| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | spirit of the dead |
| Synonyms: | apparition, appearance, banshee, daemon, demon, devil, eidolon, ethereal being, haunt, incorporeal being, kelpie, manes, phantasm, phantom, poltergeist, revenant, shade, shadow, soul, specter, spook, vampire, vision, visitor, wraith, zombie |
| Antonyms: | being, entity |
| Main Entry: | author |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | composer of written work |
| Synonyms: | biographer, columnist, composer, creator, essayist, ghost, ghostwriter, ink slinger, journalist, originator, playwright, poet, producer, prose writer, reporter, scribbler, scribe, scripter, word slinger, wordsmith, work-for-hire, writer |
| Main Entry: | compose |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | create writing, artwork, or music |
| Synonyms: | author, bang out, cast, clef, coin a phrase, comp, conceive, contrive, cook up, design, devise, discover, draw up, dream up, fabricate, forge, form, formulate, frame*, fudge together, ghost*, ghostwrite, imagine, indite, invent, knock off, knock out, make up, note down, orchestrate, originate, pen, poetize, produce, push pencil, put down, put pen to paper, score, scribble, script, set type, set up, time, turn out, whip up, write |
| Notes: | compose is preferred when the parts of the whole being assembled are regarded as nonconcrete and more general; when the parts are concrete and specific, then constitute is more appropriate, and then there is comprise, which can mean 'comprehending or encompassing certain parts' |
| Main Entry: | delusion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | misconception, misbelief |
| Synonyms: | apparition, blunder, casuistry, chicanery, daydream, deception, deceptiveness, dream, eidolon, error, fallacy, false impression, fancy, fantasy, figment, fool's paradise, ghost, hallucination, head trip, ignis fatuus, illusion, lapse, mirage, misapprehension, mistake, optical illusion, oversight, phantasm, phantom, pipe dream, self-deception, shade, speciousness, spuriousness, trickery, trip, vision |
| Notes: | allusion is an 'indirect mention,' illusion is 'false impression,' and delusion is 'deception' which is much stronger than illusion hallucination is from disturbed sensory perceptions; delusion is from disturbed thinking an illusion is an image or conception of something actual or real that presents itself to the mind in an abnormal or distorted manner; a delusion is a false belief about oneself or other people that persists despite its being at variance with the facts |
| Antonyms: | actuality, certainty, fact, reality, surety, truth |
| Main Entry: | depressed |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | disadvantaged |
| Synonyms: | cheapened, depreciated, deprived, destitute, devalued, distressed, ghetto, ghost, impaired, needy, poor, poverty-stricken, run-down, shanty, skid row, underprivileged, weakened |
| Antonyms: | blessed, flourishing, prosperous, rich |
| Main Entry: | illusion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | false appearance; false belief |
| Synonyms: | apparition, bubble*, chimera, confusion, daydream, deception, delusion, déjè vu, error, fallacy, false impression, fancy, fantasy, figment of imagination, fool's paradise, ghost, hallucination, head trip, hocus-pocus, idolism, ignus fatuus, image, invention, make-believe, mirage, misapprehension, misbelief, misconception, misimpression, mockery, myth, optical illusion, paramnesia, phantasm, pipe dream, rainbow*, seeming, semblance, trip*, virtual reality |
| Notes: | allusion is an 'indirect mention,' illusion is 'false impression,' and delusion is 'deception' which is much stronger than illusion an illusion is an image or conception of something actual or real that presents itself to the mind in an abnormal or distorted manner; a delusion is a false belief about oneself or other people that persists despite its being at variance with the facts |
| Antonyms: | certainty, event, fact, reality, truth |
| Main Entry: | soul |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | being |
| Synonyms: | body, character, creature, ghost, human being, individual, living soul, man, mortal, person, personage, phantom, shadow, spirit, umbra, woman |
| Main Entry: | substitute |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | someone or something that takes the place of another |
| Synonyms: | agent, alternate, assistant, auxiliary, backup, changeling, delegate, deputy, dernier ressort, double, dummy, equivalent, expediency, expedient, fill-in, ghost, ghost writer, locum, locum tenens, makeshift, pinch-hitter, procurator, proxy, recourse, refuge, relay, relief, replacement, representative, reserve, resort, resource, stand-in, standby, stopgap, sub, succedaneum, successor, supplanter, supply, surrogate, symbol, temp, temporary, temporary expedient, understudy, vicar |
| Antonyms: | permanent |
| Main Entry: | vision |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | apparition |
| Synonyms: | apocalypse, chimera, delusion, ecstasy, fantasy, ghost, hallucination, haunt, illusion, mirage, nightmare, oracle, phantasm, phantom, phenomenon, presence, prophecy, revelation, specter, spirit, spook, trance, warlock, wraith |
| Antonyms: | actuality, fact, reality |