| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | appreciate, comprehend |
| Synonyms: | accept, apprehend, be aware, be conscious of, be with it, catch, catch on, conceive, deduce, discern, distinguish, explain, fathom, figure out, find out, follow, get the hang of, get the idea, get the picture, get the point, get*, grasp, have knowledge of, identify with, infer, interpret, ken, know, learn, make out, make sense of, master, note, penetrate, perceive, possess, read, realize, recognize, register, savvy*, see, seize, sense, sympathize, take in*, take meaning, tolerate |
| Notes: | the use of 'appreciate' should involve valuing something or understanding it sympathetically, and when there is no value or sympathy, use 'recognize' or 'understand'; appreciate first meant 'set at a price; appraised' |
| Antonyms: | misinterpret, misunderstand |
| Main Entry: | absorb |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mentally take in information |
| Synonyms: | assimilate, comprehend, digest, follow, get, get into, grasp, incorporate, latch onto, learn, sense, soak up, take in, understand |
| Antonyms: | misunderstand, not get |
| Main Entry: | appreciate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | recognize worth |
| Synonyms: | acknowledge, apprehend, be aware of, be cognizant of, be conscious of, catch the drift, comprehend, dig, fathom, grasp, know, perceive, read, realize, recognize, savvy, see daylight, sympathize with, take account of, understand |
| Notes: | the use of 'appreciate' should involve valuing something or understanding it sympathetically, and when there is no value or sympathy, use 'recognize' or 'understand'; appreciate first meant 'set at a price; appraised' |
| Main Entry: | assimilate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | absorb mentally |
| Synonyms: | comprehend, digest, grasp, incorporate, ingest, learn, osmose, sense, soak up, take in, take up, understand |
| Antonyms: | misunderstand, reject, unlearn |
| Main Entry: | assume |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | believe, take for granted |
| Synonyms: | accept, ascertain, be afraid, be inclined to think, conclude, conjecture, consider, count upon, deduce, deem, divine, estimate, expect, fall for, fancy, find, gather, get the idea, guess, have a hunch, have sneaking suspicion, hypothesize, imagine, infer, judge, posit, postulate, predicate, presume, presuppose, speculate, suppose, surmise, suspect, theorize, think, understand |
| Notes: | assume means 'suppose to be the case, without proof; take for granted'; presume means 'suppose that something is the case on the basis of probability; take for granted that something exists or is the case' |
| Antonyms: | doubt, not believe |
| Main Entry: | believe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | trust, rely on |
| Synonyms: | accept, accredit, admit, affirm, attach weight to, be certain of, be convinced of, be credulous, be of the opinion, buy*, conceive, conclude, consider, count on, credit, deem, fall for, give credence to, have, have faith in, have no doubt, hold, keep the faith, lap up, place confidence in, posit, postulate, presume true, presuppose, reckon on, regard, rest assured, suppose, swallow*, swear by, take as gospel, take at one's word, take for granted, take it, think, trust, understand |
| Antonyms: | disbelieve, distrust |
| Main Entry: | believe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | assume or suppose |
| Synonyms: | conjecture, consider, credit, deem, expect, feel, gather, guess, hold, imagine, judge, maintain, postulate, presume, reckon, sense, speculate, suppose, suspect, take, think, understand |
| Main Entry: | catch |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | hear and understand |
| Synonyms: | accept, apprehend, comprehend, discern, feel, follow, get, grasp, perceive, recognize, see, sense, take in, understand |
| Main Entry: | construe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deduce; explain |
| Synonyms: | analyze, decipher, define, explicate, expound, figure it to be, infer, interpret, one's best guess, parse, read, render, spell out, take, translate, understand |