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defenseless
| Main Entry: |
defenseless
|
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | powerless, vulnerable |
| Synonyms: | caught, endangered, exposed, hands tied, helpless, in line of fire, indefensible, like a clay pigeon, like a sitting duck, naked*, on the line, on the spot, open, out on limb, pigeon, poor, unarmed, unguarded, unprotected, up the creek, weak, wide open |
| Antonyms: | powerful, strong |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | forlorn |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | hopeless, inconsolable |
| Synonyms: | abandoned, alone, bereft, blue*, cheerless, comfortless, cynical, defenseless, depressed, deserted, desolate, despairing, desperate, despondent, destitute, destroyed, disconsolate, down and out, dragging, forgotten, forsaken, friendless, fruitless, futile, godforsaken, helpless, homeless, in the dumps, lonely, lonesome, lost, miserable, oppressed, pathetic, pessimistic, pitiable, pitiful, solitary, tragic, unhappy, vain, weighed down, woebegone, wretched |
| Notes: | lonely adds to solitary a suggestion of longing for companionship, while lonesome heightens the suggestion of sadness; forlorn and desolate are even more isolated and sad |
| Antonyms: | cheerful, comforted, consolable, happy, hopeful, joyful, pleased |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | helpless |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | incapable, incompetent; vulnerable |
| Synonyms: | abandoned, basket-case, debilitated, defenseless, dependent, destitute, disabled, exposed, feeble, forlorn, forsaken, friendless, handcuffed, impotent, inefficient, inexpert, infirm, invalid, over a barrel, paralyzed, pinned, powerless, prostrate, shiftless, tapped, tapped out, unable, unfit, unprotected, up creek without paddle, weak, with hands tied |
| Antonyms: | able, capable, competent, enterprising, independent, resourceful, skilled, strong |
| Main Entry: | insecure |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | dangerous, precarious |
| Synonyms: | defenseless, exposed, fluctuant, frail, hazardous, immature, insubstantial, loose, open to attack, perilous, rickety, rocky, rootless, shaky, unguarded, unprotected, unreliable, unsafe, unshielded, unsound, unstable, unsteady, vacillating, vulnerable, wavering, weak, wobbly |
| Antonyms: | guarded, protected, safe, secure, sound |
| Main Entry: | naked |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | without covering |
| Synonyms: | au naturel, bald, bare, bare-skinned, bared, barren, defenseless, denuded, disrobed, divested, exposed, helpless, in birthday suit, in dishabille, in the altogether, in the buff, in the raw, leafless, natural, nude, open, peeled, raw, stark-naked, stripped, threadbare, unclad, unclothed, unconcealed, uncovered, undraped, undressed, unprotected, unveiled, vulnerable, without a stitch |
| Antonyms: | clothed |
| Main Entry: | powerless |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | weak; unable |
| Synonyms: | blank, chicken*, debilitated, defenseless, dependent, disabled, disenfranchised, etiolated, feeble, frail, gutless, helpless, impotent, incapable, incapacitated, ineffective, ineffectual, inert, infirm, out of gas, paralyzed, passive, prostrate, subject, supine, tied, unarmed, unfit, vulnerable, wimp*, wishy-washy |
| Antonyms: | able, dominant, potent, powerful, strong |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | prostrate |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | helpless |
| Synonyms: | beaten, defenseless, disarmed, impotent, open, overcome, overpowered, overwhelmed, paralyzed, powerless, reduced, weak |
| Notes: | prone is lying on your face (facing downwards) - which is also true for prostrate, but only in expressing adoration or begging for protection; supine is lying on your back prostate is the gland; prostrate means 'lying face down' supine is lying face upward, prone and prostrate are lying face downward - and prostrate suggests throwing oneself down, while recumbent is lying flat in any position |
| Antonyms: | happy, self-sufficient, strong, successful |
| Main Entry: | vulnerable |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | open to attack |
| Synonyms: | accessible, assailable, defenseless, exposed, liable, naked, on the line, on the spot, out on a limb, ready, sensitive, sitting duck, sucker, susceptible, tender, thin-skinned, unguarded, unprotected, unsafe, weak, wide open |
| Antonyms: | closed, guarded, protected, safe, secure |
| Main Entry: | weak |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | exposed, vulnerable |
| Synonyms: | accessible, assailable, defenseless, helpless, indefensible, unguarded, unprotected, unsafe, untenable, wide-open, woundable |
| Antonyms: | guarded, protected, safe, secure |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
