English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions — Story, Setting & Ideas

Alarm was felt _in_ the camp, _among_ the soldiers, _at_ the news.

active, lively, prepared, vigilant, brisk, nimble, prompt, watchful, hustling, on the watch, ready, wide-awake.

_Alert_, _ready_, and _wide-awake_ refer to a watchful promptness for action. _Ready_ suggests thoughtful preparation; the wandering Indian is _alert_, the trained soldier is _ready_. _Ready_ expresses more life and vigor than _prepared_. The gun is _prepared_; the man is _ready_. _Prompt_ expresses readiness for appointment or demand at the required moment. The good general is _ready_ for emergencies, _alert_ to perceive opportunity or peril, _prompt_ to seize occasion. The sense of _brisk_, _nimble_ is the secondary and now less common signification of _alert_. Compare ACTIVE; ALIVE; NIMBLE; VIGILANT.

drowsy, dull, heavy, inactive, slow, sluggish, stupid.

conflicting, distant, inappropriate, strange, contradictory, foreign, irrelevant, unconnected, contrary, hostile, opposed, unlike. contrasted, impertinent, remote,

_Foreign_ refers to difference of birth, _alien_ to difference of allegiance. In their figurative use, that is _foreign_ which is _remote_, _unlike_, or _unconnected_; that is _alien_ which is _conflicting_, _hostile_, or _opposed_. _Impertinent_ and _irrelevant_ matters can not claim consideration in a certain connection; _inappropriate_ matters could not properly be considered. Compare ALIEN, _n._; CONTRAST, _v._

akin, apropos, germane, proper, appropriate, essential, pertinent, relevant.

Such a purpose was alien _to_ (or _from_) my thought: _to_ preferable.

A naturalized citizen is not an _alien_, though a _foreigner_ by birth, and perhaps a _stranger_ in the place where he resides. A person of foreign birth not naturalized is an _alien_, though he may have been resident in the country a large part of a lifetime, and ceased to be a _stranger_ to its people or institutions. He is an _alien_ in one country if his allegiance is to another. The people of any country still residing in their own land are, strictly speaking, _foreigners_ to the people of all other countries, rather than _aliens_; but _alien_ and _foreigner_ are often used synonymously.

citizen, fellow-countryman, native-born inhabitant, countryman, native, naturalized person.

Aliens _to_ (more rarely _from_) our nation and laws; aliens _in_ our land, _among_ our people.

akin, equivalent, kindred, same, analogous, homogeneous, like, similar, equal, identical, resembling, uniform.

_Alike_ is a comprehensive word, signifying as applied to two or more objects that some or all qualities of one are the same as those of the other or others; by modifiers _alike_ may be made to express more or less resemblance; as, these houses are somewhat (_i. e._, partially) _alike_; or, these houses are exactly (_i. e._, in all respects) _alike_. Cotton and wool are _alike_ in this, that they can both be woven into cloth. Substances are _homogeneous_ which are made up of elements of the _same_ kind, or which are the _same_ in structure. Two pieces of iron may be _homogeneous_ in material, while not _alike_ in size or shape. In geometry, two triangles are _equal_ when they can be laid over one another, and fit, line for line and angle for angle; they are _equivalent_ when they simply contain the same amount of space. An _identical_ proposition is one that says the same thing precisely in subject and predicate. _Similar_ refers to close resemblance, which yet leaves room for question or denial of complete likeness or identity. To say "this is the _identical_ man," is to say not merely that he is _similar_ to the one I have in mind, but that he is the very _same_ person. Things are _analogous_ when they are _similar_ in idea, plan, use, or character, tho perhaps quite unlike in appearance; as, the gills of fishes are said to be _analogous_ to the lungs in terrestrial animals.

different, dissimilar, distinct, heterogeneous, unlike.

The specimens are alike _in_ kind; they are all alike _to_ me.

active, breathing, live, quick, alert, brisk, lively, subsisting, animate, existent, living, vivacious. animated, existing,

_Alive_ applies to all degrees of life, from that which shows one to be barely _existing_ or _existent_ as a living thing, as when we say he is just _alive_, to that which implies the very utmost of vitality and power, as in the words "he is all _alive_," "thoroughly _alive_." So the word _quick_, which began by signifying "having life," is now mostly applied to energy of life as shown in swiftness of action. _Breathing_ is capable of like contrast. We say of a dying man, he is still _breathing_; or we speak of a _breathing_ statue, or "_breathing_ and sounding, beauteous battle," TENNYSON _Princess_ can. v, l. 155, where it means having, or seeming to have, full and vigorous breath, abundant life. Compare ACTIVE; ALERT; NIMBLE.

dead, defunct, dull, lifeless, deceased, dispirited, inanimate, spiritless.

Alive _in_ every nerve; alive _to_ every noble impulse; alive _with_ fervor, hope, resolve; alive _through_ all his being.

alleviate, compose, quiet, still, appease, mollify, soothe, tranquilize. calm, pacify,