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bleak
- desolate, windswept, bare; cold, gloomy, unpromising
- syn: dour, barren
- ant: lush, verdant, blithe
-
blight
- check or destroy growth of; something that impairs growth or causes ruin
- syn: nip, wither; scourge, eyesore
- ant: stimulate
- phrase: dry rot, put a damper on
-
blithe
- merry, carefree; overly unconcerned, reckless
- syn: jocund, mirthful, heedless, nonchalant, blase
- ant: morose, saturnine, morbid, solemn, dour, despondent
-
bombastic
- pompous or inflated in language
- syn: grandiloquent, hyperbolic, highfalutin, turgid, fustian
- ant: artless, unpretentious, terse, succinct
-
boisterous
- noisy and rowdy
- syn: obstreperous, vociferous, tempestuous
- ant: halycon, sedate
-
boorish
- rude or unrefined
- syn: uncouth, gauche, crude, crass, churlish, lout, ill-bred
- ant: urbane, savoir-faire
-
boycott
- refuse to buy, use or deal with as a means of protest
- syn: proscribe, blackball, ostracize
- ant: patronize, fraternize with
-
brash
- overly bold, hasty, thoughtless
- syn: gauche, impetuous, precipitate, impudent, saucy
- ant: prudent, circumspect, wary
-
bravado
- boastful or swaggering show of false bravery, false courage
- syn: braggadocio, cockiness, bluff
- ant: intepidity, gallantry, valor, pluck, stoutheartedness
- phrase: Dutch courage
-
brusque
- overly short or abrupt
- syn: curt, blunt, terse, gruff
- ant: cordial, affable, voluble, effusive
-
bungle
- to mismanage or make a mess of
- syn: botch, mar, bollix up, klutz
- ant: whiz, workmanlike, adroit, deft, dexterous
-
bureaucracy
a complicated system of administrative agencies
-
buttress
- support or reinforcement
- syn: mainstay, cornerstone
- ant: impair, undermine
-
cajole
- persuade or obtain by flattery or deceit
- syn: inveigle, beguile, induce
- ant: dissuade
- phrase: soft-soap, sweet-talk, curry favor with, apple-polish
-
callous
- unfeeling or insensitive
- syn: thickskinned, hardhearted, hardboiled
- ant: sensitive
-
calumny
- false statement deliberately made to injure a person
- syn: libel, slander, aspersion
- ant: flattery, adulation
-
candid
- fair and impartial; frank or outspoken; informal or unposed
- syn: objective, unprejudiced, impromptu
- ant: partial, biased, disingenuous, equivocal
-
cantankerous
- foul-tempered and quarrelsome
- syn: peevish, cross-grained, irascible, choleric, bearish, testy, ornery, curmudgeon, perverse
- ant: amiable, imperturable, docile, tractable
-
captious
- quick to find petty faults or raise trifling objections; fussy
- syn: caviling, carping, pettifogging, picayune, artful
- ant: laudatory, complimentary
-
catholic
- broad or widely inclusive; general or universal, worldwide
- syn: ecumenical
- ant: parochial
-
caustic
- able to dissolve by chemical reaction; sharp and biting
- syn: tart, trenchant, mordant, acidulous, sardonic, acerbity
- ant: saccharine, honeyed
-
censor
- someone who discerns inappropriate material; remove objectionable material
- syn: expurgator, bowdlerizer, comstockery, Grundyism
-
censure
- open and formal disapproval; criticize severely
- syn: remprimand, upbraid, chastise
- ant: approbation, laud, extol, meritorious
- phrases: take to task, call on the carpet, bawl out
-
chagrin
- irritation, embarrassment or humiliation caused by disappointment
- syn: vexation, annoyance, abash
- ant: jubilation, exult
-
charlatan
- anyone who claims to have skill they don't actually possess
- syn: impostor, quack, mountebank, humbug, fraud
-
chronic
- continuing over a long period of time or recurring often
- syn: prolonged, inveterate, perennial, recurrent
- ant: transitory, evanescent, ephemeral, sporadic
-
circuitous
- indirect or roundabout, long-winded
- syn: rambling, sinuous, devious, oblique, periphrastic, digressive
- ant: unveering
-
circumspect
- cautious or prudent, especially in regard to consequences; tactful
- syn: chary, leery, politic, discreet
- ant: imprudent, foolhardy, brash
-
circumvent
- get around or avoid, especially by deception
- syn: skirt
-
clandestine
- concealed from view so as to hide motivation
- syn: surreptitious, covert, furtive
- ant: overt, manifest, obvious, avowed
- phrases: deep cover, cloak-and-dagger, undercover agent
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