vertrackt, kompliziert, verzwickt, schwierig 

complex, complicated, convoluted, tangled, entangled, twisted; elaborate, ornate, detailed, baroque, delicate; involuted; bewildering, confusing, perplexing, labyrinthine, Byzantine

aus dem Handgelenk, flapsig, kurz angebunden

adjective
an offhand manner: casual, careless, uninterested, unconcerned, indifferent, cool, nonchalant, blasé, aloof, insouciant, cavalier, glib, perfunctory, cursory, unceremonious, ungracious, dismissive, discourteous, uncivil, impolite, terse, abrupt, curt; informal: couldn't-care-less, take-it-or-leave-it.

adverb
I can't think of a better answer offhand: on the spur of the moment, without preparation, without consideration, extempore, impromptu, ad lib; extemporaneously, spontaneously; Latin ad libitum, informal: off the cuff, off the top of one's head, just like that. See note at spontaneous .
 

blass, bleich; fahl 

adjective
1 a pallid child: pale, white, pasty, wan, colorless, anemic, washed out, peaked, whey-faced, ashen, gray, whitish, drained, sickly, sallow; informal: like death warmed over. See note at pale 2 .
2 pallid watercolors: insipid, uninspired, colorless, uninteresting, unexciting, unimaginative, lifeless, spiritless, sterile, bland.

herausziehen, reißen 

verb informal
give the rope a quick yank: jerk, pull, tug, wrench; snatch, seize.

verprassen, verschleudern, verschwenden, verspielen, vertun

they squander their profits on expensive cars: waste, misspend, misuse, throw away, fritter away, spend recklessly, spend unwisely, spend like water; informal blow, go through, splurge, drop, pour down the drain. antonym: manage, make good use of, save. 

lechzen, sich sehnen; erflehen, inständig bitten 

he craved professional recognition: long for, yearn for, desire, want, wish for, hunger for, thirst for, sigh for, pine for, hanker after, covet, lust after, ache for, set one's heart on, dream of, be bent on; informal: have a yen for, have a jones for, itch for, be dying for. 

abbetteln

she wheedled us into hiring her brother: coax, cajole, inveigle, induce, entice, charm, tempt, beguile, blandish, flatter, persuade, influence, win someone over, bring someone around, convince, prevail on, get around; informal: sweet-talk, soft-soap. 

unter Aid aussagen; vom Amt absetzen

1 the president was deposed: overthrow, unseat, dethrone, topple, remove, supplant, displace; dismiss, oust, drum out, throw out, expel, eject; informal: chuck out, boot out, get rid of, show someone the door.
2 Law : a witness deposed that he had seen me: swear, testify, attest, assert, declare, claim.
 

Amt; Auftrag, Tätigkeit; Provision; 

bestellen, in Auftrag geben, in Dienst stellen

noun
1 the dealer's commission: percentage, brokerage, share, portion, dividend, premium, fee, consideration, bonus; informal: cut, take, rake-off, slice.
2 the commission of building a palace: task, employment, job, project, mission, assignment, undertaking; duty, charge, responsibility; informal: marching orders.
3 items made under state commission: warrant, license, sanction, authority.
4 an independent commission: committee, board, council, panel, directorate, delegation.
5 the commission of an offense: perpetration, committing, committal, execution.

verb
1 he was commissioned to paint a portrait: engage, contract, charge, employ, hire, recruit, retain, appoint, enlist, book, sign up.
2 they commissioned a sculpture: order; authorize; formal bespeak.
 

Unterschlagung, Veruntreuung

 
four corporate managers were indicted for embezzlement: misappropriation, theft, stealing, robbery, thieving, pilfering, purloining, pilferage, appropriation, swindling; fraud, larceny.
 

Beiname, Beiwort

Marion is better known by his epithet, the 'Swamp Fox': sobriquet, nickname, byname, title, name, label, tag; description, designation; informal: moniker, handle; formal appellation, denomination. 

verkleinernd, zierlich, zwergenhaft

adjective
a diminutive breed of parrot: tiny, small, little, petite, elfin, minute, miniature, mini, minuscule, compact, pocket, toy, midget, undersized, short; informal: teeny, weeny, teeny-weeny, teensy-weensy, itty-bitty, itsy-bitsy, baby, pint-sized, knee-high to a grasshopper, little-bitty; Scottish wee. See note at small. antonym: enormous.
 

Absperrkette

noun
a cordon of 500 police: barrier, line, row, chain, ring, circle; picket line.

verb
troops cordoned off the area: close off, shut off, seal off, fence off, separate off, isolate, enclose, surround.
 

launenhaft, schankend, unbeständig, wankelmütig

the fickle Loretta has a different boyfriend: every month capricious, changeable, variable, volatile, mercurial; inconstant, undependable, unsteady, unfaithful, faithless, flighty, giddy, skittish; fair-weather; technical labile; literary: mutable. antonym: constant. 

eckig, schräg, winklig; linkisch; knochig, hager; barsch

1 an angular shape: sharp-cornered, pointed, V-shaped, Y-shaped. antonym: rounded, curving.
2 an angular face: bony, rawboned, lean, spare, thin, skinny, gaunt. antonym: plump, curvy.
 

Erscheinung; Geistererscheinung

a monstrous apparition: ghost, phantom, specter, spirit, wraith; vision, hallucination; informal: spook, chimera; literary: phantasm, revenant, shade, visitant; rare: eidolon. 

abgelegen, abgeschieden, abgesondert, einsam; abgeschlossen, verschwiegen, zurückgezogene Lebensweise

a secluded little park: sheltered, private, concealed, hidden, unfrequented, sequestered, tucked away. antonym: busy. 

ärgern; Tücke

noun
he said it out of spite: malice, malevolence, ill will, vindictiveness, vengefulness, revenge, malignity, evil intentions, animus, enmity; informal: bitchiness, cattiness; literary: maleficence. antonym: benevolence.

verb
he did it to spite me: upset, hurt, make miserable, grieve, distress, wound, pain, torment, injure. antonym: please.
 

noun
1 never drop litter: garbage, refuse, junk, waste, debris, scraps, leavings, fragments, detritus, trash, rubbish.
2 the litter of papers around her: clutter, jumble, muddle, mess, heap, disorder, untidiness, confusion, disarray; informal: shambles.
3 a litter of kittens: brood, family.
4 she was carried on a litter: sedan chair, palanquin; stretcher.

verb
1 clothes littered the floor: make untidy, mess up, make a mess of, clutter up, be strewn about, be scattered about; informal: make a shambles of.
2 a paper littered with quotes: fill, pack, load, clutter.

tönern

Lehm, Tonerde

1 the soil is mainly clay: earth, soil, loam.
2 potter's clay: china clay, kaolin, adobe, ball clay, argil, pug; fireclay.
 

neidisch, voreingenommen; eifersüchtig, gelbsüchtig, verbittert, zynisch

adjective
a jaundiced view of the world: bitter, resentful, cynical, soured, disenchanted, disillusioned, disappointed, pessimistic, skeptical, distrustful, suspicious, misanthropic; envious, jealous.
 

hartherzig, herzlos, kaltschnäuzig

his callous disregard for other people's feelings: heartless, unfeeling, uncaring, cold, cold-hearted, hard, as hard as nails, hard-hearted, insensitive, lacking compassion, hard-bitten, hard-nosed, hard-edged, unsympathetic. antonym: kind, compassionate. 

Fauxpas, Irrtum, Schnitzer, Taktlosigkeit

1 a poem marred by solecisms (grammatical): mistake, error, blunder; informal: howler, blooper.
2 it would have been a solecism to answer: faux pas, gaffe, impropriety, social indiscretion, infelicity, slip, error, blunder, lapse; informal: slip-up, boo-boo, goof, blooper, flub.
 

larmoyant, weinerlich sentimental, rührselig

Gefühlsduselei

1 maudlin self-pity: sentimental, oversentimental, emotional, overemotional, tearful, lachrymose; informal: weepy, misty-eyed. See note at sentimental .
2 a maudlin ballad: mawkish, sentimental, oversweet, oversentimental; informal tearjerker, tearjerking, mushy, slushy, sloppy, schmaltzy, cheesy, corny, soppy, cornball, three-hankie.
 

Nährwert, Nahrung; Unterhalt

1 the creature needs sustenance: nourishment, food, nutriment, nutrition, provisions, provender, rations; informal: grub, chow, vittles; formal: comestibles; literary: viands; dated: victuals.
2 the sustenance of his family: support, maintenance, keep, living, livelihood, subsistence, income.
 

Niederlage; Unbehagen

I admit we were somewhat amused by his discomfiture: embarrassment, unease, uneasiness, awkwardness, discomfort, discomposure, abashment, confusion, agitation, nervousness, disorientation, perturbation, distress; chagrin, mortification, shame, humiliation; informal: discombobulation. 

hintereinander marschieren; verschmutzen

Hohlweg

verb
1 her capacity for love had been defiled: spoil, sully, mar, impair, debase, degrade; poison, taint, tarnish; destroy, ruin. antonym: purify.
2 the sacred bones were defiled: desecrate, profane, violate; contaminate, pollute, debase, degrade, dishonor. See note at pollute . antonym sanctify.
3 archaic : she was defiled by a married man: rape, violate; literary: ravish; dated: deflower.
 

ehrlich, fair, gerecht

adjective
a plan to distribute the burden of taxes in an equitable way: fair, just, impartial, evenhanded, unbiased, unprejudiced, egalitarian; disinterested, objective, neutral, nonpartisan, open-minded; informal: fair and square. antonym: unfair.
 

andeuten, unterstellen, insinuieren

verb
he insinuated that she lied: imply, suggest, hint, intimate, indicate, let it be known, give someone to understand; informal: make out.
 

ehemalig

adjective
Candi's erstwhile tennis instructor: former, old, past, one-time, sometime, ex-, late, then; previous; formal: quondam. antonym: present.
 

entstellen, verfinstern, vernebeln

verb
1 mere rationalizations to obfuscate rather than clarify the real issue: obscure, confuse, make unclear, blur, muddle, complicate, muddy, cloud, befog. antonym: clarify.
2 her work became more and more obfuscated by mathematics and jargon: bewilder, mystify, puzzle, perplex, confuse, baffle, confound, bemuse, befuddle, nonplus; informal: flummox.
 

einschmeicheln

cause to be loved or liked  

adjective
the baby ducklings are endearing: lovable, adorable, cute, sweet, dear, delightful, lovely, charming, appealing, attractive, engaging, winning, captivating, enchanting, beguiling, winsome.

Morast, Sumpf

noun
1 the muddy morass: quagmire, swamp, bog, marsh, muskeg, mire, marshland, wetland, slough, moor.
2 a morass of paperwork: confusion, chaos, muddle, tangle, entanglement, imbroglio, jumble, clutter; informal: logjam.
 

antonym: localized

überflüssig, unnötig

see: extraneous:

adjective
1 extraneous considerations: irrelevant, immaterial, beside the point, unrelated, unconnected, inapposite, inapplicable, superfluous.
2 extraneous noise: external, outside, exterior.
 

antonym: necessary, existential, required 

noun: supererogation
the performance of more work than duty requires.
 

unbekannt; unbedeutend; unbestimmt; dunkel, schleierhaft

verschleiern

adjective
1 the truth is that many aspects of a war's outcome remain obscure for years: unclear, uncertain, unknown, in doubt, doubtful, dubious, mysterious, hazy, vague, indeterminate, concealed, hidden. antonym: clear, obvious.
2 obscure references to Proust: abstruse, recondite, arcane, esoteric; mystifying, puzzling, perplexing, baffling, ambiguous, cryptic, enigmatic, Delphic, oracular, oblique, opaque, elliptical, unintelligible, incomprehensible, impenetrable, unfathomable; informal as clear as mud. antonym: clear, plain.
3 rumors from open-mouth radio shows and obscure web sites: little known, unknown, unheard of, unnoticed, undistinguished, unimportant, insignificant, inconsequential, minor, lowly; nameless, anonymous; unsung, unrecognized, forgotten. antonym famous, renowned.
4 an obscure shape: indistinct, faint, vague, nebulous, ill-defined, unclear, blurred, blurry, misty, hazy; dark, dim, shadowy; literary: tenebrous; archaic: caliginous. antonym: distinct.

verb
1 a shy and abject manner obscured her prettiness: hide, conceal, cover, veil, shroud, screen, mask, cloak, cast a shadow over, shadow, block (out), obliterate, eclipse, darken; literary: bedim, enshroud. antonym: reveal.
2 human rights are often obscured by the shadow of politics: confuse, complicate, obfuscate, cloud, blur, muddy; muddy the waters of; literary: befog, becloud. antonym: illuminate, clarify.
 

Gaunersprache; Scheinheiligkeit

kippen, verkanten; auf einer Auktion verkaufen

noun
1 religious cant: hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, pietism.
2 thieves' cant: slang, jargon, idiom, argot, patois, speech, terminology, language; informal lingo, -speak, -ese. See note at dialect .

 
verb 2
the deck canted some twenty degrees: tilt, lean, slant, slope, incline; tip, list, bank, heel.

noun 2
the cant of the walls: slope, slant, tilt, angle, inclination.
 

befreien, säubern; beschneiden, kürzen, reduzieren, stutzen

Pflaume

verb
1 I pruned the roses: cut back, trim, thin, pinch back, clip, shear, top, dock.
2 prune lateral shoots of wisteria: cut off, lop (off), chop off, clip, snip (off), nip off, dock.
3 staff numbers have been pruned: reduce, cut (back/down), pare (down), slim down, make reductions in, make cutbacks in, trim, decrease, diminish, downsize, ax, shrink; informal: slash. antonym: increase.
 

angemessen

(of punishment or retribution) appropriate to the crime or wrongdoing; fitting and deserved.

antonym: undeservd, inappropriate 

dirnenhaft, trügerisch

adjective
the meretricious glitter of the whole charade: worthless, valueless, cheap, tawdry, trashy, Brummagem, tasteless, kitsch, kitschy; false, artificial, fake, imitation; informal: tacky, chintzy.
 

passend, geeignet, sinnig

adjective
1 a very apt description of how I felt: suitable, fitting, appropriate, befitting, relevant, germane, applicable, apposite. antonym: inappropriate.
2 they're apt to get a bit sloppy: inclined, given, likely, liable, disposed, predisposed, prone. antonym: unlikely.
3 an apt pupil: clever, quick, bright, sharp, smart, intelligent, able, gifted, adept, astute. antonym: slow.
 

gemein, unedel, unwürdig

adjective
the ignoble tradition of mudslinging: dishonorable, unworthy, base, shameful, contemptible, ignominious, despicable, dastardly, vile, degenerate, shabby, sordid, mean; improper, unprincipled, discreditable; humble, low, lowly, common, plebeian.
 

Hilfslehrer; Amtsdiener

einführen, geleiten

verb
she ushered him to a window seat: escort, accompany, take, show, see, lead, conduct, guide, steer, shepherd, marshal.

noun
ushers showed them to their seats: guide, attendant, escort, sidesman.
 

betreffen, gehören, gelten, zutreffen

verb
1 developments pertaining to the economy: concern, relate to, be related to, be connected with, be relevant to, regard, apply to, be pertinent to, refer to, have a bearing on, appertain to, bear on, affect, involve, touch on.
2 the stock and assets pertaining to the business: belong to, be a part of, be included in.
3 the economic situation that pertained at that time: exist, be the order of the day, be the case, prevail; formal: obtain.
 

dämpfen; abhärten, mäßigen, temperieren

Charakter, Laune, Stimmung, Temperament, Veranlagung; Wut, Zorn

noun
1 he walked out in a temper: fit of rage, rage, fury, fit of pique, tantrum, bad mood, mood, sulk, huff; informal: grump, snit, hissy fit.
2 a display of temper: anger, fury, rage, annoyance, vexation, irritation, irritability, ill humor, spleen, pique, petulance, testiness, tetchiness, touchiness, crabbiness; literary: ire, choler.
3 she struggled to keep her temper: composure, equanimity, self-control, self-possession, sangfroid, calm, good humor; informal: cool.

verb
1 the steel is tempered by heat: harden, strengthen, toughen, fortify, anneal.
2 their idealism is tempered with realism: moderate, modify, modulate, mitigate, alleviate, reduce, weaken, lighten, soften. See note at alleviate .
 

böse, ungehalten, verärgert

adjective
after the shabby way you've treated me, why shouldn't I be indignant?: aggrieved, resentful, affronted, disgruntled, displeased, cross, angry, mad, annoyed, offended, exasperated, irritated, piqued, nettled, in high dudgeon, chagrined; informal: peeved, vexed, irked, put out, miffed, aggravated, riled, in a huff, huffy, ticked off, sore.
 

karg, unfruchtbar

adjective
1 barren land: unproductive, infertile, unfruitful, sterile, arid, desert. See note at naked . antonym: fertile.
2 archaic : a barren woman: infertile, sterile, childless; technical: infecund. antonym: fertile.
3 a barren exchange of courtesies: pointless, futile, worthless, profitless, valueless, unrewarding, purposeless, useless, vain, aimless, hollow, empty, vacuous, vapid. antonym: fruitful.
 

ausgedörrt, dürr; öde

adjective
1 an arid landscape: dry, dried up, bone-dry, waterless, moistureless, parched, scorched, baked, thirsty, droughty, desert; barren, infertile. See note at dry . antonym: wet, fertile.
2 this town has an arid, empty feel: dreary, dull, drab, dry, sterile, colorless, unstimulating, uninspiring, flat, boring, uninteresting, lifeless, emotionless, plain-vanilla. antonym: vibrant.
 

Altersschwäche, Gebrechlichkeit; Schwäche

noun
the family would never openly discuss Aunt Erma's infirmity: illness, malady, ailment, disease, disorder, sickness, affliction, complaint, indisposition, frailty, weakness; disability, impairment.
 

aufspüren

verb
1 she ferreted in her handbag: rummage, feel around, grope around, forage around, fish around/about, poke around/about; search through, hunt through, rifle through.
2 ferreting out misdemeanors: unearth, uncover, discover, detect, search out, bring to light, track down, dig up, root out, nose out, snoop around for.
 

aufgelöst, außer sich, bestürzt, beunruhigt, verstört

adjective
I first became suspicious when I realized that Frank was not at all distraught over Larry's disappearance: worried, upset, distressed, fraught; overcome, overwrought, beside oneself, out of one's mind, desperate, hysterical, worked up, at one's wits' end; informal: in a state, unglued.
 

armselig, erbärmlich, mickrig, schäbig

aufreizen, hinhalten, peinigen, quälen

verb
Steve was tantalized by Liliana's exotic eyes: tease, torment, torture, bait; tempt, entice, lure, allure, beguile; excite, fascinate, titillate, intrigue.
 

Einäscherung, Verbrennung

verb: incinerate
we would incinerate our household trash in a barrel in the backyard: burn, reduce to ashes, consume by fire, carbonize; cremate.
 

Fülle

noun
these scouts have brought in a cornucopia of young talent: an abundance, a profusion, a plentifulness, a profuseness, a copiousness, an amplitude, a lavishness, a bountifulness, a bounty; a host, a riot; plenty, quantities, scores, a multitude; informal: millions, a sea, oceans/an ocean, a wealth, lots/a lot, heaps/a heap, masses/a mass, stacks/a stack, piles/a pile, loads/a load, mountains/a mountain, tons/a ton, a slew; formal: a plenitude.
 

Lebenskraft; Einfaltspinsel; Trottel

untergraben, unterminieren

noun
1 sap from the roots of trees: juice, secretion, fluid, liquid.
2 they're full of youthful sap: vigor, energy, drive, dynamism, life, spirit, liveliness, sparkle, verve, ebullience, enthusiasm, gusto, vitality, vivacity, fire, zest, zeal, exuberance; informal: get-up-and-go, oomph, vim.

verb
they sapped the will of the troops: erode, wear away/down, deplete, reduce, lessen, attenuate, undermine, exhaust, drain, bleed.

sap 2
noun informal
he fell for it — what a sap! See idiot .
 

sich krümmen, sich winden

verb
1 I tried to squirm away: wriggle, wiggle, writhe, twist, slide, slither, turn, shift, fidget, jiggle, twitch, thresh, flounder, flail, toss and turn.
2 he squirmed as everyone laughed: wince, shudder, feel embarrassed, feel ashamed.
 

dünn, spärlich; schwach, unbedeutend

adjective
1 a tenuous connection: slight, insubstantial, meager, flimsy, weak, doubtful, dubious, questionable, suspect; vague, nebulous, hazy. antonym: convincing, strong.
2 a tenuous thread: fine, thin, slender, delicate, wispy, gossamer, fragile. antonym: thick, strong.
 

verdarb, verwirrt, benebelt 

adjective
Patricia was noticeably addled after Pete suddenly stormed out: muddled, unhinged, confused, muzzy, fuddled, befuddled, dazed, disoriented, disorientated, fuzzy; informal: woozy.