stymie, block, baffle, check, balk or baulk,
disappoint, discourage, forestall, prevent, stop, halt, cripple,
hinder, hamper, impede, hamstring, defeat, counteract,
neutralize, nullify, counter, fight off, repel, repulse: So
far, we have been able to frustrate take-over bids for the
company. 2 discourage, disappoint, upset, exasperate: I feel
frustrated because mother won't let me help with the bills.

6.7 fuel
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



fuel n. 1 tinder, combustible, kindling; fossil or nuclear fuel:
You must pay a lot for fuel to heat that big house. 2
ammunition, encouragement, stimulus, incitement, provocation:
Her teasing him only provided more fuel for his passion. 3
nourishment, nutriment, sustenance, food, nutrition: The body
needs more fuel on a cold day.


--v. 4 nourish, feed, sustain; stimulate, encourage, incite,
provoke, inflame, exacerbate, excite: U-235 is used to fuel the
reactor. Frustration fuels the flame of desire.

fugitive n. 1 runaway, escapee, deserter, refugee, Archaic runagate:
Many fugitives from political oppression seek asylum in the UK.

--adj. 2 fleeing, escaped, running away, runaway: They police
are able to devote little time to tracing fugitive children. 3
fleeting, passing, brief, short-lived, transitory, transient,
ephemeral, evanescent, momentary, volatile, fugacious: She once
entertained the fugitive notion of becoming an opera singer.

fulfil v. 1 bring about, achieve, accomplish, bring or carry to
completion, carry out, complete, consummate, discharge, live up
to, abide by, observe, realize, effect, bring or carry off,
carry through, keep, satisfy, do, perform, execute, effectuate,
achieve: I trust that you will fulfil all your obligations.
Will she ever fulfil her ambition to be a virtuoso pianist? 2
answer, satisfy, meet, implement, look or see to, conform to or
with, comply with, obey: This hammer will fulfil my needs for
the moment. Will your new assistant be able to fulfil your
requirements?

fulfilment
n. completion, consummation, performance, carrying out or
through, discharge, realization, implementation, execution,
accomplishment, compliance, conformity or conformance, making
good, meeting, satisfaction, answering, achievement: You will
be paid upon fulfilment of the contract.


full adj. 1 filled, replete, brimming, brim-full, packed,
jam-packed, congested, loaded, bursting, chock-a-block,
chock-full or choke-full or chuck-full, jammed, crammed, solid,

well supplied, crowded, stuffed; gorged, saturated, sated,
satiated: The tank is full of petrol. Her Christmas stocking
was full of toys. I'm full; I couldn't manage another bite. 2
complete, thorough, detailed, comprehensive, total,
all-inclusive, broad, extensive, all-encompassing, exhaustive,
plenary: The police are demanding a full investigation. 3
complete, entire, whole: The recipe calls for a full dozen egg
yolks. 4 utmost, greatest, maximum, highest, top; extreme:
Full speed ahead. 5 wide, ample, generous, broad, copious,
loose(-fitting): The tight bolero jacket is offset by a full
skirt. 6 occupied, engrossed, absorbed, immersed, preoccupied,
obsessed, consumed, engaged, concerned: She's entirely too full
of herself to pay any attention to us. 7 filled or rounded out,
round(ish), well-rounded, plump; robust, shapely, well-shaped,
curvaceous, buxom, busty, voluptuous, full-bodied,
well-proportioned, well-built , Slang stacked, Brit
well-stacked, US zaftig, built: His face is rather full, so
wrinkles don't show. Her figure is what I'd call full. 8
unrestricted, non-restricted, unconditional, unqualified:
Payment of dues entitles you to full membership privileges. 9
sentimental, emotional, overflowing: His heart was so full he
could say no more. 10 unobscured, unshaded, undimmed, open,
broad, bright, shining, brilliant, dazzling, glaring, intense,
blazing, blinding; harsh, vivid, revealing: We emerged into
full daylight. In the full light of day, the plan seems
unworkable. 11 powerful, resonant, rich, deep, loud: His full
bass voice was unmistakable. 12 complete, whole, entire;
comprehensive, uncut, unabridged, intact, unshortened,
unbowdlerized, uncensored: We were to receive full pay for a
half day's work. Is this a full deck of cards? I have a full set
of the original engravings.

--adv. 13 fully, completely, entirely, wholly, thoroughly,
altogether: That is not a full-grown horse. 14 squarely,
directly, right, precisely, exactly, bang, Colloq slap, smack:
The ball hit him full in the eye. 15 very, perfectly,
exceedingly, quite, Slang damned: You know full well why I am
here.


--n. 16 maximum, greatest degree, fullest: The moon is at its
full tonight. 17 in full. completely, fully, entirely, wholly,
thoroughly, in its entirety, totally, in toto: Copy this report
in full. 18 to the full or fullest. completely, fully, quite,

thoroughly, to the utmost, to the greatest or fullest extent; a
great deal, greatly, hugely, enormously: We enjoyed our visit
to the full.


fumble v. 1 grope, feel, stumble: She fumbled about for the light
switch. 2 mishandle, drop, muff, bungle, botch, Colloq US
bobble, flub: Bosworth fumbled the ball and Fernpath scored
again.


fume v. 1 seethe, smoulder, chafe, boil, rage, storm, rant, flare
up, bluster, lose one's temper, explode, Colloq get steamed (up)
(over or about), lose one's cool, flip one's lid, flip (out),
fly off the handle, hit the roof, raise the roof, blow one's top
or stack, get hot under the collar, blow a gasket, go off the
deep end: She was fuming because I was five minutes late. 2
smoke: The mixture fumes if you add these ingredients.

--n. 3 Usually, fumes. smoke, vapour, effluvium, gas,
exhalation, exhaust; smell, odour, aroma, fragrance, stench,
stink, miasma; pollution, smog: The fumes from O. C. Cabot's
cigar spread through the building.

fumigate v. disinfect, cleanse, purify, sanitize, sterilize,
decontaminate: There have been no insects since the kitchen was
fumigated.

fun n. 1 merriment, merrymaking, gaiety, glee, jollity, mirth,
cheer, high spirits, delight, frolic, festivity, high jinks;
amusement, diversion, sport, enjoyment, recreation,
entertainment, pastime, joy, pleasure, Colloq (making) whoopee:
Your party was great fun. We always have fun when we're
together. Want to have some fun? 2 tomfoolery, horseplay,
joking, playfulness, clowning, pranks, sport, jesting,
jocularity, nonsense, fooling around or about, Colloq
skylarking: This is no time for fun - we have to catch a train.
3 in or for fun. jokingly, teasingly, in jest, facetiously, with
tongue in cheek, playfully, as a lark, for a joke or gag; not
seriously: In fun, we told him that he had missed the last
ferry. 4 Like fun! Under no circumstances!, No way!, Colloq
Like hell!, US No way, Jose!: Like fun will I go swimming in
the nude! 5 make fun of. poke fun at, tease, deride, (hold up
to) ridicule, scoff at, lampoon, parody, satirize, make sport or
game of, taunt, gibe, rag, Colloq kid, rib, Brit send up: Kevin

is always making fun of people by imitating them.

function n. 1 purpose, aim, use, role or r“le, raison d'ˆtre,
responsibility, mission, charge, concern, business, province,
duty, job, occupation, work, office, task, chore, assignment,
commission, activity: A knife's function is to cut; a guard's
is to stand watch. 2 reception, gathering, affair, party,
dinner, banquet, gala, ceremony, formality, rite, ritual;
occasion, event: We are attending a function at the embassy
tonight.

--v. 3 act, operate, perform, behave, work, go, run: Are you
sure the engine is functioning properly? 4 serve, take the role
or r“le of, act the part of, act as, work as: Dunmow will
function as host in my absence.

functional
adj. 1 utilitarian, useful, serviceable, practical,
practicable, functioning, working; essential, important,
effective: This gear is a functional part, not mere decoration.
2 working, operating, operational, running, going: Is this
telephone functional?

functionary
n. official, commissioner, bureaucrat, office-holder, officer:
She is some sort of functionary at the Ministry of Information.

fund n. 1 supply, stock, reserve, store, pool, cache, reservoir,
repository, mine: Alison is a veritable fund of information
about art. 2 Often, funds. money, (hard) cash, ready money,
assets, means, wealth, resources, wherewithal, savings, capital,
nest egg, endowment, Colloq loot, lucre, pelf, green, bread,
dough, Brit ready, readies, lolly, US bucks, scratch: He has
the funds to buy out his partners. Have you contributed to the
fund for indigent lexicographers?

--v. 3 finance, back, capitalize, stake, support, pay for,
endow, grant, subsidize: The company has funded a number of new
businesses.


fundamental
adj. 1 basic, rudimentary, elementary, primary, main, prime,
first, principal, underlying, cardinal, central, essential,

quintessential, constitutional, inherent, intrinsic, important,
crucial, critical, organic, vital: Our fundamental aim is to
provide employment.


--n. 2 principle, law, rule, axiom, essential, element, sine
qua non, cornerstone, keystone: Freedom of speech is a
fundamental in a democracy.

funeral n. obsequies, exequies; burial, interment, sepulture,
entombment, inhumation; cremation: It is fitting to wear black
when attending a funeral.

funereal adj. grave, solemn, sad, unhappy, morose, sombre, mournful,
doleful, sorrowful, melancholy, gloomy, lugubrious, dismal,
grievous, depressing, dreary, woeful, dark, sepulchral: Why are
you in such a funereal mood?

funny adj. 1 comical, humorous, comic, ludicrous, laughable,
ridiculous, risible, waggish, side-splitting, hilarious,
uproarious, jocular, jocose, merry, droll, facetious, witty,
farcical, slapstick, zany; amusing, entertaining, diverting,
Colloq hysterical: A comedian's material may be funny but he
relies on timing for much of his effect. 2 peculiar, odd,
unusual, curious, strange, mysterious, mystifying, puzzling,
queer, weird, bizarre, remarkable, unconventional, eccentric,
Slang off-the-wall: She had a funny expression on her face. If
you do love me, you have a funny way of showing it.

furious adj. 1 angry, enraged, raging, infuriated, fuming, incensed,
irate, maddened, mad, boiling, wrathful, provoked, beside
oneself, up in arms, in high dudgeon, on the warpath, foaming at
the mouth, Literary wroth, Colloq steaming, livid, in a tizzy,
Slang up the wall, pissed off, browned off, Brit cheesed off:
Mark was furious at Betty for leaving without him. 2 fierce,
wild, violent, savage, intense, unrestrained, frantic, frenzied:
A few made a furious attempt to jump off the burning ship.

furnish v. 1 supply, provide, afford, equip, outfit, fit (out or up),
rig (out or up), provision, give, stock up, Colloq Brit kit out
or up: The trading post furnished what we needed for a month in
the wilderness. Can you furnish me with a blanket? 2 decorate,
equip: She received a commission to furnish a ten-room house.

furniture n. 1 furnishings, household (goods); movables, chattels,
paraphernalia, effects, possessions, belongings, Colloq gear,
things, stuff, Slang shit: There wasn't any furniture in the
room, not even a chair. 2 fittings, fitments, equipment,
fixtures, apparatus, devices, tackle, tack, trappings, gear,
accoutrements or US also accouterments, accessories, appliances,
Colloq Brit clobber: The front door has some fine brass
furniture.


furore n. 1 US furor, uproar, outburst, tumult, commotion, turmoil,
brouhaha, ado, hurly-burly, to-do, hubbub, stir, fuss,
disturbance, excitement: The deportation of the student caused
a furore among his supporters. 2 rage, craze, mania, vogue,
enthusiasm, obsession, fad: The furore for antiques has driven
up prices enormously.

furrow n. 1 groove, channel, rut, trench, track, ditch, gutter,
trough, fosse, fissure, sulcus, sulcation, flute, score, cut,
gash, scratch, line; wrinkle, crease, corrugation, crow's-feet,
Technical sulcus: He can't even plough a straight furrow. The
furrows in his brow come from worry.

--v. 2 groove, channel, flute, score, cut, gash, scratch;
plough, harrow: This rock was furrowed by glacial action. 3
wrinkle, crease, corrugate, knit, pucker, crinkle: A frown
furrowed his forehead.

further adj. 1 more, additional, another, other, new, supplemental,
supplementary, accessory, auxiliary, extra, spare, fresh:
Further investment by our group is out of the question. 2
farther, more distant or remote: Some day, we may travel to the
further reaches of the galaxy.

--adv. 3 furthermore, besides, moreover, too, also,
additionally, in addition, over and above, beyond, above, what
is more, to boot, yet, then (again), again: She told him he was
rude and, further, ugly as well. 4 farther, at or to a greater
distance or depth: She has looked into the matter much further
than I.


--v. 5 advance, promote, favour, push or urge onward(s) or
forward(s), forward, foster, back, patronize, support, help,
assist, aid: What can I do to further your efforts?


furtherance
n. promotion, advancement, pursuit, backing, boosting, boost,
fostering, championing, championship, advocating, advocacy,
patronage, support, help, aid, assistance, succour: The
furtherance of anti-pollution laws is all to the good.

furtive adj. 1 secret, private, secretive, clandestine, surreptitious,
stealthy, underhand(ed), covert, hidden, conspiratorial,
skulking, deceitful, under the table, under the counter,
hugger-mugger, Colloq sneaky: She gave me a furtive look to let
me know she was on to me. 2 sly, foxy, cunning, crafty, wily,
shifty, untrustworthy, Colloq sneaky: His furtive manoeuvres
mark him as one not to be trusted.


fury n. 1 anger, rage, wrath, indignation, ire, choler, rancour:
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. 2 impetuosity,
ferocity, savagery, vehemence, fierceness, tempestuousness,
turbulence, violence: How can we stem the fury of his attack?
3 virago, shrew, spitfire, hell-cat, termagant, vixen,she-devil,
hag, witch, bitch, Archaic beldam: Some of the furies from the
women's liberation movement descended on him.

fuse v. blend, merge, unite, combine, compound, mix, commingle,
coalesce, flow or come together, consolidate, amalgamate; melt:
The metals fuse at a relatively low temperature.

fuss n. 1 bother, pother, dither, fluster, flurry, fret, commotion,
ado, bustle, to-do, excitement, furore or US furor, unrest,
(deal of) trouble, disquiet, upset, stir, uproar, disturbance,
stir, hubbub, agitation, brouhaha, Colloq hoo-ha, flap, stink,
Brit kerfuffle, Slang US hoop-la: Stop making such a big fuss
over nothing.


--v. 2 make a fuss, rush about or around, flutter, Colloq kick
up a fuss: I do wish she'd stop fussing - the party is going
very well.

fussy adj. 1 particular, finicky, finical, dainty, discriminating,
difficult, fastidious, exacting, demanding, Colloq picky,
choosy, nit-picking, pernickety or US also persnickety: He's so
fussy that he'll wear only custom-made shoes. 2 fancy,
elaborate, over-decorated, gingerbread, rococo, ornate,

detailed, Byzantine: The style is a bit too fussy for my taste.

futile adj. unsuccessful, unavailing, useless, unprofitable, vain,
abortive, profitless, bootless, worthless, empty, sterile,
barren, unproductive, impotent, ineffective, ineffectual;
Chiefly literary sleeveless: After several futile attempts to
get in touch with you, I gave up.

future n. 1 days or time to come; tomorrow: Who knows what the future
may bring?

--adj. 2 coming, tomorrow's, later, prospective, following,
unborn, subsequent, expected, approaching; to be to come:
Future generations will appreciate what we have done here.


fuzzy adj. 1 woolly, downy, linty, fleecy, furry, fluffy, frizzy,
flossy, flocculent, floccose, floccus; feathery: Tiny bits from
her fuzzy pullover kept coming off on my suit. 2 dim, faint,
hazy, foggy, misty, blurred, blurry, indistinct, unclear, vague,
shadowy, indefinite, obscure, ill-defined, woolly, distorted:
The picture was too fuzzy to make out any details.

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