| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | uncompromising, stern |
| Synonyms: | astringent, austere, biting, caustic, close, cold, cruel, cutting, disapproving, dour, earnest, firm, flinty, forbidding, grave, grim, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inconsiderate, inexorable, inflexible, iron-handed, obdurate, oppressive, peremptory, pitiless, relentless, resolute, resolved, rigid, satirical, scathing, serious, sober, stern, stiff*, strait-laced, strict, tight-lipped, unalterable, unbending, unchanging, unfeeling, unrelenting, unsmiling, unsparing |
| Antonyms: | amenable, compromising, easy-going, friendly, willing |
| Main Entry: | accurate |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | precise |
| Synonyms: | authentic, careful, close, concrete, correct, defined, definite, deft, detailed, discriminating, discriminative, distinct, exact, explicit, factual, faithful, genuine, judicious, just, literal, matter-of-fact, methodical, meticulous, on the button, on the money, on the nose, particular, proper, punctilious, punctual, regular, right, rigid, rigorous, scientific, scrupulous, severe, sharp, skillful, solid, specific, strict, systematic, true, ultraprecise, unerring, unmistakable, veracious |
| Antonyms: | careless, faulty, inaccurate, lax, vague |
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | very important |
| Synonyms: | afflictive, critical, crucial, dangerous, decisive, desperate, dire, essential, grave, serious, severe, sudden, urgent, vital |
| Notes: | acute is used for a sudden onset and short duration; chronic is for conditions that are slow to develop and of long duration acute is an angle of less than 90 degrees; obtuse is one of more than 90 degrees chronic is contrasted with acute as chronic pain persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments |
| Antonyms: | not serious, unimportant |
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe, intense |
| Synonyms: | cutting, distressing, excruciating, exquisite, fierce, keen, overpowering, overwhelming, piercing, poignant, powerful, racking, severe, sharp, shooting, stabbing, sudden, violent |
| Notes: | acute is used for a sudden onset and short duration; chronic is for conditions that are slow to develop and of long duration acute is an angle of less than 90 degrees; obtuse is one of more than 90 degrees chronic is contrasted with acute as chronic pain persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments |
| Main Entry: | ambitious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | requiring great effort, ability |
| Synonyms: | arduous, bold, challenging, demanding, difficult, elaborate, energetic, exacting, formidable, grandiose, hard, impressive, industrious, lofty, pretentious, severe, strenuous, visionary |
| Antonyms: | easy, facile |
| Main Entry: | arduous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, hard to endure |
| Synonyms: | backbreaking, burdensome, exhausting, fatiguing, formidable, grueling, harsh, heavy, labored, laborious, murder, no picnic, onerous, painful, punishing, rigorous, rough, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiring, toilsome, tough, troublesome, trying, uphill |
| Antonyms: | easy, facile, motivating |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | grim, barren |
| Synonyms: | bald, bare, bare-bones, bleak, clean, dour, plain, primitive, rustic, severe, simple, spare, spartan, stark, subdued, unadorned, unembellished, vanilla |
| Antonyms: | extravagant, luxurious |
| Main Entry: | authoritarian |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | domineering |
| Synonyms: | absolute, authoritative, autocratic, despotic, dictatorial, disciplinarian, doctrinaire, dogmatic, harsh, imperious, magisterial, rigid, severe, strict, totalitarian, tyrannical, unyielding |
| Notes: | authoritarian is tyrannical while authoritative commands respect |
| Antonyms: | democratic, liberal |
| Main Entry: | bald |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | simple, unadorned |
| Synonyms: | austere, bare, blunt, direct, downright, forthright, outright, plain, severe, straight, straightforward, unembellished |
| Antonyms: | adorned, decorated |