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| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | implausible story |
| Synonyms: | bill of goods, bull, con, elaborate explanation, jive, line, number, ripoff, scam, snow job, story, the business |
| Main Entry: | defense |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | explanation, justification |
| Synonyms: | answer, apologetics, apologia, apologizing, apology, argument, cleanup, copout, exculpation, excuse, excusing, exoneration, explaining, extenuation, fish story, jive, off-time, plea, rationalization, rejoinder, reply, response, retort, return, song and dance, story, vindication, whitewash |
| Antonyms: | betrayal, capitulation, yielding |
| Main Entry: | equivocation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | avoidance of an issue |
| Synonyms: | ambiguity, amphibology, casuistry, coloring, con, cop out, cover, cover-up, deceit, deception, deceptiveness, delusion, dissimulation, distortion, double entendre, double meaning, double talk, doubtfulness, duplicity, equivocality, evasion, fallacy, fib, fibbing, hedging, lie, line*, lying, misrepresentation, prevarication, quibbling routine, run-around, shuffling, song and dance, song*, sophistry, speciousness, spuriousness, stall, stonewall, tergiversation, waffle |
| Antonyms: | directness, facing, meeting |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | excuse |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | reason, explanation |
| Synonyms: | alibi, apology, cleanup, cop-out, cover story, cover*, coverup, defense, disguise, evasion, expedient, extenuation, fish story, grounds, jive, justification, makeshift, mitigation, plea, pretext, rationalization, regrets, routine, semblance, shift, song and dance, song*, stall, stopgap, story, substitute, subterfuge, trick*, vindication, whitewash, why and wherefore |
| Notes: | an alias is an assumed name, an alibi is a form of defense whereby a defendant attempts to prove that he or she was elsewhere when the crime in question was committed, while an excuse is an explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness a pardon is the act of excusing a mistake or offense; an excuse is an explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | fabrication |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | lie |
| Synonyms: | artifact, concoction, deceit, fable, fairy story, fake*, falsehood, fib, fiction, figment, forgery, hogwash, invention, jazz, jive, line*, myth, opus, smoke*, song and dance, untruth, work, yarn |
| Antonyms: | truth |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | fraud |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trickery, deception |
| Synonyms: | artifice, bamboozlement, barratry, blackmail, cheat, chicane, chicanery, con, craft*, deceit, double-dealing, dupery, duping, duplicity, extortion, fake, fast one, fast shuffle, flimflam, fourberie, fraudulence, graft, guile, hanky-panky, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwinking, hustle*, imposture, line, misrepresentation, racket, scam, sell, shakedown, sham*, sharp practice, skunk, smoke*, song and dance, song*, spuriousness, sting, string, swindle, swindling, treachery |
| Antonyms: | fairness, honesty, justice |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | justification |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | reason, excuse |
| Synonyms: | absolution, account, acquittal, advocacy, answer, apologia, apology, approval, argument, basis, confirmation, defense, exculpation, exoneration, explanation, extenuation, grounds, idea, mitigation, palliation, palliative, plea, pretext, raison d'être, rationale, rationalization, rebuttal, redemption, reply, response, salvation, sanctification, song and dance, story, support, validation, vindication, warrant, whatfor, wherefore, whitewashing, whole idea, why and wherefore |
| Main Entry: | line |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | hint; influential communication |
| Synonyms: | clue, indication, information, lead, patter, persuasion, pitch, prepared speech, song and dance, spiel* |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | machination |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | maneuver, plot |
| Synonyms: | artifice, cabal, conspiracy, design, device, dirty work, dodge*, intrigue, monkey business, on the make, ploy, practice, ruse, scheme, sellout, skullduggery, song and dance, stratagem, trick |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
