700

#700. Proficient. -- N. proficient

• expert

• adept

• dab

• crackerjack

• connoisseur

• master

• master hand

• prima

• donna[Sp]

• first fiddle

• top gun

• chef de cuisine

• top sawyer;

• protagonist

• past master

• mahatma

• picked man

• medallist

• 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

• acrobat

• cunning man

• conjuror

• wizard

• genius

• mastermind

• master head

• master spirit

• cunning blade

• sharp blade

• sharp fellow

• jobber

• cracksman

• politician

• tactician

• strategist

• admirable Crichton

• Jack of all trades

• prodigy of

• learning

#701. Bungler. -- N. bungler

• blunderer

• marplot

• fumbler

• lubber

• duffer

• dauber

• stick

• bad hand

• poor hand

• poor shot;

• no conjurer

• flat

• muff

• slow coach

• lubber

• swab

• clod

• yokel

• awkward squad

• blanc-bec

• 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

• lord of misrule

• sloven

• slattern

• amateur

• novice

• greenhorn (learner) 541

• he will never set the Thames

• on fire

• acierta errando[Lat]

• aliquis in omnibus nullus in

#702. Cunning. -- N. cunning

• craft

• craftiness

• subtlety

• artificiality

• maneuvering

• temporization;

• circumvention

• chicane

• chicanery

• sharp practice

• knavery

• concealment

• guile

• doubling

• duplicity

• foul

• play

• diplomacy

• politics

• Machiavelism

• jobbery

• backstairs influence

• art

• artifice

• device

• machination

• plot

• maneuver

• stratagem

• dodge

• sidestep

• artful dodge

• wile

• trick

• trickery

• (deception) 5

• ruse

• finesse

• side blow

• thin end of

• the wedge

• shift

• go by

• subterfuge

• evasion

• white lie

• juggle

• tour de force

• tricks of the trade

• tricks upon travelers;

• net

• trap

• Ulysses

• Machiavel

• sly boots

• fox

• reynard

• Scotchman

• Jew

• Yankee;

• intriguer

• floater [U.S.]

• Indian giver [U.S.]

• keener

• [U.S.]

• repeater [U.S. politics]

• V. be cunning

• have cut one's eyeteeth

• contrive

• 6

• live by one's wits

• maneuver

• intrigue

• gerrymander

• finesse

• double

• temporize

• stoop to conquer

• circumvent

• steal a march upon

• overreach

• throw off one's guard

• surprise

• 50

• snatch a verdict

• waylay

• undermine

• introduce the thin end of the

• wedge

• play a deep game

• play tricks with

• ambiguas in vulgum spargere

• voces[Lat]

• flatter

• make things pleasant

• have an ax to grind

• dodge

• sidestep

• bob and weave

• Adj. cunning

• crafty

• artful

• skillful

• subtle

• feline

• vulpine

• cunning as a fox

• cunning as a serpent

• deep

• deep laid

• profound;

• designing

• contriving

• intriguing

• strategic

• diplomatic

• politic

• Machiavelian

• artificial

• tricky

• wily

• sly

• slim

• insidious

• stealthy

• underhand

• deceitful

• slippery as an eel

• evasive

• crooked

• arch

• shrewd

• acute

• sharp

• sharp as a tack

• sharp as a needle|!;

• canny

• astute

• leery

• knowing

• up to snuff

• too clever by half

• not to be

• caught with chaff

• tactful

• diplomatic

• politic

• polite

• Adv. cunningly

• slyly

• on the sly

• by a side

• wind

• Phr. diamond cut diamond

• fin contre

• "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" [Hamlet]

#703. Artlessness. -- N. artlessness

• nature

• simplicity;

• innocence

• bonhomie

• naivete

• abandon

• candor

• sincerity;

• singleness of purpose

• singleness of heart

• honesty

• plain

• speaking

• rough diamond

• matter of fact man

• enfant

• V. be artless

• look one in the face

• wear one's heart upon his

• 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

• untutored

• unsophisticated

• unaffected

• naive

• sincere

• frank

• open

• open as day

• candid

• ingenuous

• guileless;

• unsuspicious

• honest

• innocent

• 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

• unflattering

• Adv. in plain words

• in plain English

• without mincing the matter

• not

• to mince the matter

• Phr. Davus sum non Oedipus [Terence]

• liberavi animam meam[Lat]

• "as

• frank as rain on cherry blossoms" [E.B. Browning]

#704. Difficulty. -- N. difficulty

• hardness

• impracticability

• tough work

• hard work

• uphill

• work

• hard task

• Herculean task

• task of Sisyphus

• Sisyphean labor

• tough job

• teaser

• dead lift

• dilemma

• embarrassment

• deadlock

• perplexity

• intricacy

• entanglement

• complexity

• cross fire

• awkwardness

• delicacy

• ticklish card to play

• knot

• Gordian knot

• dignus vindice

• nodus[Lat]

• net

• meshes

• maze

• coil

• crooked path;

• involvement

• nice point

• delicate point

• subtle point

• knotty point

• vexed

• question

• vexata quaestio[Lat]

• poser

• puzzle

• paradox;

• hard nut to crack

• nut to crack

• bone to pick

• crux

• pons asinorum[Lat]

• 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

• standstill

• deadlock

• dead set

• fix

• horns of a dilemma

• hitch

• stumbling block

• (hindrance) 706

• [difficult person] crab

• curmudgeon

• V. be difficult

• 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

• bother

• nonplus

• gravel

• bring to a deadlock

• be impossible

• be in the way

• of

• 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

• 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

• bring a hornet's nest about one's ears

• be

• put to one's shifts

• flounder

• boggle

• struggle

• not know which way to turn

• stick at

• stick in the mud

• stick fast

• come to a stand

• come to a standstill

• come to a deadlock

• hold

• the wolf by the ears

• hold the tiger by the tail

• render difficult

• enmesh

• encumber

• embarrass

• ravel

• entangle

• put a spoke in the wheel

• lead a pretty dance

• Adj. difficult

• not easy

• hard

• tough

• troublesome

• toilsome

• irksome;

• laborious

• onerous

• arduous

• Herculean

• formidable

• sooner

• said than done

• more easily said than done

• easier said than done

• [pertaining to person's disposition sensu 802] difficult to deal with

• hard to deal with

• ill-conditioned

• crabbed

• crabby

• not to be handled with

• kid gloves

• not made with rose water

• awkward

• unwieldy

• unmanageable

• intractable

• stubborn

• 60

• perverse

• refractory

• trying

• thorny

• rugged

• knotted

• knotty

• invious|

• pathless

• trackless

• labyrinthine

• intricate

• complicated

• impracticable

• not feasible

• desperate

• embarrassing

• perplexing

• 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

• in

• deep water

• in a fine pickle

• in extremis

• between two stools

• between

• Scylla and Charybdis

• surrounded by shoals

• surrounded by breakers

• surrounded by quicksands

• 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

• at the end of one's tether

• at the end of one's rope

• at one's wit's end

• at a nonplus

• at a

• standstill

• graveled

• nonplused

• nonplussed

• stranded

• aground

• stuck fast

• set fast

• up a tree

• at bay

• 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

• barely

• hardly

• uphill;

• against the stream

• against the grain

• invita Minerva[Lat];

• in the teeth of

• at a pinch

• upon a pinch

• at long odds

• against long odds

• Phr. "ay there's the rub" [Hamlet]

• hic labor hoc opus [Lat][Vergil];

• things are come to a pretty pass

• ab inconvenienti[Lat]

• ad astra per

• aspera[Lat]

#705. Facility. -- N. facility

• ease

• easiness

• capability;

• feasibility

• flexibility

• pliancy

• smoothness

• plain sailing

• smooth sailing

• straight sailing

• mere child's play

• holiday task

• cinch [U.S.]

• smooth water

• fair wind

• smooth royal road

• clear coast

• clear stage;

• tabula rasa[Lat]

• full play

• disentanglement

• deoppilation|!

• permission

• 760

• simplicity

• lack of complication

• V. be easy

• go on smoothly

• run smoothly

• have full play

• n

• go on all fours

• run on all fours

• obey the helm

• work well

• flow with the stream

• swim with the stream

• drift with the stream

• go

• with the stream

• flow with the tide

• drift with the tide

• see one's way;

• have all one's own way

• have the game in one's own hands

• walk over the

• course

• win at a canter

• make light of

• make nothing of

• make no bones of

• be at home in

• make it look easy

• do it with one's eyes closed

• do it

• in one's sleep

• render easy

• facilitate

• smooth

• ease

• popularize

• lighten

• lighten the labor

• free

• clear

• disencumber

• disembarrass

• disentangle

• disengage

• unclog

• extricate

• unravel

• untie the knot

• cut the knot

• disburden

• unload

• exonerate

• emancipate

• free from

• deoppilate|!

• humor

• lubricate

• relieve

• leave a hole to creep out of

• leave a loophole

• leave the matter open;

• give the reins to

• give full play

• give full swing

• make way for

• open the

• door to

• open the way

• prepare the ground

• smooth the ground

• clear the

• ground

• open the way

• open the path

• open the road

• pave the way

• bridge

• over

• permit

• Adj. easy

• facile

• feasible

• easily managed

• easily accomplished

• within reach

• accessible

• easy of access

• for the

• million

• open to

• manageable

• wieldy

• tractable

• submissive

• yielding

• ductile

• pliant

• glib

• slippery

• smooth

• 25

• on friction wheels

• on velvet

• unembarrassed

• disburdened

• unburdened

• disencumbered

• unencumbered

• disembarrassed

• exonerated

• unloaded

• unobstructed

• untrammeled;

• unrestrained

• at ease

• light

• [able to do easily] at home with

• quite at home

• in one's element

• in

• smooth water

• skillful

• Adv. easily

• readily

• smoothly

• swimmingly

• on easy terms

• single-handed

• Phr. touch and go

#706. Hindrance. -- N. prevention

• preclusion

• obstruction

• stoppage;

• embolus

• embolism [medical]

• infarct [medical]

• interruption

• interception

• interclusion|

• hindrance

• impedition|

• retardation

• embarrassment

• oppilation|!

• stricture

• restriction

• restraint

• inhibition

• blockade

• 261

• interference

• interposition

• obtrusion

• discouragement

• discountenance

• impediment

• let

• obstacle

• obstruction

• knot

• check

• hitch

• contretemps

• screw loose

• grit in the oil

• bar

• stile

• barrier;

• [barrier to vehicles] turnstile

• turnpike

• gate

• portcullis

• beaver dam

• barricade

• wall

• dead

• wall

• sea wall

• levee breakwater

• bulkhead

• block

• buffer;

• stopper

• boom

• dam

• weir

• drawback

• objection

• stumbling-block

• stumbling-stone

• lion in the

• path

• snag

• snags and sawyers

• encumbrance

• clog

• skid

• shoe

• spoke

• drag

• drag

• chain

• drag weight

• stay

• stop

• preventive

• prophylactic

• load

• burden

• onus

• millstone round one's neck

• impedimenta

• dead weight;

• lumber

• pack

• nightmare

• incubus

• old man of the sea;

• remora

• difficulty

• insuperable

• obstacle

• estoppel [Law]

• ill

• wind

• head wind

• trammel

• tether

• restraint)

• hold back

• counterpoise

• [person who hinders] damper

• wet blanket

• hinderer

• marplot

• killjoy;

• party pooper[coll]

• party crasher

• interloper

• trail of a red herring

• opponent

• V. hinder

• impede

• filibuster [U.S.]

• embarrass

• keep off

• stave off

• ward off

• obviate

• avert

• antevert|

• turn aside

• draw off

• prevent

• forefend

• nip in the bud

• retard

• slacken

• check

• let;

• counteract

• preclude

• debar

• foreclose

• estop[Law];

• inhibit

• shackle

• restrict

• obstruct

• stop

• stay

• bar

• bolt

• lock

• block

• block up

• choke off;

• belay

• barricade

• block the way

• bar the way

• stop the way

• dam up

• put on the brake

• scotch the wheel

• lock the

• wheel

• put a spoke in the wheel

• put a stop to

• traverse

• contravene

• interrupt

• intercept

• oppose

• hedge in

• hedge round;

• cut off

• inerclude|

• interpose

• interfere

• intermeddle

• cramp

• hamper

• clog

• clog the wheels

• cumber

• encumber

• incumber;

• handicap

• choke

• saddle with

• load with

• overload

• lay

• lumber

• trammel

• tie one's hands

• put to inconvenience

• incommode

• discommode

• discompose;

• hustle

• corner

• drive into a corner

• run foul of

• fall foul of

• cross the path of

• break in upon

• thwart

• frustrate

• disconcert

• balk

• foil

• faze

• feeze

• baffle

• snub

• override

• circumvent

• defeat

• spike

• guns

• spoil

• mar

• clip the wings of

• cripple

• (injure) 65

• put an extinguisher on

• damp

• dishearten

• discountenance

• throw cold water on

• spoil sport

• lay a wet blanket

• throw

• a wet blanket on

• cut the ground from under one

• take the wind out of one's

• sails

• undermine

• be in the way of

• stand in the way of

• act as a drag;

• hang like a millstone round one's neck

• Adj. hindering

• obstructive

• intercipient|

• prophylactic

• impedimentary

• in the way of

• unfavorable

• onerous

• burdensome

• cumbrous

• cumbersome;

• obtrusive

• hindered

• waterlogged

• heavy laden

• hard

• pressed

• unassisted

• single-handed

• alone

• deserted

• Phr. occurrent nubes[Lat]