22.03.2013 Views

The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

each <strong>of</strong> Venice. 8 capability, capacity: Tragedy <strong>of</strong>ten occurs<br />

when one's ambition exceeds one's reach.<br />

react v. 1 act, behave, conduct oneself, proceed; retaliate,<br />

reciprocate, get even: I wonder how you would have reacted if<br />

someone had insulted you! 2 respond, answer, reply, retort:<br />

<strong>The</strong> crowd reacted to the police presence by becoming very nasty.<br />

She reacted with surprise on learning <strong>of</strong> his arrest.<br />

reaction n. 1 response, reply, answer, effect, feedback: Did you get<br />

any reaction when you told her I had been arrested? Her<br />

reaction was to turn over and go back to sleep. 2 repulsion,<br />

resistance, counteraction, counterbalance, compensation: A<br />

rocket derives forward thrust by reaction against its own<br />

exhaust, hence can operate in a vacuum. 3 retaliation,<br />

reciprocation, reprisal, revenge: He shot her in reaction to<br />

her announcement that she was leaving him.<br />

reactionary<br />

adj. 1 (ultra-)conservative, right, rightist, right-wing,<br />

blimpish; traditionalist; South African verkrampte: Reactionary<br />

governments tend to reduce social services.<br />

--n. 2 (ultra-)conservative, rightist, right-winger, Colonel<br />

Blimp; traditionalist; South African verkrampte: As a<br />

reactionary, he feels that the status quo is fine and change<br />

unnecessary.<br />

read v. 1 peruse, scan, skim, review, study, look over, pore over:<br />

I have read the article twice but still cannot understand it. 2<br />

understand, know, be familiar with, comprehend, interpret,<br />

decipher: Can you read Greek? Madame Sonja reads tea leaves. 3<br />

announce, present, deliver: <strong>An</strong>na reads the news on TV at six<br />

o'clock every evening. 4 read into. assign to, impute (to),<br />

infer (from), assume (from), presume (from), conclude (from):<br />

You might be reading too much into that letter <strong>of</strong> commendation.<br />

readable adj. 1 intelligible, comprehensible, understandable, easy to<br />

understand, easily understood, plain: Surprisingly, the<br />

instructions for operating the computer are fairly readable. 2<br />

entertaining, easy to read, enjoyable, pleasurable, absorbing,<br />

interesting, engaging, stimulating, worthwhile: Her latest<br />

thriller is so readable that I stayed up all night to finish it.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!