Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
ADJECTIVE 1 Before you is a well-worn path of beaten earth. = well-trodden, worn, trodden, trampled, well-used, much travelled 2 Cool a little and slowly add the beaten eggs. = stirred, mixed, whipped, blended, whisked, frothy, foamy 3 brightly painted beaten metal = shaped, worked, formed, stamped, hammered, forged 4 They had looked a beaten side with just seven minutes left. = defeated, overcome, frustrated, overwhelmed, cowed, thwarted, vanquished, disheartenedbeating NOUN 1 the savage beating of a prisoner = thrashing, hiding (informal), belting (informal), whipping (slang), slapping, tanning, lashing, smacking, caning, pasting (slang), flogging, drubbing, corporal punishment, chastisement 2 A beating at Wembley would be too much of a trauma for them. = defeat, ruin, overthrow, pasting (slang), conquest, rout, downfallbeau NOUN (old-fashioned) = boyfriend, man, guy (informal), date, lover, young man, steady, escort, admirer, fiancé, sweetheart, suitor, swain (archaic), toy boy, leman (archaic), fancy man (slang), bae (U.S. informal)beautiful ADJECTIVE = attractive, pretty, lovely, stunning (informal), charming, tempting, pleasant, handsome, fetching (informal), good-looking, gorgeous (informal), fine, pleasing, fair, magnetic, delightful, cute, exquisite, enticing, seductive, graceful, captivating, appealing, radiant, alluring, drop-dead (slang), ravishing, bonny (Scot. & Northern English dialect), winsome, comely (old-fashioned), prepossessing, hot (informal), fit (Brit. informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: uglybeautify VERB = make beautiful, enhance, decorate, enrich, adorn, garnish, ornament, gild, embellish, grace, festoon, bedeck, glamorizebeauty NOUN 1 an area of outstanding natural beauty = attractiveness, charm, grace, bloom, glamour, fairness, elegance, symmetry (formal, literary), allure, loveliness, handsomeness, pulchritude, comeliness (old-fashioned), exquisiteness, seemliness ◼ OPPOSITE: ugliness 2 She is known as a great beauty. = good-looker, looker (informal), lovely (slang), sensation, dazzler, belle, goddess, Venus, peach (informal), cracker (slang), wow (slang, chiefly U.S.), dolly (slang), knockout (informal), heart-throb, stunner (informal), charmer, smasher (informal), humdinger (slang), glamour puss, beaut (Austral. & N.Z. slang) 3 the beauty of such water-based minerals = advantage, good, use, benefit, profit, gain, asset, attraction, blessing, good thing, utility, excellence, boon ◼ OPPOSITE: disadvantagebecalmed ADJECTIVE = still, stuck, settled, stranded, motionlessbecause CONJUNCTION She didn't come along because she wasn't feeling well. = since, as, in that ● because of He failed because of a lack of money. = as a result of, on account of, by reason of, thanks to, owing to
| USAGE The phrase on account of can provide a useful alternative to because of in writing. It occurs relatively infrequently in spoken language, where it is sometimes followed by a clause, as in on account of I don't drink coffee. However, this use is considered nonstandard. |
beckon VERB 1 He beckoned to the waiter. = gesture, sign, wave, indicate, signal, nod, motion, summon, gesticulate 2 All the attractions of the peninsula beckon. = lure, call, draw, pull (informal), attract, invite, tempt, entice, coax, allurebecome VERB 1 After leaving school, he became a professional footballer. = come to be, develop into, be transformed into, grow into, change into, evolve into, alter to, mature into, metamorphose into, ripen into 2 Does khaki become you? = suit, fit, enhance, flatter, ornament, embellish, grace, harmonize with, set off ● become of something or someone What will become of him? = happen to, befall (archaic, literary), betidebecoming ADJECTIVE 1 Softer fabrics are much more becoming than stiffer ones. = flattering, pretty, attractive, enhancing, neat, graceful, tasteful, well-chosen, comely (old-fashioned) ◼ OPPOSITE: unflattering 2 This behaviour is not becoming among our politicians. = appropriate, right, seemly, fitting, fit, correct, suitable, decent, proper, worthy, in keeping, compatible, befitting, decorous, comme il faut (French), congruous, meet (archaic) ◼ OPPOSITE: inappropriatebed NOUN 1 She went in to her bedroom and lay down on the bed. = bedstead, couch, berth, cot, pallet, divan 2 beds of strawberries and rhubarb = plot, area, row, strip, patch, ground, land, garden, border 3 the bare bed of a dry stream = bottom, ground, floor 4 a sandstone bed = base, footing, basis, bottom, foundation, underpinning, groundwork, bedrock, substructure, substratum ▸ VERB The slabs can then be bedded on mortar to give rigid paving. = fix, set, found, base, plant, establish, settle, root, sink, insert, implant, embed ● bed down They bedded down in the fields. = sleep, lie down, retire, turn in (informal), settle down, kip (Brit. slang), hit the hay (slang)bedclothes PLURAL NOUN = bedding, covers, sheets, blankets, linen, pillow, quilt, duvet, pillowcase, bed linen, coverlet, eiderdownbedding NOUN = bedclothes, covers, sheets, blankets, linen, pillow, quilt, duvet, pillowcase, bed linen, coverlet, eiderdownbedeck VERB = decorate, grace, trim, array, enrich, adorn, garnish, ornament, embellish, festoon, beautify, bedight (archaic), bedizen (archaic), engarlandbedevil VERB = plague, worry, trouble, frustrate, torture, irritate, torment, harass, hassle (informal), aggravate (informal), afflict, pester, vex, irkbedlam NOUN = pandemonium, noise, confusion, chaos, turmoil, clamour, furore, uproar, commotion, rumpus, babel, tumult, hubbub, ruction (informal), hullabaloo, hue and cry, ruckus (informal)bedraggled ADJECTIVE = messy, soiled, dirty, disordered, stained, dripping, muddied, muddy, drenched, ruffled, untidy, sodden, sullied, dishevelled, rumpled, unkempt, tousled, disarranged, disarrayed, daggy (Austral. & N.Z. informal)bedridden ADJECTIVE = confined to bed, confined, incapacitated, laid up (informal), flat on your backbedrock NOUN 1 Mutual trust is the bedrock of a relationship. = first principle, rule, basis, basics, principle, essentials, roots, core, fundamentals, cornerstone, nuts and bolts (informal), sine qua non (Latin), rudiment 2 It took five years to drill down to bedrock. = bottom, bed, foundation, underpinning, rock bottom, substructure, substratumbee NOUN ◼ RELATED WORDS: adjective apian; noun swarm, grist; name of home hive, apiarybeef NOUN = complaint, dispute, grievance, problem, grumble, criticism, objection, dissatisfaction, annoyance, grouse, gripe (informal), protestation, grouch (informal), remonstrancebeefy ADJECTIVE = brawny, strong, powerful, athletic, strapping, robust, hefty (informal), muscular, swole (slang), hench (informal), sturdy, stalwart, bulky, burly, stocky, hulking, well-built, herculean, sinewy, thickset ◼ OPPOSITE: scrawnybeehive NOUN = hive, colony, comb, swarm, honeycomb, apiarybeer NOUN = ale, brew, swipes (Brit. slang), wallop (Brit. slang), hop juice, amber fluid or nectar (Austral. informal), tinnie or tinny (Austral. slang)beer parlour NOUN (Canad.) = tavern, inn, bar, pub (informal, chiefly Brit.), public house, watering hole (facetious, slang), boozer (Brit. & Austral. & N.Z. informal), beverage room (Canad.), hostelrybefall VERB = happen to, fall upon, occur in, take place in, ensue in, transpire in (informal), materialize in, come to pass inbefit VERB = be appropriate for, become, suit, be fitting for, be suitable for, be seemly for, behove (U.S.)befitting ADJECTIVE = appropriate to, right for, suitable for, fitting for, fit for, becoming to, seemly for, proper for, apposite to, meet (archaic) ◼ OPPOSITE: unsuitable forbefore PREPOSITION 1 Annie was born a few weeks before Christmas. = earlier than, ahead of, prior to, in advance of ◼ OPPOSITE: after 2 They stopped before a large white villa. = in front of, ahead of, in advance of, to the fore of 3 The Government will appear before the committee. = in the presence of, in front of 4 I saw before me an idyllic life. = ahead of, in front of, in advance of ▸ ADVERB 1 The war had ended only a month or so before. = previously, earlier, sooner, in advance, formerly ◼ OPPOSITE: after 2 I've been here before. = in the past, earlier, once, previously, formerly, at one time, hitherto (formal), beforehand, a while ago, heretofore, in days or years gone by ◼ RELATED WORD: prefixes ante-, fore-, pre-beforehand ADVERB = in