| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | power to act, perform |
| Synonyms: | aptitude, capability, capacity, competence, competency, comprehension, dexterity, endowment, facility, faculty, intelligence, might, potentiality, qualification, resourcefulness, skill, strength, talent, understanding |
| Notes: | applied to a person, ability and capacity mean about the same thing but are grammatically different: an ability to do something, a capacity for doing something; ability is qualitative while capacity is quantitative |
| Antonyms: | impotence, inability, limitation, paralysis |
| Main Entry: | accomplishment |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | something successfully done, completed |
| Synonyms: | ability, achievement, act, art, attainment, bringing about, capability, carrying out, completion, conclusion, consummation, coup, deed, effecting, effort, execution, exploit, feat, finish, fulfillment, performance, production, proficiency, realization, skill, stroke, talent, triumph |
| Antonyms: | defeat, failure, frustration, nullification |
| Main Entry: | aptitude |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | quickness at learning |
| Synonyms: | ability, capability, capacity, cleverness, competence, faculty, flair, gift, giftedness, intelligence, knack, proficiency, savvy, smarts, stuff*, talent, what it takes |
| Notes: | aptitude and attitude derive from Latin aptitudo 'fitness,' the first through French, the second through a French borrowing of Italian attitudine |
| Antonyms: | incapacity, stupidity |
| Main Entry: | artifice |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | skill, cleverness |
| Synonyms: | ability, adroitness, deftness, facility, finesse, ingenuity, invention, inventiveness, know-how, skill |
| Antonyms: | artlessness, inability, incapacity, simplicity, uncleverness |
| Main Entry: | artistry |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | great skill in creative endeavors |
| Synonyms: | ability, accomplishment, artfulness, brilliance, craftship, creativity, finesse, flair, genius, mastery, proficiency, style, talent, taste, touch, virtuosity, workmanship |
| Antonyms: | inability, incapacity, ineptitude |
| Main Entry: | bent |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | inclination; talent |
| Synonyms: | ability, aim, aptitude, bag*, disposition, druthers, facility, faculty, flair, forte, genius, gift, head-set, inclining, knack, leaning, mind-set, nose, penchant, predilection, predisposition, preference, proclivity, propensity, set, tack, tendency, thing for, tilt, turn, weakness for |
| Main Entry: | caliber |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | capacity; character |
| Synonyms: | ability, appetency, capability, competence, constitution, dignity, distinction, endowment, essence, faculty, force, gifts, habilitation, merit, nature, parts, power, quality, scope, stature, strength, talent, value, virtue, worth, worthiness |
| Main Entry: | cleverness |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | brightness, ingenuity |
| Synonyms: | ability, adroitness, astuteness, brains, calculation, canniness, dexterity, discernment, flair, gift, gumption, intelligence, quick wit, quickness, resourcefulness, sagacity, sense, sharpness, shrewdness, skill, smartness, talent, wisdom, wit |
| Antonyms: | foolishness, ignorance, naievety, senselessness, stupidity |
| Main Entry: | command |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | rule, power |
| Synonyms: | ability, absolutism, aplomb, authority, authorization, charge, coercion, compulsion, constraint, control, despotism, domination, dominion, expertise, expertism, expertness, government, grasp, grip, hold, jurisdiction, know-how, leadership, management, might, prerogative, primacy, restraint, right, royalty, skill, sovereignty, strings, supervision, supremacy, sway, tyranny, upper hand |
| Notes: | an order is being told to do something with no specific guidelines, a command is being told to do something in a specific way, and a directive is being told to do something and getting this information through channels |
| Antonyms: | subordination |