Synonyms:

abominable, flagitious, immoral, sinful, vile, culpable, guilty, iniquitous, unlawful, wicked, felonious, illegal, nefarious, vicious, wrong.

Every _criminal_ act is _illegal_ or _unlawful_, but _illegal_ or _unlawful_ acts may not be _criminal_. Offenses against public law are _criminal_; offenses against private rights are merely _illegal_ or _unlawful_. As a general rule, all acts punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, are _criminal_ in view of the law. It is _illegal_ for a man to trespa.s.s on another's land, but it is not _criminal_; the trespa.s.ser is liable to a civil suit for damages, but not to indictment, fine, or imprisonment. A _felonious_ act is a _criminal_ act of an aggravated kind, which is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary or by death. A _flagitious_ crime is one that brings public odium.

_Vicious_ refers to the indulgence of evil appet.i.tes, habits, or pa.s.sions; _vicious_ acts are not necessarily _criminal_, or even _illegal_; we speak of a _vicious_ horse. That which is _iniquitous_, _i. e._, contrary to equity, may sometimes be done under the forms of law. Ingrat.i.tude is _sinful_, hypocrisy is _wicked_, but neither is punishable by human law; hence, neither is _criminal_ or _illegal_.

Compare SIN.

Antonyms:

innocent, lawful, meritorious, right, just, legal, moral, virtuous.

DAILY.

Synonym:

diurnal.

_Daily_ is the Saxon and popular, _diurnal_ the Latin and scientific term. In strict usage, _daily_ is the antonym of _nightly_ as _diurnal_ is of _nocturnal_. _Daily_ is not, however, held strictly to this use; a physician makes _daily_ visits if he calls at some time within each period of twenty-four hours. _Diurnal_ is more exact in all its uses; a _diurnal_ flower opens or blooms only in daylight; a _diurnal_ bird or animal flies or ranges only by day: in contradistinction to _nocturnal_ flowers, birds, etc. A _diurnal_ motion exactly fills an astronomical day or the time of one rotation of a planet on its axis, while a _daily_ motion is much less definite.

Antonyms:

nightly, nocturnal.

DANGER.

Synonyms:

hazard, insecurity, jeopardy, peril, risk.

_Danger_ is exposure to possible evil, which may be either near and probable or remote and doubtful; _peril_ is exposure to imminent and sharply threatening evil, especially to such as results from violence.

An invalid may be in _danger_ of consumption; a disarmed soldier is in _peril_ of death. _Jeopardy_ is nearly the same as _peril_, but involves, like _risk_, more of the element of chance or uncertainty; a man tried upon a capital charge is said to be put in _jeopardy_ of life.

_Insecurity_ is a feeble word, but exceedingly broad, applying to the placing of a dish, or the possibilities of a life, a fortune, or a government. Compare HAZARD.

Antonyms:

defense, immunity, protection, safeguard, safety, security, shelter.

DARK.

Synonyms:

black, dusky, mysterious, sable, somber, dim, gloomy, obscure, shadowy, swart, dismal, murky, opaque, shady, swarthy.

Strictly, that which is _black_ is absolutely dest.i.tute of color; that which is _dark_ is absolutely dest.i.tute of light. In common speech, however, a coat is _black_, tho not optically colorless; the night is _dark_, tho the stars shine. That is _obscure_, _shadowy_, or _shady_ from which the light is more or less cut off. _Dusky_ is applied to objects which appear as if viewed in fading light; the word is often used, as are _swart_ and _swarthy_, of the human skin when quite _dark_, or even verging toward _black_. _Dim_ refers to imperfection of outline, from distance, darkness, mist, etc., or from some defect of vision.

_Opaque_ objects, as smoked gla.s.s, are impervious to light. _Murky_ is said of that which is at once _dark_, _obscure_, and _gloomy_; as, a _murky_ den; a _murky_ sky. Figuratively, _dark_ is emblematic of sadness, agreeing with _somber_, _dismal_, _gloomy_, also of moral evil; as, a _dark_ deed. Of intellectual matters, _dark_ is now rarely used in the old sense of a _dark_ saying, etc. See MYSTERIOUS; OBSCURE.

Antonyms:

bright, crystalline, glowing, lucid, shining, brilliant, dazzling, illumined, luminous, transparent, clear, gleaming, light, radiant, white.

Compare synonyms for LIGHT.

DECAY.

Synonyms:

corrupt, decompose, molder, putrefy, rot, spoil.

_Rot_ is a strong word, ordinarily esteemed coa.r.s.e, but on occasion capable of approved emphatic use; as, "the name of the wicked shall _rot_," _Prov._ x, 7; _decay_ and _decompose_ are now common euphemisms.

A substance is _decomposed_ when resolved into its original elements by any process; it is _decayed_ when resolved into its original elements by natural processes; it _decays_ gradually, but may be instantly _decomposed_, as water into oxygen and hydrogen; to say that a thing is _decayed_ may denote only a partial result, but to say it is _decomposed_ ordinarily implies that the change is complete or nearly so. _Putrefy_ and the adjectives _putrid_ and _putrescent_, and the nouns _putridity_ and _putrescence_, are used almost exclusively of animal matter in a state of decomposition, the more general word _decay_ being used of either animal or vegetable substances.

DECEPTION.

Synonyms:

craft, dissimulation, finesse, lie, cunning, double-dealing, fraud, lying, deceit, duplicity, guile, prevarication, deceitfulness, fabrication, hypocrisy, trickery, delusion, falsehood, imposition, untruth.

_Deceit_ is the habit, _deception_ the act; _guile_ applies to the disposition out of which _deceit_ and _deception_ grow, and also to their actual practise. A _lie_, _lying_, or _falsehood_, is the uttering of what one knows to be false with intent to deceive. The novel or drama is not a _lie_, because not meant to deceive; the ancient teaching that the earth was flat was not a _lie_, because not then known to be false.

_Untruth_ is more than lack of accuracy, implying always lack of veracity; but it is a somewhat milder and more dignified word than _lie_. _Falsehood_ and _lying_ are in utterance; _deceit_ and _deception_ may be merely in act or implication. _Deception_ may be innocent, and even unintentional, as in the case of an optical illusion; _deceit_ always involves injurious intent. _Craft_ and _cunning_ have not necessarily any moral quality; they are common traits of animals, but stand rather low in the human scale. _Duplicity_ is the habitual speaking or acting with intent to appear to mean what one does not.

_Dissimulation_ is rather a concealing of what is than a pretense of what is not. _Finesse_ is simply an adroit and delicate management of a matter for one's own side, not necessarily involving _deceit_. Compare ARTIFICE; FICTION; FRAUD; HYPOCRISY.

Antonyms:

candor, frankness, honesty, simplicity, truth, fair dealing, guilelessness, openness, sincerity, veracity.

DEFENSE.