Collins English Thesaurus Essential. Collins Dictionaries
eccentric, abnormal, ludicrous, queer (old-fashioned), irregular, rum (Brit. slang), uncommon, singular, grotesque, perplexing, uncanny, mystifying, off-the-wall (slang), outlandish, comical, oddball (informal), off the rails, zany, unaccountable, off-beat, left-field (informal), freakish, wacky (informal), outré, cockamamie (slang, chiefly U.S.), daggy (Austral. & N.Z. informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: normalblack ADJECTIVE 1 He had thick black hair. = dark, raven, ebony, sable, jet, dusky, pitch-black, inky, swarthy, stygian, coal-black, pitchy, murky ◼ OPPOSITE: light 2 After the demise of her business, she fell into a black depression. = gloomy, sad, depressing, distressing, horrible, grim, bleak, hopeless, dismal, ominous, sombre, morbid, mournful, morose, lugubrious, joyless, funereal, doleful, cheerless ◼ OPPOSITE: happy 3 He had just undergone one of the blackest days of his political career. = terrible (informal), bad, devastating, tragic, fatal, unfortunate, dreadful, destructive, unlucky, harmful, adverse, dire, catastrophic, hapless, detrimental, untoward, ruinous, calamitous, cataclysmic, ill-starred, unpropitious, ill-fated, cataclysmal 4 the blackest laws in the country's history = wicked, bad, evil, corrupt, vicious, immoral, depraved, debased, amoral, villainous, unprincipled, nefarious, dissolute, iniquitous, irreligious, impious, unrighteous ◼ OPPOSITE: good 5 = cynical, weird, ironic, pessimistic, morbid, misanthropic, mordacious 6 a black look on your face = angry, cross, furious, hostile, sour, menacing, moody, resentful, glowering, sulky, baleful, louring or lowering ◼ OPPOSITE: happy 7 The whole front of him was black with dirt. = dirty, soiled, stained, filthy, muddy, blackened, grubby, dingy, grimy, sooty, mucky, scuzzy (slang, chiefly U.S.), begrimed, festy (Austral. slang), mud-encrusted, miry ◼ OPPOSITE: clean ● black out He felt so ill that he blacked out. = pass out, drop, collapse, faint, swoon, lose consciousness, keel over (informal), flake out (informal), become unconscious ● black something out The whole city is blacked out at night. = darken, cover, shade, conceal, obscure, eclipse, dim, blacken, obfuscate (formal), make dark, make darker, make dim ● in the black I can't justify travelling until I'm in the black. = in credit, solid, solvent, in funds, financially sound, without debt, unindebted
| USAGE When referring to people with dark skin, the adjective black or Black is widely used. For people of the US whose origins lie in Africa, the preferred term is African-American. To use a Black or Blacks as a noun is considered offensive, and it is better to talk about a Black person and Black people. |
blacken VERB 1 He watched the blackening clouds move in. = darken, deepen, grow black 2 The smoke blackened the sky like the apocalypse. = make dark, shadow, shade, obscure, overshadow, make darker, make dim 3 They're trying to blacken our name. = discredit, stain, disgrace, smear, knock (informal), degrade, rubbish (informal), taint, tarnish, censure, slur, slag (off) (slang), malign, reproach, denigrate, disparage, decry, vilify, slander, sully, dishonour, defile, defame, bad-mouth (slang), traduce, bring into disrepute, smirch, calumniateblacklist VERB = exclude, bar, ban, reject, rule out, veto, boycott, embargo, expel, vote against, preclude, disallow, repudiate, proscribe, ostracize, debar, blackballblack magic NOUN = witchcraft, magic, witching, voodoo, the occult, wizardry, enchantment, sorcery, occultism, incantation, black art, witchery, necromancy, diabolism, sortilege, makutu (N.Z.)blackmail NOUN It looks like the pictures were being used for blackmail. = threat, intimidation, ransom, compulsion, protection (informal), coercion, extortion, pay-off (informal), shakedown, hush money (slang), exaction ▸ VERB I thought he was trying to blackmail me into saying whatever he wanted. = threaten, force, squeeze, compel, exact, intimidate, wring, coerce, milk, wrest, dragoon, extort, bleed (informal), press-gang, hold to ransomblackness NOUN = darkness, shade, gloom, dusk (poetic), obscurity, nightfall, murk, dimness, murkiness, duskiness, shadiness, melanism (technical), inkiness, nigrescence (rare) ◼ OPPOSITE: lightblackout NOUN 1 a media blackout = noncommunication, secrecy, censorship, suppression, radio silence 2 an electricity blackout = power cut, power failure 3 I suffered a blackout which lasted for several minutes. = unconsciousness, collapse, faint, oblivion, swoon (literary), loss of consciousness, syncope (Pathology)black sheep NOUN = disgrace, rebel, maverick, outcast, renegade, dropout, prodigal, individualist, nonconformist, ne'er-do-well, reprobate, wastrel, bad egg (old-fashioned, informal)blame VERB 1 They blamed the army for most of the atrocities. = hold responsible, accuse, denounce, indict, impeach, incriminate, impute, recriminate, point a or the finger at ◼ OPPOSITE: absolve 2 The police blamed the accident on black ice. = attribute to, credit to, assign to, put down to, impute to 3 (used in negative constructions) I do not blame them for trying to make some money. = criticize, charge, tax, blast, condemn, put down, disapprove of, censure, reproach, chide, admonish, tear into (informal), find fault with, reprove, upbraid, lambast(e), reprehend, express disapprobation of ◼ OPPOSITE: praise ▸ NOUN I could not let an innocent man take the blame for this. = responsibility, liability, rap (slang), accountability, onus, culpability, answerability ◼ OPPOSITE: praiseblameless ADJECTIVE = innocent, clear, clean, upright, stainless, honest, immaculate, impeccable, virtuous, faultless, squeaky-clean, unblemished, unsullied, uninvolved, unimpeachable, untarnished, above suspicion, irreproachable, guiltless, unspotted, unoffending ◼ OPPOSITE: guiltyblanch VERB = turn pale, fade, pale, drain, bleach, wan, whiten, go white, become pallid, become or grow whitebland ADJECTIVE 1 It's easy on the ear but bland and forgettable. = dull, boring, weak, plain, flat, commonplace, tedious, vanilla (informal), dreary, tiresome, monotonous, run-of-the-mill, uninspiring, humdrum, unimaginative, uninteresting, insipid, unexciting, ho-hum (informal), vapid, unstimulating, undistinctive ◼ OPPOSITE: exciting 2 It tasted bland and insipid, like warmed card. = tasteless, weak, watered-down, insipid, flavourless, thin, unstimulating, undistinctiveblank ADJECTIVE 1 He tore a blank page from his notebook. = unmarked, white, clear, clean, empty, plain, bare, void, spotless, unfilled, uncompleted ◼ OPPOSITE: marked 2 He gave him a blank look. = expressionless, empty, dull, vague, hollow, vacant, lifeless, deadpan, straight-faced, vacuous, impassive, inscrutable, inane, wooden, poker-faced (informal) ◼ OPPOSITE: expressive 3 Abbot looked blank. 'I don't follow, sir.' = puzzled, lost, confused, stumped, doubtful, baffled, stuck (informal), at sea, bewildered, muddled, mixed up, confounded, perplexed, disconcerted, at a loss, mystified, clueless, dumbfounded, nonplussed, uncomprehending, flummoxed 4 a blank refusal to attend = absolute, complete, total, utter, outright, thorough, downright, consummate, unqualified, out and out, unmitigated, unmixed ▸ NOUN 1 Put a word in each blank to complete the sentence. = empty space, space, gap 2 Everything was a complete blank. = void, vacuum, vacancy, emptiness, nothingness, vacuity, tabula rasablanket NOUN 1 There was an old blanket in the trunk of my car. = cover, rug, coverlet, afghan 2 The mud disappeared under a blanket of snow. = covering, cover, bed, sheet, coating, coat, layer, film, carpet, cloak, mantle, thickness ▸ VERB More than a foot of snow blanketed parts of Michigan. = coat, cover, hide, surround, cloud, mask, conceal, obscure, eclipse, cloak ▸ ADJECTIVE the blanket coverage of the Olympics = comprehensive, full, complete, wide, sweeping, broad, extensive, wide-ranging, thorough, inclusive, exhaustive, all-inclusive, all-embracingblare VERB = blast, scream, boom, roar, thunder, trumpet, resound, hoot, toot, reverberate, sound out, honk, clang, pealblarney NOUN = flattery, coaxing, exaggeration, fawning, adulation, wheedling, spiel, sweet talk (informal), flannel (Brit. informal), soft soap (informal), sycophancy, servility, obsequiousness, cajolery, blandishment, fulsomeness, toadyism, overpraise, false praise, honeyed wordsblasé ADJECTIVE = nonchalant, cool, bored, distant, regardless, detached, weary, indifferent, careless, lukewarm, glutted, jaded, unmoved,