Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
ADJECTIVE 1 There was an awkward moment when people had to decide where to stand. = embarrassing, difficult, compromising, sensitive, embarrassed, painful, distressing, delicate, uncomfortable, tricky, trying, humiliating, unpleasant, sticky (informal), troublesome, perplexing, disconcerting, inconvenient, thorny, untimely, ill at ease, discomfiting, ticklish, inopportune, toe-curling (slang), barro (Austral. slang), cringeworthy (Brit. informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: comfortable 2 It was heavy enough to make it awkward to carry. = inconvenient, difficult, troublesome, cumbersome, unwieldy, unmanageable, clunky (informal), unhandy ◼ OPPOSITE: convenient 3 She made an awkward gesture with her hands. = clumsy, stiff, rude, blundering, coarse, bungling, lumbering, inept, unskilled, bumbling, unwieldy, ponderous, ungainly, gauche, gawky, uncouth, unrefined, artless, inelegant, uncoordinated, graceless, cack-handed (informal), unpolished, clownish, oafish, inexpert, maladroit, all thumbs, ungraceful, skill-less, unskilful, butterfingered (informal), unhandy, ham-fisted or ham-handed (informal), unco (Austral. slang) ◼ OPPOSITE: graceful 4 She's got to an age where she's being awkward. = uncooperative, trying, difficult, annoying, unpredictable, unreasonable, stubborn, troublesome, perverse, prickly, exasperating, irritable, intractable, vexing, unhelpful, touchy, obstinate, obstructive, bloody-minded (Brit. informal), chippy (informal), vexatious, hard to handle, disobligingawkwardness NOUN 1 He displayed all the awkwardness of adolescence. = clumsiness, stiffness, rudeness, coarseness, ineptness, artlessness, gaucheness, inelegance, gaucherie, gracelessness, oafishness, gawkiness, uncouthness, maladroitness, ungainliness, clownishness, inexpertness, uncoordination, unskilfulness, unskilledness 2 It was a moment of some awkwardness in our relationship. = embarrassment, difficulty, discomfort, delicacy, unpleasantness, inconvenience, stickiness (informal), painfulness, ticklishness, uphill (S. African), thorniness, inopportuneness, perplexingness, untimelinessawry ADVERB He was concerned that his hair might go awry. = askew, to one side, off course, out of line, obliquely, unevenly, off-centre, cockeyed (informal), out of true, crookedly, skew-whiff (informal) ▸ ADJECTIVE His dark hair was all awry. = askew, twisted, crooked, to one side, uneven, off course, out of line, asymmetrical, off-centre, cockeyed (informal), misaligned, out of true, skew-whiff (informal) ▸ ADVERB or ADJECTIVE a plan that had gone awry = wrong, amissaxe NOUN She took an axe and chopped down some trees. = hatchet, chopper, tomahawk, cleaver, adze ▸ VERB 1 Community projects are being axed by the government. = abandon, end, pull, eliminate, cancel, scrap, wind up, turn off (informal), relegate, cut back, terminate, dispense with, discontinue, pull the plug on 2 He was axed by the club after his comments about a referee. = dismiss, fire (informal), sack (informal), remove, get rid of, discharge, throw out, oust, give (someone) their marching orders, give the boot to (slang, old-fashioned), give the bullet to (Brit. slang), give the push to, kennet (Austral. slang), jeff (Austral. slang) ● an axe to grind I've got no axe to grind with him. = pet subject, grievance, ulterior motive, private purpose, personal consideration, private ends ● the axe one of the four doctors facing the axe = the sack (informal), dismissal, discharge, wind-up, the boot (slang), cancellation, cutback, termination, the chop (slang), the (old) heave-ho (informal), the order of the boot (slang)axiom NOUN = principle, fundamental, maxim, gnome, adage, postulate, dictum, precept, aphorism, truism, apophthegmaxis NOUN = pivot, shaft, axle, spindle, centre lineaxle NOUN = shaft, pin, rod, axis, pivot, spindle, arbor, mandrelazure ADJECTIVE = sky blue, blue, clear blue, ultramarine, cerulean, sky-coloured
Bb
babble VERB
1 They all babbled simultaneously. = gabble, chatter, gush, spout, waffle (informal, chiefly Brit.), splutter, gaggle, burble, prattle, gibber, rabbit on (Brit. informal), jabber, prate, earbash (Austral. & N.Z. slang) 2 a brook babbling only yards from the door = gurgle, lap, bubble, splash, murmur, ripple, burble, plash ▸ NOUN 1 He couldn't make himself heard above the babble. = gabble, chatter, burble, prattle, blabber 2 lots of babble about strategies and tactics = gibberish, waffle (informal, chiefly Brit.), drivel, twaddlebabe NOUN = baby, child, innocent, infant, bairn (Scot. & Northern English), tacker (Austral. slang), suckling, newborn child, babe in arms, nurslingbaby NOUN We just had a baby. = child, infant, babe, wean (Scot.), little one, bairn (Scot. & Northern English), suckling, newborn child, babe in arms, sprog (slang), neonate, rug rat (U.S. & Canad. informal), ankle biter (Austral. slang), tacker (Austral. slang) ▸ ADJECTIVE Serve with baby new potatoes. = small, little, minute, tiny, mini, wee, miniature, dwarf, diminutive, petite, midget, teeny (informal), pocket-sized, undersized, teeny-weeny (informal), Lilliputian, teensy-weensy (informal), pygmy or pigmy ▸ VERB My parents never babied me, unless I was really ill. = spoil, pamper, cosset, coddle, pet, humour, indulge, spoon-feed, mollycoddle, overindulge, wrap up in cotton wool (informal)back NOUN 1 The treatment involved tiny injections in the back. = spine, backbone, vertebrae, spinal column, vertebral column 2 a room at the back of the shop = rear, other side, back end, rear side ◼ OPPOSITE: front 3 = end, tail end 4 She had written a poem on the back of a postcard. = reverse, rear, other side, wrong side, underside, flip side, verso ▸ ADJECTIVE 1 a path leading to the back garden = rear ◼ OPPOSITE: front 2 He loved sitting in the back seat on road trips. = rearmost, hind, hindmost 3 A handful of back copies will give an indication of property prices. = previous, earlier, former, past, elapsed ◼ OPPOSITE: future 4 They had transmitters taped to their back feathers. = tail, end, rear, posterior ▸ VERB 1 He is backed by the civic movement. = support, help, second, aid, champion, encourage, favour, defend, promote, sanction, sustain, assist, advocate, endorse, side with, stand up for, espouse, stand behind, countenance, abet, stick up for (informal), take up the cudgels for ◼ OPPOSITE: oppose 2 Murjani backed him to start the new company. = subsidize, help, support, finance, sponsor, assist, underwrite ● back down It's too late now to back down. = give in, collapse, withdraw, yield, concede, submit, surrender, comply, cave in (informal), capitulate, accede, admit defeat, back-pedal ● back out I've already promised I'll go – I can't back out now. = withdraw, retire, give up, pull out, retreat, drop out, renege, cop out (slang), chicken out (informal), detach yourself ● back someone up The woman made a statement, and the men backed her up. = support, second, aid, assist, stand by, bolster ● behind someone's back You enjoy her hospitality, and then criticize her behind her back. = secretly, covertly, surreptitiously, furtively, conspiratorially, sneakily, deceitfully ◼ RELATED WORD: adjective dorsalbackbone NOUN 1 He was so thin that his backbone was visible. = spinal column, spine, vertebrae, vertebral column 2 the economic backbone of the nation = foundation, support, base, basis, mainstay, bedrock 3 You might be taking drastic measures and you've got to have the backbone to do that. = strength of character, will, character, bottle (Brit. slang), resolution, resolve, nerve, daring, courage, determination, guts, pluck, stamina, grit, bravery, fortitude, toughness, tenacity, willpower, mettle, boldness, firmness, spunk (informal), fearlessness, steadfastness, moral fibre, hardihood, dauntlessnessbacker NOUN 1 I was looking for a backer to assist me in the attempted buy-out. = supporter, second, ally, angel (informal), patron, promoter, subscriber, underwriter, helper, benefactor 2 He became a backer of reform at the height of the crisis. = advocate, supporter, patron, sponsor, promoter, protagonistbackfire VERB = fail, founder, flop (informal), rebound, fall through, fall flat, boomerang, miscarry, misfire, go belly-up (slang), turn out badly, meet with disasterbackground NOUN 1 Moulded