Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
contemptible, dishonourable, ignoble, detestable, scungy (Austral. & N.Z.)ablaze ADJECTIVE 1 Shops, houses and vehicles were ablaze. = on fire, burning, flaming, blazing, fiery, alight, aflame, afire 2 The chamber was ablaze with light. = bright, brilliant, flashing, glowing, sparkling, illuminated, gleaming, radiant, luminous, incandescent, aglow 3 She was ablaze with enthusiasm. = passionate, excited, stimulated, fierce, enthusiastic, aroused, animated, frenzied, fervent, impassioned, fervidable ADJECTIVE = capable, experienced, fit, skilled, expert, powerful, masterly, effective, qualified, talented, gifted, efficient, clever, practised, accomplished, competent, skilful, adept, masterful, strong, proficient, adroit, highly endowed ◼ OPPOSITE: incapableable-bodied ADJECTIVE = strong, firm, sound, fit, powerful, healthy, strapping, hardy, robust, vigorous, sturdy, hale (old-fashioned), stout, staunch, hearty, lusty, right as rain (Brit. informal), tough, capable, sturdy, Herculean, fighting fit, sinewy, fit as a fiddleabnormal ADJECTIVE = unusual, different, odd, strange, surprising, extraordinary, remarkable, bizarre, unexpected, curious, weird, exceptional, peculiar, eccentric, unfamiliar, queer (old-fashioned), irregular, phenomenal, uncommon, erratic, monstrous, singular, unnatural, deviant (old-fashioned), unconventional, off-the-wall (slang), oddball (informal), out of the ordinary, left-field (informal), anomalous, atypical, aberrant, untypical, outré ◼ OPPOSITE: normalabnormality NOUN 1 Further scans are required to confirm any abnormality. = strangeness, deviation, eccentricity, aberration, peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, irregularity, weirdness, singularity, oddness, waywardness, unorthodoxy, unexpectedness, queerness, unnaturalness, bizarreness, unusualness, extraordinariness, aberrance, atypicalness, uncommonness, untypicalness, curiousness 2 Genetic abnormalities are sometimes associated with paternal DNA. = anomaly, flaw, rarity, deviation, oddity, aberration, exception, peculiarity, deformity, irregularity, malformationabnormally ADVERB = unusually, oddly, strangely, extremely, exceptionally, extraordinarily, overly, excessively, peculiarly, particularly, bizarrely, disproportionately, singularly, fantastically, unnaturally, uncannily, inordinately, uncommonly, prodigiously, freakishly, atypically, subnormally, supernormallyabode NOUN = home, house, quarters, lodging, pad (slang, old-fashioned), residence, habitat, dwelling (formal, literary), habitation (formal), domicile, dwelling placeabolish VERB = do away with, end, destroy, eliminate, shed, cancel, axe (informal), get rid of, ditch (slang), dissolve, junk (informal), suppress, overturn, throw out, discard, wipe out, overthrow, void, terminate, drop, trash (slang), repeal, eradicate, put an end to, quash, extinguish, dispense with, revoke, stamp out, obliterate, subvert, jettison, repudiate, annihilate, rescind, exterminate, invalidate, bring to an end, annul, nullify, blot out, expunge (formal), abrogate (archaic), vitiate (archaic), extirpate (archaic), kennet (Austral. slang), jeff (Austral. slang) ◼ OPPOSITE: establishabolition NOUN = eradication, ending, end, withdrawal, destruction, removal, overturning, wiping out, overthrow, voiding, extinction, repeal, elimination, cancellation, suppression, quashing, termination, stamping out, subversion, extermination, annihilation, blotting out, repudiation, erasure, annulment, obliteration, revocation, effacement, nullification, abrogation, rescission, extirpation (formal), invalidation, vitiation, expunctionabominable ADJECTIVE = detestable, shocking, terrible (informal), offensive, foul, disgusting, horrible, revolting, obscene, vile, horrid, repellent, atrocious, obnoxious, despicable, repulsive, base, heinous, hellish (informal), odious, hateful, repugnant, reprehensible, loathsome, abhorrent, contemptible, villainous, nauseous, wretched, accursed, execrable, godawful (slang) ◼ OPPOSITE: pleasantabomination NOUN 1 What is happening is an abomination. = outrage, bête noire, horror, evil, shame, plague (informal), curse, disgrace, crime, atrocity, torment, anathema, barbarism, bugbear 2 He had become an object of abomination. = hatred, hate, horror, disgust, dislike, loathing, distaste, animosity, aversion, revulsion, antagonism, antipathy, enmity, ill will, animus, abhorrence, repugnance, odium (formal), detestation, execrationaboriginal ADJECTIVE = indigenous, first, earliest, original, primary, ancient, native, primitive, pristine, primordial, primeval, autochthonousaborigine NOUN = original inhabitant, native, aboriginal, indigeneabort VERB The take-off was aborted. = stop, end, finish, check, arrest, halt, cease, bring or come to a halt or a standstill, axe (informal), pull up, terminate, call off, break off, cut short, pack in (Brit. informal), discontinue, desistabortion NOUN 1 Doctors advised her to have an abortion. = termination, feticide (archaic), aborticide (archaic), miscarriage, deliberate miscarriage 2 the abortion of the original nuclear project = failure, disappointment, fiasco, misadventure, vain effortabortive ADJECTIVE = failed, failing, useless, vain, unsuccessful, idle, ineffective, futile, fruitless, unproductive, ineffectual, miscarried, unavailing, bootlessabound VERB Stories abound about when he was in charge. = be plentiful, thrive, flourish, be numerous, proliferate, be abundant, be thick on the ground, superabound ● abound with or in something Venice abounds in famous hotels. = overflow with, be packed with, teem with, be crowded with, swell with, crawl with, swarm with, be jammed with, be infested with, be thronged with, luxuriate withabout PREPOSITION 1 She knew a lot about food. = regarding, on, re, concerning, touching, dealing with, respecting, referring to, relating to, concerned with, connected with, relative to, with respect to, as regards, anent (Scot.) 2 For 18 years, he wandered about Germany, Switzerland and Italy. = around, over, through, round, throughout, all over 3 The restaurant is somewhere about here. = near, around, close to, bordering, nearby, beside, close by, adjacent to, just round the corner from, in the neighbourhood of, alongside of, contiguous to, within sniffing distance of (informal), at close quarters to, a hop, skip and a jump away from (informal) ▸ ADVERB 1 The rate of inflation is running at about 2.7 per cent. = approximately, around, almost, nearing, nearly, approaching, close to, roughly, just about, more or less, in the region of, in the vicinity of, not far off 2 The house isn't big enough with three children running about. = everywhere, around, all over, here and there, on all sides, in all directions, to and fro, from place to place, hither and thither ● about to I think he's about to leave. = on the point of, ready to, intending to, on the verge or brink ofabout-turn NOUN The decision was seen as an about-turn for the government. = change of direction, reverse, reversal, turnaround, U-turn, right about (turn), about-face, volte-face, turnabout, paradigm shift ▸ VERB She about-turned abruptly and left. = change direction, reverse, about-face, volte-face, face the opposite direction, turn about or around, turn through 180 degrees, do or perform a U-turn or volte-faceabove PREPOSITION 1 He lifted his arms above his head. = over, upon, beyond, on top of, exceeding, higher than, atop ◼ OPPOSITE: under 2 the people above you in the organization = senior to, over, ahead of, in charge of, higher than, surpassing, superior to, more powerful than ◼ OPPOSITE: subordinate to 3 I want to be honest, above everything else. = before, more than, rather than, beyond, instead of, sooner than, in preference to ▸ ADVERB A long scream sounded from somewhere above. = overhead, upward, in the sky, on high, in heaven, atop, aloft, up above, skyward ▸ ADJECTIVE The department posted the above picture on its website. = preceding, earlier, previous, prior, foregoing, aforementioned, aforesaid ◼ RELATED WORD: prefixes super-, supra-, sur-abrasion NOUN 1 He had severe abrasions to his right cheek. = graze, scratch, trauma (Pathology), scrape, scuff, chafe, surface injury 2 The sole of the shoe should be designed to take constant abrasion. = rubbing, wear, scratching, scraping, grating, friction, scouring, attrition, corrosion, wearing down, erosion, scuffing, chafing, grinding down, wearing away, abradingabrasive ADJECTIVE 1 She was unrepentant about her abrasive remarks. = harsh, cutting, biting, tough, sharp, severe, bitter, rough, hard, nasty, cruel, annoying, brutal, stern, irritating, unpleasant, grating, abusive, galling, unkind, hurtful, caustic, vitriolic, pitiless, unfeeling, comfortless 2 an all-purpose non-abrasive cleaner = rough, scratching, scraping, grating, scuffing, chafing, scratchy, frictional, erosive ▸ NOUN Avoid abrasives,