Book: Roget\'s Thesaurus

A >> Author: >> Roget\'s Thesaurus




#689. Refreshment. -- N. bracing &c. v.; recovery of strength &c. 159;
restoration, revival &c. 660; repair, refection, refocillation|,
refreshment, regalement, bait; relief &c. 834.
V. brace &c. (strengthen) 159; reinvigorate; air, freshen up,
refresh, recruit; repair &c. (restore) 660; fan, refocillate|; refresh the
inner man.
breathe, respire; drink in the ozone; draw breath, take breath, gather
breath, take a long breath, regain breath, recover breath; get better,
raise one's head; recover one's strength, regain one's strength, renew
one's strength &c. 159; perk up.
come to oneself &c. (revive) 660; feel like a giant refreshed.
Adj. refreshing &c v.; recuperative &c. 660.
refreshed &c. v.; untired, unwearied.

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#690. Agent.-- N. doer, actor, agent, performer, perpetrator,
operator; executor, executrix; practitioner, worker, stager.
bee, ant, working bee, termite, white ant; laboring oar, servant of
all work, factotum.
workman, artisan; craftsman, handicraftsman; mechanic, operative;
working man; laboring man; demiurgus, hewers of wood and drawers of water,
laborer, navvy; hand, man, day laborer, journeyman, charwoman, hack; mere
tool &c. 633; beast of burden, drudge, fag; lumper, roustabout.
maker, artificer, artist, wright, manufacturer, architect, builder,
mason, bricklayer, smith, forger, Vulcan; carpenter; ganger, platelayer;
blacksmith, locksmith, sailmaker, wheelwright.
machinist, mechanician, engineer.
sempstress, semstress, seamstress; needlewoman, workwoman; tailor,
cordwainer.
minister &c. (instrument) 631; servant &c. 746; representative &c.
(commissioner) 758, (deputy) 759.
coworker, party to, participator in, particeps criminis, dramatis
personae; personnel.
Phr. quorum pars magna fui [Vergil]; faber est quisque fortunae suae.

#691. Workshop. -- N. workshop, workhouse; manufactory, mill,
factory; cabinet, studio; bureau, atelier.
hive, hive of industry; nursery; hothouse, hotbed; kitchen; , mint,
forge, loom; dock, dockyard; alveary; armory; laboratory; beehive, bindery,
forcing pit, nailery, usine, slip, yard, wharf; foundry foundery; furnace;
vineyard.
crucible, alembic, caldron, matrix.

2. Complex Voluntary Action

#692. Conduct. -- N. conduct; behavior; deportment, comportment;
carriage, maintien, demeanor, guise, bearing, manner, observance.
dealing, transaction &c. (action) 680; business &c. 625.
tactics, game, policy, polity; generalship, statesmanship, seamanship;
strategy, strategics; plan &c. 626.
management; husbandry; housekeeping, housewifery; stewardship; menage;
regime; economy, economics; political economy; government &c. (direction)
693.
execution, manipulation, treatment, campaign, career, life, course,
walk, race, record.
course of conduct, line of conduct, line of action, line of
proceeding; role; process, ways, practice, procedure, modus operandi;
method &c., path &c. 627.
V. transact, execute; despatch, dispatch; proceed with, discharge;
carry on, carry through, carry out, carry into effect; work out; go
through, get through; enact; put into practice; officiate &c. 625.
bear oneself, behave onself, comport oneself, demean oneself, carry
onself, conduct onself, acquit oneself.
run a race, lead a life, play a game; take a course, adopt a course;
steer one's course, shape one's course; play one's paint, play one's cards,
shift for oneself; paddle one's own canoe; bail one's own boat.
conduct; manage &c. (direct) 693.
deal with, have to do with; treat, handle a case; take steps, take
measures.
Adj. conducting &c. v. strategical, businesslike, practical,
executive.

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#693. Direction. -- N. direction; management, managery; government,
gubernation, conduct, legislation, regulation, guidance; bossism [U.S.];
legislature; steerage, pilotage; reins, reins of government; helm, rudder,
needle, compass; guiding star, load star, lode star, pole star; cynosure.
supervision, superintendence; surveillance, oversight; eye of the
master; control, charge; board of control &c. (council) 696; command &c.
(authority) 737.
premiership, senatorship; director &c. 694; chair, portfolio.
statesmanship; statecraft, kingcraft, queencraft.
ministry, ministration; administration; stewardship, proctorship;
agency.
V. direct, manage, govern, conduct; order, prescribe, cut out work
for; bead, lead; lead the way, show the way; take the lead, lead on;
regulate, guide, steer, pilot; tackle
take the helm, be at the helm; have the reins, handle the reins, hold
the reins, take the reins; drive, tool.
superintend, supervise; overlook, control, keep in order, look after,
see to, legislate for; administer, ministrate; matronize; have the care of,
have the charge of; have charge of, take the direction; pull the strings,
pull the wires; rule &c. (command) 737; have the direction, hold office,
hold the portfolio; preside, preside at the board; take the chair, occupy
the chair, be in the chair; pull the stroke oar.
Adj. directing &c. v.; hegemonic.
Adv. at the helm, at the head of.

#694. Director. -- N. director, manager, governor, rector,
comptroller.
superintendent, supervisor.
intendant; overseer, overlooker; supercargo, husband, inspector,
visitor, ranger, surveyor, aedile; moderator, monitor, taskmaster; master
&c. 745; leader, ringleader, demagogue, corypheus, conductor, fugleman,
precentor, bellwether, agitator; caporal, choregus, collector, file leader,
flugelman, linkboy.
guiding star &c. (guidance) 693; adviser &c. 695; guide &c.
(information) 527; pilot; helmsman; steersman, steermate; wire-puller.
driver, whip, Jehu, charioteer; coachman, carman, cabman; postilion,
vetturino, muleteer, arriero, teamster; whipper in.
head, head man, head center; principal, president, speaker; chair,
chairman; captain &c. (master) 745; superior; mayor &c. (civil authority)
745; vice president, prime minister, premier, vizier, grand vizier, eparch.
officer, functionary, minister, official, red-tapist, bureaucrat; man
in office, Jack in office; office bearer; person in authority &c. 745.
statesman, strategist, legislator, lawgiver, politician, statist,
statemonger; Minos, Draco; arbiter &c. (judge) 967; boss [U.S.], political
dictator.
board &c. (council) 696.
secretary, secretary of state; Reis Effendi; vicar &c. (deputy) 759;
steward, factor; agent &c. 758; bailiff, middleman; foreman, clerk of
works; landreeve; factotum, major-domo, seneschal, housekeeper, shepherd,
croupier; proctor, procurator.
Adv. ex officio.

#695. Advice. -- N. advice, counsel, adhortation|; word to the wise;
suggestion, submonition|, recommendation, advocacy; advisemement.
exhortation &c. (persuasion) 615; expostulation &c. (dissuasion) 616;
admonition &c. (warning) 668; guidance &c. (direction) 693.
instruction, charge, injunction, obtestation; Governor's message,
President's message; King's message, Queen's speech; message, speech from
the throne.
adviser, prompter; counsel, counselor; monitor, mentor, Nestor, magnus
Apollo, senator; teacher &c. 540.
guide, manual, chart &c. (information) 527.
physician, leech|!, archiater.
arbiter &c. (judge) 967.
reference, referment; consultation, conference, pourparler.
V. advise, counsel; give advice, give counsel, give a piece of advice;
suggest, prompt, submonish, recommend, prescribe, advocate; exhort &c.
(persuade) 615.
enjoin, enforce, charge, instruct, call; call upon &c. (request) 765;
dictate.
expostulate &c. (dissuade) 616; admonish &c. (warn) 668.
advise with; lay heads together, consult together; compare notes; hold
a council, deliberate, be closeted with.
confer, consult, refer to, call in; take advice, follow advice; be
advised by, have at one's elbow, take one's cue from.
Adj. recommendatory; hortative &c. (persuasive) 615; dehortatory &c.
(dissuasive) 616; admonitory &c. (warning) 668.
Int. go to!
Phr. "give every man thine ear but few thy voice" [Hamlet]; "I pray
thee cease thy counsel" [Much Ado About Nothing]; "my guide, philosopher,
and friend" [Pope]; "'twas good advice and meant, my son be good" [Crabbe];
verbum sat sapienti; vive memor leti; "we, ask advice but we mean
approbation" [Colton].

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#696. Council. -- N. council, committee, subcommittee, comitia, court,
chamber, cabinet, board, bench, staff.
senate, senatus, parliament, chamber of deputies, directory,
reichsrath, rigsdag, cortes, storthing, witenagemote, junta, divan, musnud,
sanhedrim; classis; Amphictyonic council; duma, house of representatives;
legislative assembly, legislative council; riksdag, volksraad, witan,
caput, consistory, chapter, syndicate; court of appeal &c. (tribunal) 966;
board of control, board of works; vestry; county council, local board.
audience chamber, council chamber, state chamber.
cabinet council, privy council; cockpit, convocation, synod, congress,
convention, diet, states-general.
assembly, caucus, conclave, clique, conventicle; meeting, sitting,
seance, conference, session, palaver, pourparler, durbar, house; quorum;
council fire [N.Am.], powwow [U.S.], primary [U.S.].
senator; member, member of parliament, M.P.; councilor,
representative of the people; assemblyman, congressman.
Adj. senatorial, curule; congressional, parliamentary.

#697. Precept. -- N. precept, direction, instruction, charge;
prescript, prescription; recipe, receipt; golden rule; maxim &c. 496.
rule, canon, law, code, corpus juris, lex scripta, act, statute,
rubric, stage direction, regulation; form, formula, formulary;
technicality; canon law; norm.
order &c. (command) 741.

#698. Skill. - N. skill, skillfulness, address; dexterity,
dexterousness; adroitness, expertness &c. adj.; proficiency, competence,
craft, callidity, facility, knack, trick, sleight; mastery, mastership,
excellence, panurgy; ambidexterity, ambidextrousness; sleight of hand &c.
(deception) 545.
seamanship, airmanship, marksmanship, horsemanship; rope-dancing.
accomplishment, acquirement, attainment; art, science; technicality,
technology; practical knowledge, technical knowledge.
knowledge of the world, world wisdom, savoir faire; tact; mother wit
&c. (sagacity) 498; discretion &c. *(caution) 864; finesse; craftiness &c.
(cunning) 702; management &c. (conduct) 692; self-help.
cleverness, talent, ability, ingenuity, capacity, parts, talents,
faculty, endowment, forte, turn, gift, genius; intelligence &c. 498;
sharpness, readiness &c. (activity) 682; invention &c. 515; aptness,
aptitude; turn for, capacity for, genius for; felicity, capability, curiosa
felicitas, qualification, habilitation.
proficient &c. 700.
masterpiece, coup de maitre, chef d'euvre, tour de force; good stroke
&c. (plan) 626.
V. be skillful &c. adj.; excel in, be master of; have a turn for &c.
n.
know what's what, know a hawk from a handsaw, know what one is about,
know on which side one's bread is buttered, know what's o'clock; have cut
one's eye teeth, have cut one's wisdom teeth.
see one's way, see where the wind lies, see which way the wind blows;
have all one's wits about one, have one's hand in; savoir vivre; scire quid
valeant humeri quid ferre recusent.
look after the main chance; cut one's coat according to one's cloth;
live by one's wits; exercise one's discretion, feather the oar, sail near
the wind; stoop to conquer &c. (cunning) 702; play one's cards well, play
one's best card; hit the right nail on the head, put the saddle on the
right horse.
take advantage of, make the most of; profit by &e. (use) 677; make a
hit &c. (succeed) 731; make a virtue of necessity; make hay while the sun
shines &c. (occasion) 134.
Adj. skillful, dexterous, adroit, expert, apt, handy, quick, deft,
ready, gain; slick, smart &c. (active) 682; proficient, good at, up to, at
home in, master of, a good hand at, au fait, thoroughbred, masterly, crack,
accomplished; conversant &c. (knowing) 490.
experienced, practiced, skilled, hackneyed; up in, well up in; in
practice, in proper cue; competent, efficient, qualified, capable, fitted,
fit for, up to the mark, trained, initiated, prepared, primed, finished.
clever, cute, able, ingenious, felicitous, gifted, talented, endowed;
inventive &c. 515; shrewd, sharp &c. (intelligent) 498; cunning &c. 702;
alive to, up to snuff, not to be caught with chaff; discreet.
neat-handed, fine-fingered, nimble-fingered, ambidextrous, sure-
footed; cut out for, fitted for.
technical, artistic, scientific, daedalian, shipshape; workman-like,
business-like, statesman-like.
Adv. skillfully &c. adj.; well &c. 618; artistically; with skill,
with consummate skill; secundum artem, suo Marte; to the best of one's
abilities &c. (exertion) 686.
Phr. ars celare artem; artes honorabit; celui qui veut celui-la peut;
c'est une grande habilite que de savoir cacher sonhabilite; expertus metuit
[Horace]; es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille sich ein Charakter in dem
Strom der Welt; "heart to coceive the understanding to direct, or the hand
to execute" [Junius].

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#699. Unskillfulness. -- N. unskillfulness &c. adj.; want of skill &c.
698; incompetence, incompentency; inability, infelicity, indexterity,
inexperience; disqualification, unproficiency; quackery.
folly, stupidity &c. 499; indiscretion &c. (rashness) 863;
thoughtlessness &c. (inattention) 458 (neglect) 460; sabotage.
mismanagement, misconduct; impolicy; maladministration; misrule,
misgovernment, misapplication, misdirection, misfeasance; petticoat
government.
absence of rule, rule of thumb; bungling &c. v.; failure &c. 732;
screw loose: too many cooks.
blunder &c. (mistake) 495; etourderie gaucherie, act of folly,
balourdise; botch, botchery; bad job, sad work.
sprat sent out to catch a whale, much ado about nothing, wild-goose
chase.
bungler &c. 701; fool &c. 501.
V. be unskillful &c. adj.; not see an inch beyond one's nose; blunder,
bungle, boggle, fumble, botch, bitch, flounder, stumble, trip; hobble &c.
275; put one's foot in it; make a mess of, make hash of, make sad work of;
overshoot the mark.
play tricks with, play Puck, mismanage, misconduct, misdirect,
misapply, missend.
stultify oneself, make a fool of oneself, commit oneself; act
foolishly; play the fool; put oneself out of court; lose one's head, lose
one's cunning.
begin at the wrong end; do things by halves &c. (not complete) 730;
make two bites of a cherry; play at cross purposes; strain at a gnat and
swallow a camel &c. (caprice) 608; put the cart before the horse; lock the
stable door when the horse is stolen &c. (too late) 135.
not know what one is about, not know one's own interest, not know on
which side one's bread is buttered; stand in one's own light, quarrel with
one's bread and butter, throw a stone in one's own garden, kill the'goose
which lays the golden eggs, pay dear for one's whistle, cut one's own
throat, bum one's fingers; knock one's head against a stone wall, beat
one's head against a stone wall; fall into a trap, catch a Tartar, bring
the house about one's ears; have too many eggs in one basket (imprudent)
863, have too many irons in the fire.
mistake &c. 495; take the shadow for the substance &c. (credulity)
486; bark up the wrong tree; be in the wrong box, aim at a pigeon and kill
a crow; take the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong pig by the tail, get
the wrong sow by the ear, get the dirty end of the stick; put the saddle on
the wrong horse, put a square peg into a round hole, put new wine into old
bottles.
cut blocks with a razor; hold a farthing candle to the sun &c.
(useless) 645; fight with a shadow, grasp at a shadow; catch at straws,
lean on a broken reed, reckon without one's host, pursue a wild goose
chase; go on a fool's goose chase, sleeveless errand; go further and fare
worse; lose one's way, miss one's way; fail &c. 732.
Adj. unskillful &c. 69S; inexpert; bungling &c.v.; awkward, clumsy,
unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit; left-handed, heavy-handed; slovenly,
slatternly; gawky.
adrift, at fault.
inapt, unapt; inhabile; untractable, unteachable; giddy &c.
(inattentive) 458; inconsiderate &c. (neglectful) 460; stupid &c. 499;
inactive &c. 683; incompetent; unqualified, disqualified, ill-qualified;
unfit; quackish; raw, green, inexperienced, rusty, out of practice.
unaccustomed, unused, untrained &c. 537, uninitiated, unconversant &c.
(ignorant) 491; shiftless; unstatesmanlike.
unadvised; ill-advised, misadvised; ill-devised, ill-imagined, ill-
judged, ill-contrived, ill-conducted; unguided, misguided; misconducted,
foolish, wild; infelicitous; penny wise and pound foolish &c.
(inconsistent) 608.
Phr. one's fingers being all thumbs; the right hand forgets its
cunning; il se noyerait dans une goutte d'eau; incidit in Scyllam qui vult
vitare Charybdim; out of the frying pan into the fire; non omnia possumus
omnes [Vergil].

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#700. Proficient. -- N. proficient, expert, adept, dab; dabster;
connoisseur &c. (scholar) 492; master, master hand; prima donna, first
fiddle, chef de cuisine, top sawyer; protagonist;, past master; mahatma.
picked man; medallist, prizeman.
veteran; old stager, old campaigner, old soldier, old file, old hand;
man of business, man of the world.
nice hand, good hand, clean hand; practiced hand, experienced eye,
experienced hand; marksman; good shot, dead shot, crack shot; ropedancer,
funambulist, acrobat; cunning man; conjuror &c. (deceiver) 548; wizard &c.
994.
genius; mastermind, master head, master spirit.
cunning blade, sharp blade, sharp fellow; jobber; cracksman &c.
(thief) 792; politician, tactician, strategist.
pantologist, admirable Crichton, Jack of all trades; prodigy of
learning.

#701. Bungler. -- N. bungler; blunderer, blunderhead; marplot,
fumbler, lubber, duffer, stick; bad hand, poor hand, poor shot;
butterfingers.
no conjurer, flat, muff, slow coach, looby, lubber, swab; clod, yokel,
awkward squad, blanc-bec; galoot.
land lubber; fresh water sailor, fair weather sailor; horse marine;
fish out of water, ass in lion's skin, jackdaw in peacock's feathers; quack
&c. (deceiver) 548; lord of misrule.
sloven, slattern, trapes.
Phr. il n'a pas invente' la oudre; he will never set the Thames on
fire; acierta errando; aliquis in omnibus nullus in singulis.

#702. Cunning. -- N. cunning, craft; cunningness, craftiness &c. adj.;
subtlety, artificiality; maneuvering &c. v.; temporization; circumvention.
chicane, chicanery; sharp practice, knavery, jugglery; concealment &c.
528; guile, doubling, duplicity &c. (falsehood) 544; foul play.
diplomacy, politics; Machiavelism; jobbery, backstairs influence.
art, artifice; device, machination; plot &c. (plan) 626; maneuver,
stratagem, dodge, artful dodge, wile; trick, trickery &c.(deception) 545;
ruse, ruse de guerre; finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go
by, subterfuge, evasion; white lie &c (untruth) 546; juggle, tour de force;
tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers; espieglerie; net, trap &c. 545.
Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, fox, reynard; Scotchman; Jew, Yankee;
intriguer, intrigant; floater [U.S.], Indian giver [U.S.], keener [U.S.],
repeater [U.S. politics].
V. be cunning &c. adj.; have cut one's eyeteeth; contrive &c (plan)
626; live by one's wits; maneuver; intrigue, gerrymander, finesse, double,
temporize, stoop to conquer, reculer pour mieux sauter, circumvent, steal a
march upon; overreach &c. 545; throw off one's guard; surprise &c. 508;
snatch a verdict; waylay, undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge;
play a deep game, play tricks with; ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces;
flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.
Adj. cunning, crafty, artful; skillful &c. 698; subtle, feline,
vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound;
designing, contriving; intriguing &c.v.; strategic, diplomatic, politic,
Machiavelian, timeserving; artificial; tricky, tricksy; wily, sly, slim,
insidious, stealthy; underhand &c (hidden) 528; subdolous; deceitful &c.
545; crooked; arch, pawky, shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a needle|!;
canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be
caught with chaff.
Adv. cunningly &c. adj.; slily, on the sly, by a side wind.
Phr. diamond cut diamond; a' bis ou a blanc; fin contre fin;
"something is rotten in the state of Denmark" [Hamlet].

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#703. Artlessness. -- N. artlessness &c. adj; nature, simplicity;
innocence &c. 946; bonhomie, naivete, abandon, candor, sincerity;
singleness of purpose, singleness of heart; honesty &c. 939; plain
speaking; epanchement.
rough diamond, matter of fact man; le palais de verite; enfant
terrible.
V. be artless &c. adj; look one in the face; wear one's heart upon his
sleeves for daws to peck at; think aloud; speak out, speak one's mind; be
free with one, call a spade a spade.
Adj. artless, natural, pure, native, confiding, simple, lain,
inartificial, untutored, unsophisticated, ingenu, unaffected, naive;
sincere, frank; open, open as day; candid, ingenuous, guileless;
unsuspicious, honest &c. 939; innocent &c. 946; Arcadian; undesigning,
straightforward, unreserved, aboveboard; simple-minded, single-minded;
frank-hearted, open-hearted, single-hearted, simple-hearted.
free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken; blunt, downright, direct, matter
of fact, unpoetical; unflattering.
Adv. in plain words, in plain English; without mincing the matter; not
to mince the matter &c. (affirmation) 535.
Phr. Davus sum non (Edipus [Terrence]; liberavi animam meam; "as frank
as rain on cherry blossoms" [E.B. Browning].



Section IV. ANTAGONISM

1. Conditional Antagonism


#704. Difficulty. -- N. difficulty; hardness &c. adj.;
impracticability &c. (impossibility) 471; tough work, hard work, uphill
work; hard task, Herculean task, Augean task; task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean
labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift.
dilemma, embarrassment; deadlock; perplexity &c. (uncertainty) 475;
intricacy; entanglement &c. 59; cross fire; awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish
card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze;
coil &c. (convolution) 248; crooked path; involvement.
nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point; vexed
question, vexata quaestio, poser; puzzle &c. (riddle) 533; paradox; hard
nut to crack, nut to crack; bone to pick,
crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches.
nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt;
critical situation, crisis; trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble.
scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest; sea of
troubles, peck of troubles; pretty kettle of fish; pickle, stew, imbroglio,
mess, ado; false position.
set fast, stand; deadlock, dead set.
fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac; hitch; stumblng block &c
(hindrance) 706.
V. be difficult &c. adj.; run one hard, go against the grain, try
one's patience, put one out; put to one's shifts, put to one's wit's end;
go hard with one, try one; pose, perplex &c. (uncertain) 475; bother,
nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock; be impossible &c. 471; be in the way
of &c (hinder) 706.
meet with difficulties; labor under difficulties; get into
difficulties; plunge into difficulties; struggle with difficulties; contend
with difficulties; grapple with difficulties; labor under a disadvantage;
be in difficulty &c. adj.
fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream,
scud under bare poles.
Have much ado with, have a hard time of it; come to the push, come to
the pinch; bear the brunt.
grope in the dark, lose one's way, weave a tangled web, walk among
eggs.
get into a scrape &c. n.; bring a hornet's nest about one's ears; be
put to one's shifts; flounder, boggle, struggle; not know which way to turn
&c. (uncertain) 475; perdre son Latin; stick at, stick in the mud, stick
fast; come to a stand, come to a deadlock; hold the wolf by the ears.
render difficult &c. adj.; enmesh, encumber, embarrass, ravel,
entangle; put a spoke in the wheel &c. (hinder) 706; lead a pretty dance.
Adj. difficult, not easy, hard, tough; troublesome, toilsom, irksome;
operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable; sooner said
than done; more easily said than done.
difficult to deal with, hard to deal with; ill-conditioned, crabbed;
not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water.
awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable; intractable, stubborn &c. (obstinate)
606; perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged; knotted, knotty;
invious|; pathless, trackless; labyrinthine &c (convoluted) 248; intricate,
complicated &c (tangled) 59; impracticable &c. (impossible) 471; not
feasible &c. 470; desperate &c. (hopeless) 859.
embarrassing, perplexing &c. (uncertain) 475; delicate, ticklish,
critical; beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by
difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties.
under a difficulty; in a box; in difficulty, in hot water, in the
suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape &c.n., in
deep water, in a fine pickle; in extremis; between two stools, between
Scylla and Charybdis; surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers,
surrounded by qucksands; at cross purposes; not out of the wood.
reduced to straits; hard pressed, sorely pressed; run hard; pinched,
put to it, straitened; hard up, hard put to it, hard set; put to one's
shifts; puzzled, at a loss, &c (uncertain) 475; at the end of one's tether,
at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill; graveled, nonplussed,
stranded, aground; stuck fast, set fast; up a tree, at bay, aux abois,
driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity,
driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall; au bout de son Latin; out of
one's depth; thrown out.
accomplished with difficulty; hard-fought, hard-earned.
Adv. with difficulty, with much ado; hardly &c. adj.; uphill; against
the stream, against the grain; d rebours; invita Minerva; in the teeth of;
at a pinch, upon a pinch; at long odds.
Phr. "ay there's the rub" [Hamlet]; hic labor hoc opus [Vergil];
things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti; ad astra per aspera;
acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

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