| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | say no |
| Synonyms: | abjure, abstain, avoid, balk, beg to be excused, bypass, demur, deny, desist, disapprove, dismiss, don't buy, forbear, forgo, gainsay, nix, not accept, not hear of, not think of, pass on, refrain, refuse, reject, renounce, reprobate, repudiate, send regrets, shy, spurn, turn down, turn thumbs down |
| Notes: | one declines (or accepts) something that is offered; one refuses (or agrees) to accept something offered |
| Antonyms: | accept, say yes |
| Main Entry: | decline |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | descend |
| Synonyms: | dip, droop, drop, fall, go down, lower, sag, set, settle, sink, slant, slope |
| Notes: | one declines (or accepts) something that is offered; one refuses (or agrees) to accept something offered |
| Antonyms: | ascend, go up, rise |
| Main Entry: | less |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | smaller, inferior |
| Synonyms: | beneath, declined, deficient, depressed, diminished, excepting, fewer, lacking, lesser, limited, lower, minor, minus, negative, not as great, reduced, secondary, shortened, shorter, slighter, subordinate, subtracting, unsubstantial, without |
| Notes: | fewer means a smaller number of individual things and less means a small quantity of something. A traditional rule of English usage holds that less should be used only of uncountable things, that is, things that can be measured but not counted as discrete units. Thus "less electricity," "less than a quart, " "less doubt." Fewer, on the other hand, should be used only of things that can be counted: "fewer people," "fewer cars." In actual usage, fewer almost always adheres to the traditional rule; the problem is that less is often used with countable things. generally, less applies to quantity while fewer applies to number; the traditional rule says that you should use fewer for things that can be counted (fewer than four players) but less with mass terms for things of measurable extent (less paper, less than a gallon of paint) |
| Antonyms: | bigger, more, superior |
| Main Entry: | neglected |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | slighted |
| Synonyms: | abandoned, affronted, cast aside, decayed, declined, deferred, depreciated, deserted, despised, deteriorated, disdained, dismissed, disregarded, evaded, forgotten, ignored, lapsed, omitted, overlooked, passed over, postponed, scorned, shunned, spurned, tossed aside, unconsidered, underestimated, undervalued, unheeded, unused, unwanted, unwatched |
| Antonyms: | cared for, considered, heeded, used |
| Main Entry: | vetoed |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rejected |
| Synonyms: | declined, disapproved, refused |
| Main Entry: | abate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | lessen, grow or cause to grow less |
| Synonyms: | allay, chill out, coast*, cool, cool it, decline, decrease, diminish, dull, dwindle, ebb, go with the flow, hang easy, hang loose, lay back, let go, let it all hang out, let up, mellow out, moderate, quell, recede, reduce, slacken, slow, subdue, subside, take it easy, taper, taper off, unlax, wane |
| Antonyms: | amplify, enhance, enlarge, extend, increase, intensify, magnify, prolong, revive, rise |
| Main Entry: | abnegate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | renounce |
| Synonyms: | abstain, decline, forbear, forgo, give up, refrain, reject |
| Main Entry: | abstain |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | hold back from doing |
| Synonyms: | abjure, abnegate, avoid, cease, constrain, curb, decline, deny oneself, do without, eschew, evade, fast, fence-sit, forbear, forgo, give the go by, give up, go on the wagon, keep from, pass, pass up, quit, refrain, refuse, renounce, shun, sit on one's hands, sit on the fence, sit out, spurn, starve, stop, take the cure, take the pledge, withhold |
| Antonyms: | indulge, use |
| Main Entry: | age |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | become older |
| Synonyms: | decline, deteriorate, develop, get along, grow, grow feeble, grow old, grow up, mature, mellow, push, put mileage on, ripen, wane |
| Notes: | epoch applies to the beginning of a new period marked by radical changes and new developments - while era applies to the entire period; age denotes a period identified with some dominant personality or characteristic and period pertains to any portion of time |