
arbitrary | arbitrary: adj. 1 capricious, varying, erratic, uncertain, inconsistent, doubtful, unpredictable, whimsical, irrational, chance, random, inconsistent, subjective, unreasoned, irrational, Colloq chancy, iffy: The choices are entirely arbitrary, totally at the whim of the council and not based on research or knowledge. 2 absolute, tyrannical, despotic, authoritarian, magisterial, summary, peremptory, autocratic, dogmatic, imperious, uncompromising, inconsiderate, high-handed, dictatorial, Rare thetic(al): The conduct of the archbishop appears to have been arbitrary and harsh.
arch | arch: adj. 1 chief, principal, prime, primary, pre-eminent, foremost, first, greatest, consummate, major: Moriarty was Holmes''s arch-enemy. 2 clever, cunning, crafty, roguish, tricky, shrewd, artful, sly, designing: Brendan loves to play his arch pranks on unsuspecting friends. 3 waggish, saucy, mischievous, prankish: I could tell from the lad''s arch expression that he had thrown the snowball.
ardent | ardent: adj. eager, intense, zealous, keen, fervent, fervid, passionate, avid, fierce, impassioned, hot, warm; enthusiastic: Diane was carrying on ardent love affairs with at least three men.
ardour | ardour: n. eagerness, desire, zeal, fervency, burning desire, keenness, fervour, passion, heat, warmth; enthusiasm: Bernadette has supported the cause with great ardour.
arduous | arduous: adj. 1 laborious, difficult, hard, tough, strenuous, onerous, burdensome, back-breaking, painful, Formal operose; tiring, exhausting, wearisome, fatiguing, taxing, gruelling, trying, formidable: The Sherpas were well equipped for the arduous climb. What an arduous task it is to read the proofs of a dictionary! 2 energetic, strenuous, vigorous: Montrose made arduous efforts to reconstruct his army.
area | area: n. 1 space, room: Is there enough floor area here for the carpet? 2 extent, limit, compass, size, square footage, acreage: The area of my greenhouse is thirty by fifteen feet. 3 space, field, region, tract, territory, district, zone, stretch; section, quarter, precinct, arrondissement, neighbourhood, locality, bailiwick, US block: An area was set aside for a garden. There has been a lot of crime in that area lately. 4 scope, range, extent, breadth, compass, section: His studies cover only one area of Scottish history. 5 court, courtyard, enclosure, close, yard; square, ground, arena, field, parade-ground, parade: The soldiers drill in the area behind the barracks.
argue | argue: v. 1 dispute, debate, disagree, bicker, wrangle, quarrel, squabble, spar, fight, remonstrate, altercate, Colloq chiefly Brit row, scrap: The couple next door are continually arguing with each other at the tops of their voices. 2 discuss, reason, debate, wrangle: He would argue by the hour, but never for arguing''s sake. 3 make a case, talk, plead, debate, contend: I cannot tell whether she''s arguing for or against the proposition. 4 prove, evince, indicate, denote, demonstrate, show, establish, suggest, signify, betoken: The increase in street crime argues that the police are not visible enough. 5 say, assert, hold, maintain, reason, claim, contend: The defendant argued that he had never met the witness. 6 argue into or out of. persuade or dissuade, talk out of or into, prevail upon; convince: I argued him out of sailing to Bermuda alone. She succeeded in arguing me into going to the tea dance.
argument | argument: n. 1 debate, dispute, disagreement, quarrel, controversy, polemic, wrangle, squabble, tiff, spat, altercation; conflict, fight, fracas, affray, fray, Donnybrook, feud, Colloq row, falling-out, scrap, barney: The argument was about who had invented the wheel. The argument spilt out into the street. 2 point, position, (line of) reasoning, logic, plea, claim, pleading, assertion, contention, case; defence: His argument has merit. Arthur''s argument falls apart when he brings in the phlogiston theory.
argumentative | argumentative: adj. quarrelsome, disputatious, belligerent, combative, contentious, litigious, disagreeable, testy: Evelyn is irritable and argumentative.
arise | arise: v. 1 rise, get up, stand up, get to one''s feet; wake up, get out of bed, awake: We arose when Lady Spencer entered the room. I have arisen before dawn all my life. 2 rise, go up, come up, ascend, climb; mount: The full moon arose in the eastern sky. 3 come up, be brought up, be mentioned, Colloq crop up: The subject never would have arisen if the waiter hadn''t spilt the wine on me. 4 spring up, begin, start (up), originate, come up, Colloq crop up: A very unpleasant situation has arisen regarding the missing funds.
aroma | aroma: n. 1 smell, odour, fragrance, scent, perfume, savour, bouquet; redolence: Don''t you just love to be awakened by the aroma of fresh coffee? 2 smell, odour, character, aura, atmosphere, flavour, hint, suggestion: There is an aroma of dishonesty about them that I can''t quite identify.
aromatic | aromatic: adj. fragrant, spicy, perfumed, savoury, pungent: A most agreeable scent came from a bowl of aromatic herbs.
around | around: adv. 1 about, approximately, nearly, almost, roughly; circa: There were around a dozen of us in the place. 2 about, everywhere, in every direction, on all sides, all over, throughout: By this time the savages were all around and we couldn''t move. 3 round, about, for everyone or all, US also ''round: I don''t think we have enough food to go around. 4 round, about, all about, everywhere, here and there, hither and thither, hither and yon, far and wide: The tinker travelled around selling his wares and repairing pots. --prep. 5 round, about, surrounding, encompassing, enveloping, encircling, on all sides of, in all directions from, enclosing: The fields around the castle were cultivated by tenant farmers. 6 about, approximately, roughly; circa: He was born around the turn of the century.
arouse | arouse: v. 1 awaken, raise (up), wake up, waken, rouse, revive, stir (up): I was aroused by the noise and reached for my pistol. 2 excite, stir up, stimulate, awaken, summon up, spark, Colloq turn on: My suspicions were aroused because she was carrying my umbrella. 3 provoke, encourage, quicken, foster, call forth, stir up, kindle, foment: The song aroused feelings of patriotism among the recruits.
arrange | arrange: v. 1 order, dispose, array, organize, sort (out), systematize, group, set up, rank, line up, align, form, position: The teachers arranged the children according to height. The flowers were arranged in a vase so as to conceal the listening device. 2 settle, plan, set (up), organize, orchestrate, manipulate, choreograph; predetermine, decide, prepare, determine, prearrange, devise, bring about, contrive; fix it: Everything has been arranged - you won''t have to lift a finger. For a small fee I can arrange for you to win the first prize. 3 orchestrate, score, adapt: Flemburgh has arranged music for some of the best-known modern composers.
arrangement | arrangement: n. 1 order, disposition, grouping, organization, array, display, structure, structuring, ordering, alignment, line-up, Colloq set-up: Don''t you care for the arrangement of the furniture, Milady? 2 structure, combination, construction, contrivance, affair, set-up: An arrangement of bricks served as a hearth. 3 settlement, agreement, terms, plan, contract, covenant, compact: The arrangement called for Bosworth to get ten per cent of the gross profits. 4 orchestration, score, instrumentation, adaptation, interpretation, version: I prefer Fats Waller''s arrangement of ''Sugar Blues''. 5 arrangements. preparations, plans; groundwork, planning: Arrangements have been made for the limousine to pick you up at five.
arrest | arrest: v. 1 stop, halt, check, stall, forestall, detain, delay, hinder, restrain, obstruct, prevent, block, interrupt: The progress of the train has been arrested. 2 catch, capture, seize, apprehend, take, take in, take into custody, detain, Colloq nab, pinch, collar, bust, run in, Brit nick: Foxworthy was arrested crossing the border. 3 slow, retard, stop: I''m afraid that we have here a case of arrested mental development. --n. 4 seizure, capture, apprehension, detention; restraint, Colloq bust, US collar: The police have made six arrests. 5 stop, stoppage, check, cessation: The doctor said it was a case of cardiac arrest. 6 under arrest. in custody, under legal restraint, in the hands of the law, imprisoned, arrested: You are under arrest for the murder of one Hugh Brown, and anything you say may be used in evidence against you.
arresting | arresting: adj. striking, shocking, remarkable, impressive, electrifying, stunning, extraordinary, surprising, dazzling: It is indeed an experience to be in the presence of such an arresting beauty.
arrival | arrival: n. 1 coming, advent, appearance: We have been awaiting your arrival for weeks. 2 newcomer; immigrant; traveller, passenger; tourist; Australian migrant, new chum: The arrivals on flight 422 were questioned about a bearded passenger on the plane.
arrive | arrive: v. 1 come, make one''s appearance, appear, turn up, Colloq show up; Slang hit (town), blow in: She arrived only two minutes before the plane was to take off. 2 succeed, prosper, get ahead (in the world), reach the top, Colloq make it, make the grade, get somewhere, get there: Yuppies believe that once they own a fur coat and a Mercedes, they''ve arrived. 3 arrive at. come or get to, reach; attain: I think that Crumley has arrived at the stage in his career where he merits a promotion.
arrogance | arrogance: n. self-assertion, impertinence, insolence, presumption, nerve, effrontery, gall, presumptuousness, self-importance, conceit, egotism, hauteur, haughtiness, loftiness, pride, hubris, pompousness, pomposity, pretension, pretentiousness, bluster, snobbery, snobbishness, Colloq snottiness, Slang Brit side: He has the arrogance to assume that I wish to see him again.
arrogant | arrogant: adj. 1 presumptuous, assuming, self-assertive, conceited, egotistical, pompous, superior, brazen, bumptious, cavalier: It would be most arrogant of me to take for myself the glory that rightfully belongs to the whole team. 2 haughty, overbearing, imperious, high-handed, overweening, disdainful, contemptuous, scornful, snobbish, supercilious, lofty, swaggering , Brit toffee-nosed; Colloq uppity, on one''s high horse, high and mighty, snotty: Since her husband was made a company director, she''s become unbearably arrogant.
art | art: n. 1 skill, skilfulness, ingenuity, aptitude, talent, artistry, craftsmanship; knowledge, expertise; craft, technique, adroitness, dexterity, Colloq know-how: Little art is required to plant turnips. 2 artistry, artisticness; taste, tastefulness: High art differs from low art in possessing an excess of beauty in addition to its truth. 3 craft, technique, business, profession, skill: The fishermen can''t employ their art with much success in so troubled a sea. 4 knack, aptitude, faculty, technique, mastery; dexterity, adroitness: Conversation may be esteemed a gift, not an art. You have acquired the art of insulting people without their realizing it. 5 trickery, craftiness, cunning, wiliness, slyness, guile, deceit, duplicity, artfulness, cleverness, astuteness: You have to admire the art with which she wraps him round her little finger. 6 arts. wiles, schemes, stratagems, artifices, subterfuges, tricks; manoeuvres,: She was expert in the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation.
artful | artful: adj. 1 scheming, wily, sly, cunning, foxy, tricky, crafty, deceitful, underhand or underhanded, double-dealing, guileful, disingenuous: That artful fellow managed to sell me a completely useless gadget. 2 ingenious, clever, astute, shrewd, dexterous: She has practised her artful deceptions so long that nobody believes anything she says.
artifice | artifice: n. 1 skill, cunning, trickery, craft, craftiness, artfulness, guile, duplicity, deception, chicanery, underhandedness, shrewdness, slyness, wiliness, trickiness: He used artifice to get control of the firm. 2 stratagem, device, manoeuvre, trick, contrivance, wile, ruse, subterfuge, expedient, contrivance, Colloq dodge: They were deluded by artifices to cheat them out of their money.
artificial | artificial: adj. 1 unnatural, synthetic, man-made, manufactured, simulated, imitation, plastic: The museum has a strange collection of artificial teeth on display. 2 made-up, concocted, bogus, fake, sham, false, counterfeit, Colloq phoney or US also phony: The figures used in the sample survey are entirely artificial. 3 affected, unnatural, forced, pretended, high-sounding, feigned, assumed, contrived, factitious; meretricious, insincere, sham, faked, Colloq phoney or US also phony: I tell you that Alan''s concern for you is entirely artificial.
artless | artless: adj. 1 innocent, sincere, guileless, ingenuous, true, natural, open, unartificial, genuine, simple, direct, candid, frank, honest, straightforward, above-board, uncomplicated, undevious, undeceptive , Colloq upfront, on the level, on the up and up: Imitation is a kind of artless flattery. 2 unpretentious, unassuming, unaffected, natural, simple, na�ve, unsophisticated, plain, ordinary, humble: The remarks were those of an artless young man who meant nothing sinister. 3 unskilled, untalented, unskilful, unpractised, inexperienced, inexpert, primitive, unproficient, incompetent, inept, clumsy, crude, awkward, bungling: Clogs must be the most artless footwear ever made.
