| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | a habit of activity, often injurious |
| Synonyms: | bag*, bent, craving, dependence, enslavement, fixation, hang-up, hook, inclination, jones, kick*, monkey on back, monkey*, obsession, shot*, sweet tooth, thing* |
| Notes: | addiction is mainly physical while dependency is mostly psychological |
| Main Entry: | complex |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | psychological problem |
| Synonyms: | a thing about something, anxiety, exaggerated reaction, fear, fixation, fixed idea, hang-up, idée fixe, insanity, mania, neurosis, obsession, phobia, preoccupation, repression |
| Notes: | something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate, while a thing that is complicated will have something irregular, perverse, asymmetrical in addition to fundamental intricacy; complex is more formal and technical (a problem in mathematics is complex) while something like personal life can be complicated |
| Main Entry: | compulsion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | drive, obligation |
| Synonyms: | coercion, constraint, demand, drive, driving, duress, duty, engrossment, exigency, force, hang-up, have on the brain, monkey*, necessity, need, obsession, preoccupation, prepossession, pressure, tiger by the tail, urge, urgency |
| Antonyms: | free will, freedom, independence, liberty, license |
| Main Entry: | constraint |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | force |
| Synonyms: | a must, coercion, compulsion, driving, duress, goad, hang-up, impelling, impulsion, monkey*, motive, necessity, no-no, pressure, repression, restraint, spring, spur, suppression, violence |
| Main Entry: | constraint |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | shyness |
| Synonyms: | bashfulness, diffidence, embarrassment, hang-up, humility, inhibition, modesty, repression, reservation, reserve, restraint, timidity |
| Antonyms: | aggression |
| Main Entry: | custom |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | habitual action |
| Synonyms: | addiction, beaten path, characteristic, consuetude, daily grind, fashion, form, grind*, groove, habit, habitude, hang-up, into*, manner, matter of course, mode, observance, practice, praxis, precedent, procedure, proprieties, routine, rule, second nature, shot, swim, thing, trick, usage, use, way, wont |
| Notes: | costume and custom were actually two forms of the same Latin root consuetudinem 'habit, custom,' with costume first meaning 'manners and customs belonging to a particular time and place' |
| Antonyms: | departure, deviation, difference, divergence, irregularity |
| Main Entry: | drag |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | bad situation |
| Synonyms: | annoyance, bore, bother, burden, encumbrance, hang-up, hindrance, impediment, nuisance, pain, pest, pill, sway, trouble |
| Main Entry: | fascination |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | strong interest |
| Synonyms: | allure, appeal, attraction, bug*, charisma, charm, enchantment, enthrallment, glamour, grabber, hang-up, lure, magic, magnetism, obsession, piquancy, power, pull*, sorcery, spell, thing for, thing*, trance, witchcraft, witchery |
| Antonyms: | boredom, disinterest |
| Main Entry: | finish |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | bring to a conclusion; get done |
| Synonyms: | accomplish, achieve, bag it, break up, bring to a close, carry through, cease, clinch, close, complete, conclude, crown*, culminate, deal with, determine, discharge, do, effect, end, execute, finalize, fold, fulfill, get out of the way, halt, hang it up, have done with, make, make short work of, mop up, perfect, put finishing touches on, round off, round up, scratch, scrub, settle, sew up, shut down, shutter, stop, terminate, top off, ultimate, wind up, wrap, wrap up |
| Antonyms: | begin, commence, initiate, introduce, start |