Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
benign, wholesome, advantageous, expedient, salutary, healthful, serviceable, salubrious, gainful ◼ OPPOSITE: harmfulbeneficiary NOUN 1 The main beneficiaries of pension equality so far have been men. = recipient, receiver, payee, assignee, legatee 2 a sole beneficiary of a will = heir, inheritorbenefit NOUN 1 I'm a great believer in the benefits of this form of therapy. = good, use, help, profit, gain, favour, utility, boon, mileage (informal), avail ◼ OPPOSITE: harm 2 This could now work to his benefit. = advantage, interest, aid, gain, favour, assistance, betterment ▸ VERB 1 Both sides have benefited from the talks. = profit from, make the most of, gain from, do well out of, reap benefits from, turn to your advantage 2 a variety of government schemes benefiting children = help, serve, aid, profit, improve, advance, advantage, enhance, assist, avail ◼ OPPOSITE: harmbenevolence NOUN = kindness, understanding, charity, grace, sympathy, humanity, tolerance, goodness, goodwill, compassion, generosity, indulgence, decency, altruism, clemency, gentleness, philanthropy, magnanimity, fellow feeling, beneficence, kindliness, kind-heartedness, aroha (N.Z.) ◼ OPPOSITE: ill willbenevolent ADJECTIVE = kind, good, kindly, understanding, caring, liberal, generous, obliging, sympathetic, humanitarian, charitable, benign, humane, compassionate, gracious, indulgent, amiable, amicable, lenient, cordial, considerate, affable, congenial, altruistic, philanthropic, bountiful, beneficent, well-disposed, kind-hearted, warm-hearted, bounteous, tender-heartedbenighted ADJECTIVE = uncivilized, crude, primitive, backward, uncultivated, unenlightenedbenign ADJECTIVE 1 Critics of the scheme take a less benign view. = benevolent, kind, kindly, warm, liberal, friendly, generous, obliging, sympathetic, favourable, compassionate, gracious, amiable, genial, affable, complaisant ◼ OPPOSITE: unkind 2 It wasn't cancer, only a benign tumour. = harmless, innocent, superficial, innocuous, curable, inoffensive, not dangerous, remediable ◼ OPPOSITE: malignant 3 relatively benign economic conditions = favourable, good, encouraging, warm, moderate, beneficial, clement, advantageous, salutary, auspicious, propitious ◼ OPPOSITE: unfavourablebent ADJECTIVE 1 The trees were all bent and twisted from the wind. = misshapen, twisted, angled, bowed, curved, arched, crooked, distorted, warped, deformed, tortuous, disfigured, out of shape ◼ OPPOSITE: straight 2 a bent, frail, old man = stooped, bowed, arched, hunched ▸ NOUN a bent for natural history = inclination, ability, taste, facility, talent, leaning, tendency, preference, faculty, forte, flair, knack, penchant, bag (slang), propensity, aptitude, predisposition, predilection, proclivity (formal), turn of mind ● bent on They are bent on revenge. = intent on, set on, fixed on, predisposed to, resolved on, insistent onbequeath VERB 1 He bequeathed all his silver to his children. = leave, will, give, grant, commit, transmit, hand down, endow, bestow, entrust, leave to by will 2 She bequeaths her successor an economy that is doing quite well. = give, offer, accord, grant, afford, contribute, yield, lend, pass on, transmit, confer, bestow, impartbequest NOUN = legacy, gift, settlement, heritage, trust, endowment, estate, inheritance, dower, bestowal, koha (N.Z.)berate VERB = scold, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, blast, carpet (informal), put down, criticize, slate (informal, chiefly Brit.), censure, castigate, revile, chide, harangue, tear into (informal), tell off (informal), rail at, read the riot act to, reprove, upbraid, slap on the wrist, lambast(e), bawl out (informal), excoriate, rap over the knuckles, chew out (U.S. & Canad. informal), tear (someone) off a strip (Brit. informal), give a rocket (Brit. & N.Z. informal), vituperate ◼ OPPOSITE: praisebereavement NOUN = loss, death, misfortune, deprivation, affliction, tribulationbereft ADJECTIVE ● bereft of = deprived of, without, minus, lacking in, devoid of, cut off from, parted from, sans (archaic), robbed of, empty of, denuded ofberg NOUN (S. African) = mountain, peak, mount, height, ben (Scot.), horn, ridge, fell (Brit.), alp, pinnacle, elevation, eminenceberserk ADJECTIVE = crazy, wild, mad (informal), frantic, ape (slang), barro (Austral. slang), off the air (Austral. slang), porangi (N.Z.)berth NOUN 1 Golding booked a berth on the first boat he could. = bunk, bed, cot (Nautical), hammock, billet 2 A ship has applied to leave its berth. = anchorage, haven, slip, port, harbour, dock, pier, wharf, quay ▸ VERB The ship berthed in New York. = anchor, land, dock, moor, tie up, drop anchorbeseech VERB = beg, ask, petition, call upon, plead with, solicit, implore, entreat, importune (formal), adjure, supplicatebeset VERB = plague, trouble, embarrass, torture, haunt, torment, harass, afflict, badger, perplex, pester, vex, entangle, bedevilbesetting ADJECTIVE = chronic, persistent, long-standing, prevalent, habitual, ingrained, deep-seated, incurable, deep-rooted, inveterate, incorrigible, ineradicablebeside PREPOSITION On the table beside an empty plate was a pile of books. = next to, near, close to, neighbouring, alongside, overlooking, next door to, adjacent to, at the side of, abreast of, cheek by jowl with ● beside yourself He was beside himself with anxiety. = distraught, desperate, mad, distressed, frantic, frenzied, hysterical, unbalanced, uncontrolled, deranged, berserk, delirious, unhinged, very anxious, overwrought, apoplectic, at the end of your tether
| USAGE People occasionally confuse beside and besides. Besides is used for mentioning something that adds to what you have already said, for example: I didn't feel like going and besides, I had nothing to wear. Beside usually means next to or at the side of something or someone, for example: he was standing beside me (not besides me). |
besides PREPOSITION I asked him where he had been in South America besides Peru. = apart from, barring, excepting, other than, excluding, as well (as), in addition to, over and above ▸ ADVERB It doesn't fit you, and besides it's dreadful! = also, too, further, otherwise, in addition, as well, moreover, furthermore, what's more, into the bargainbesiege VERB 1 She was besieged by the press and the public. = harass, worry, trouble, harry, bother, disturb, plague, hound, hassle (informal), badger, pester, importune (formal), bend someone's ear (informal), give someone grief (Brit. & S. African), beleaguer 2 The main part of the army moved to besiege the town. = surround, confine, enclose, blockade, encompass, beset, encircle, close in on, hem in, shut in, lay siege to, hedge in, environ, beleaguer, invest (rare)besotted ADJECTIVE = infatuated, charmed, captivated, beguiled, doting, smitten, bewitched, bowled over (informal), spellbound, enamoured, hypnotized, swept off your feetbest ADJECTIVE 1 He was the best player in the world for most of the 1950s. = finest, leading, chief, supreme, principal, first, foremost, superlative, pre-eminent, unsurpassed, most accomplished, most skilful, most excellent 2 the best way to end the long-running war = most fitting, right, most desirable, most apt, most advantageous, most correct ▸ NOUN You must do your best to protect yourselves. = utmost, most, greatest, hardest, highest endeavour ▸ ADVERB The thing I liked best about the show was the music. = most highly, most fully, most deeply ● the best We only offer the best to our clients. = the finest, the pick, the choice, the flower, the cream, the elite, the crème de la crèmebestow VERB = present, give, accord, award, grant, commit, hand out, lavish, confer, endow, entrust, impart, allot, honour with, apportion ◼ OPPOSITE: obtainbestseller NOUN = success, hit (informal), winner, smash (informal), belter (slang), sensation, blockbuster (informal), wow (slang), market leader, smash hit (informal), chart-topper (informal), runaway success, number one ◼ OPPOSITE: failurebestselling ADJECTIVE = successful, top, hit (informal), smash (informal), flourishing, lucrative, smash-hit (informal), chart-topping (informal), moneymaking, number one, highly successfulbet VERB I bet on a horse called Premonition. = gamble, chance, stake, venture, hazard, speculate, punt (chiefly Brit.), wager, put money, risk money, pledge money, put your shirt on ▸ NOUN He made a 30 mile trip to the casino to place a bet. = gamble, risk, stake, venture, pledge, speculation, hazard, flutter (informal), ante, punt (chiefly Brit.), wager, long shotbetray