| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disagree |
| Synonyms: | argue, balk, break with, buck, contradict, decline, demur, differ, disaccord, discord, divide, fly in the face of, object, oppose, pettifog, protest, put up a fight, put up an argument, refuse, say no way, say not a chance, say nothing doing, shy, stickle, vary, wrangle |
| Notes: | dissent is, literally, 'feel or think differently' and dissident means 'sit apart, disagree' |
| Antonyms: | agree, approve, assent, authorize, concur, consent, endorse, ratify, sanction |
| Main Entry: | duck |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | drop down; avoid |
| Synonyms: | bend, bob, bow, crouch, dip, dive, dodge, double, elude, escape, evade, fence, lower, lurch, move to side, parry, plunge, shirk, shun, shy, sidestep, stoop, submerge |
| Antonyms: | face, jump, meet |
| Main Entry: | elude |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid; escape |
| Synonyms: | baffle, be beyond someone, beat around the bush, bilk, circumvent, confound, cop out, ditch, dodge, double, duck, eschew, evade, flee, fly, foil, frustrate, get around, get away from, give the runaround, give the slip, give wide berth to, hem and haw, not touch, outrun, outwit, pass the buck, pass up, puzzle, run around, shirk, shuck, shun, shy, stall, stay shy of, steer clear of, stonewall, stump, thwart |
| Notes: | elude means to escape or evade from while allude means to make a more or less indirect reference to |
| Antonyms: | attract, confront, encounter, entice, face, invite, meet, take on |
| Main Entry: | elusive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | evasive, mysterious |
| Synonyms: | ambiguous, baffling, cagey, deceitful, deceptive, difficult to catch, elusory, equivocal, evanescent, fallacious, fleeting, fraudulent, fugacious, fugitive, greasy, illusory, imponderable, incomprehensible, indefinable, insubstantial, intangible, misleading, occult, phantom, puzzling, shifty, shy, slippery, stonewalling, subtle, transient, transitory, tricky, unspecific, volatile |
| Notes: | elusive is used when what is being avoided is physical capture or apprehension, whereas evasive is used when what is being avoided is direct or relevant response to a verbal challenge illusory means based on or having the nature of an illusion; elusive means difficult to describe or skillful at eluding capture |
| Antonyms: | attracting, confronting, encountering, enticing, facing, inviting |
| Main Entry: | eschew |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | have nothing to do with |
| Synonyms: | abandon, abjure, abstain, avoid, double, duck, elude, evade, forgo, forswear, give up, have no truck with, let well enough alone, not touch, refrain, renounce, sacrifice, shun, shy, shy away from, steer clear of, swear off |
| Antonyms: | embrace, like, love |
| Main Entry: | evade |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | get away from |
| Synonyms: | avoid, baffle, balk, beat around bush, beg the question, bypass, cavil, circumvent, conceal, confuse, cop out, deceive, decline, dodge, double, duck, elude, equivocate, escape, eschew, fence, fend off, flee, fly, fudge, get around, give the runaround, hedge, hide, keep distance, lay low, lead on a merry chase, lie, parry, pass up, pretend, prevaricate, pussyfoot, put off, shift, shirk, shuck, shuffle, shun, shy, sidestep, slip out, sneak away, steer clear of, tergiversate, trick, waffle, weasel |
| Antonyms: | face, meet, take on |
| Main Entry: | failing |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | not well, weak |
| Synonyms: | declining, defeated, deficient, faint, feeble, inadequate, insufficient, scant, scanty, scarce, short, shy, unavailing, unprosperous, unsuccessful, unsufficient, unthriving, vain, wanting |
| Notes: | a failing is a flaw or weak point or a failure to reach a minimum required performance; a foible a minor weakness or failing of character |
| Antonyms: | healthy, ok, rebounding, strong, thriving, well |
| Main Entry: | fear |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | feel alarm; be scared of |
| Synonyms: | anticipate, apprehend, avoid, be afraid, be anxious, be apprehensive, be disquieted, be frightened, be in awe, blanch, break out in a sweat, cower, crouch, dare not, dread, expect, falter, feel concern, flinch, foresee, fret, have butterflies, have qualms, lose courage, quail, quaver, shrink, shudder, shun, shy, start, suspect, tremble, wilt, worry |
| Antonyms: | brave |
| Main Entry: | fearful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | alarmed, apprehensive |
| Synonyms: | aflutter, afraid, aghast, agitated, anxious, chicken, chickenhearted, diffident, discomposed, disquieted, disturbed, fainthearted, frightened, goose-bumpy, have cold feet, hesitant, in a dither, intimidated, jittery, jumpy, lily-livered, mousy, nerveless, nervous, nervy, panicky, perturbed, phobic, pusillanimous, quivery, rabbity, running scared, scared, shaky, sheepish*, shrinking, shy, skittish, solicitous, spineless, tense, timid, timorous, tremulous, uneasy, unmanly, weak-kneed, worried, yellow* |
| Notes: | someone may be fearful; someone or something may be fearsome |
| Antonyms: | bold, brave, courageous, inapprehensive, unafraid, unfearful |