Popular Searches
Nearby Words
worked over
| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | attack, usually with words |
| Synonyms: | abuse, assault, bash, berate, beset, blast, blister, bust, charge, come at, criticize, encounter, have at, impugn, invade, lambaste, lay into, malign, maltreat, molest, revile, set upon, trash*, vilify, work over |
| Notes: | to assail a task is to approach it with the intent of mastering it, from Latin salire 'to leap'; assault is also based on this word and assail and assault can be synonyms |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | besiege |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | surround; assault |
| Synonyms: | assail, attack, beleaguer, beset, blockade, come at from all sides, confine, congregate, encircle, encompass, environ, hem in, invest, lay siege to, shut in, trap, work on, work over |
| Antonyms: | leave alone |
| Main Entry: | cajole |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | attempt to coax; flatter |
| Synonyms: | apple polish, argue into, banter, beguile, blandish, bootlick, brownnose, build up, butter up, con, crowd, deceive, decoy, delude, dupe, entice, entrap, get around, get next to, hand a line, induce, influence, inveigle, jolly, lay it on thick, lure, make up to, maneuver, massage, mislead, oil, play up to, push, rub the right way, seduce, snow*, soap, soft-soap, soften, spread it on, stroke, suck up to, sweet-talk, sweeten up, tantalize, tempt, urge, wheedle, work on, work over |
| Antonyms: | bully, force, repel |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | condition |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | adapt, prepare |
| Synonyms: | accustom, brainwash, build up, educate, equip, habituate, inure, loosen up, make ready, modify, practice, program, ready, shape up, sharpen, tone up, toughen up, train, warm up, whip into shape, work out, work over |
| Main Entry: | debrief |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | question |
| Synonyms: | ask questions, cross-examine, examine, gather intelligence, give the third degree, grill, interrogate, interview, investigate, probe, put through the wringer, quiz, work over |
| Main Entry: | defeat |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | conquer in athletic contest |
| Synonyms: | KO, beat, bust, clobber, cream*, deck, drop*, drub, edge, flax, flog, floor*, knock out, lambaste*, lick, outhit, outjump, outplay, outrun, overpower, plow under, pommel, pound*, powder, pulverize, run roughshod over, skin*, steamroll, take, take it all, take to cleaners, tan*, thrash, total, trounce, wallop, whack, whomp, win, work over, zap |
| Notes: | decimate means to kill or destroy in large numbers; defeat means to win a victory over or to beat |
| Antonyms: | give up, lose, surrender |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | flatter |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | compliment excessively |
| Synonyms: | adulate, beslaver, blandish, bootlick, brownnose, build up*, butter up, cajole, cater to, charm, con, court, fawn*, get next to, glorify, grovel, humor, inveigle, jolly, lay it on thick, massage, oil, overpraise, play up to, praise, rub the right way, salve, sell, snow*, soft-soap, soften*, spread it on, stroke, suck up to, sweet-talk, sweeten up, toady, wheedle, work on, work over |
| Antonyms: | belittle, castigate, condemn, criticize, denounce, insult, offend |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | hurt |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause mental pain |
| Synonyms: | abuse, afflict, aggrieve, annoy, burn, chafe, constrain, cut to the quick, discomfit, discommode, displease, distress, excruciate, faze, give no quarter, go for jugular, grieve, hit where one lives, injure, lambaste, lay a bad trip on, lean on, martyr, martyrize, prejudice, punish, put down, put out, sadden, sting*, thumb nose at, torment, torture, try, upset, vex, vitiate, work over, wound, zing |
| Antonyms: | calm, placate, please, relieve, soothe |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | inculcate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | implant, infuse information |
| Synonyms: | brainwash*, break down, communicate, drill, drum into, educate, hammer into, impart, impress, indoctrinate, inseminate, instill, instruct, plant, program, shape up, teach, work over |
| Notes: | one inculcates an idea or habit into people by persistent instruction; one indoctrinates people with certain values or beliefs through repeated instruction |
* = 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.
