(n.) the expression of approval or favorable opinion, praise; official approval

Synonyms: commendtion, sanction

Antonyms: disapproval, condemnation, censure

(v.) to make easier or milder, relieve; to quet, calm; to put an end to, appease, satisfy, quench

Synonyms: mitigate, alleviate, slake, allay

Antonyms: intensify, aggravate, exacerbate

(n.) a combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose

Synonyms: alliance, league, federation, combine

Antonym: splinter group           

(n.) decline, decay, or deterioration; a condition or period of decline or decay; excessive self-indulgence

Synonyms: degeneration, corruption

AntonymsL rise, growth, development, maturation

(v.) to draw forth, bring out from some source (such as another person)

Synonyms: call forth, evoke, extract, educe

Antonyms: repress, quash, squelch, stifle

(v.) to attempt to dissuade someone from some course or decision by earnest reasoning

Synonyms: protest, remonstrate, complain

(adj.) used so often as to lack freshness or originality

Synonyms: banal, trite, commonplace, cony

Antonyms: new, fresh, novel, original

(n.) a gap, opening, break (in the sense of having an element missing)

Synonyms: pause, lacuna

Antonyms: continuity, continuation

(n.) a hint, indirect suggestion, or reference (often in a derogatory sense)

Synonyms: insinuation, intimation

Antonym: direct statement

(v.) to pleade on behalf of someone else; to serve as a third party or go-between in a disagreement

Synonyms: intervene, mediate

(adj.) wearied, worn-out, dulled (in the sense of being satiated by excessive indulence)

Synonyms: sated, surfeited, cloyed

Antonyms: unspoiled, uncloyed

(adj.) causing shock, horror, or revulsion; sensational; pale or sallow in color; terrible or passionate in intensity or lack of restraint

Synonyms: gruesome, gory, grisly, baleful, ghastly

Antonyms: pleasant, attractive, appealing, wholesome

(adj.) worthy, deserving recognition and praise

Synonyms: praiseworthy, laudable, commendable

Antonyms: blameworthy, reprehensible, discreditable

(adj.) peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated and upset

Synonyms: irritable, testy, waspish

Antonyms: even-tempered, placid, serene, amiable

(n.) a special right or privilege; a special quality showing excellence

Synonyms: perquisite, perk

(adj.) pertaining to an outlying area; local; narrow in mind or outlook, countrified in the sense of being limited and backward; of a simple, plain design that originated in the countryside;

(n.) a person with a narrow point of view; a person from an outlying area; a soldier from a province or colony

Synonyms: (adj.) narrow-minded, parchial, insular, naive

Antonyms: (adj.) cosmopolitan, catholic, broad-minded

(v.) to make a pretense of, imitate; to show the outer signs of

Synonyms: feign, pretend, affect

(v.) to rise above or beyond, exceed

Synonyms: surpass, outstrip

(n.) shade cast by trees; foliage giving shade; an overshadowing infuence or power; offense, resentment; a vague suspicion

Synonyms: irritation, pique, annoyance

Antonyms: pleasure, delight, satisfaction

(adj.) excessively smooth or smug; trying too hard to give an impression of earnestness, sincerity or piety; fatty, oily; pliable

Synonyms: mealymouthed, servile, fawning, greasy

Antonyms: gruff, blunt