English words and phrases

necessity, necessitation; obligation; compulsion &c 744; subjection &c 749; stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity; fate; what must be.

destiny, destination; fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination; preordination, foreordination; lot fortune; fatalism; inevitableness &c adj.; spell &c 993.

star, stars; planet, planets; astral influence; sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate; God's will, will of Heaven; wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice.

last shift, last resort; dernier ressort [Fr.]; pis aller &c (substitute) 147 [Fr.]; necessaries &c (requirement) 630.

necessarian^†, necessitarian^†; fatalist; automaton.

destine, doom, foredoom, devote; predestine, preordain; cast a spell &c 992; necessitate; compel &c 744.

fated; destined &c v.; elect; spellbound compulsory &c (compel) 744; uncontrollable, inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible, irrevocable, inexorable; avoidless^†, resistless.

involuntary, instinctive, automatic, blind, mechanical; unconscious, unwitting, unthinking; unintentional &c (undesigned) 621; impulsive &c 612.

Adv. necessarily &c adv.; of necessity, of course; ex necessitate rei [Lat.]; needs must; perforce &c 744; nolens volens [Lat.]; will he nil he, willy nilly, bon gre mal gre [Fr.], willing or unwilling, coute que coute [Fr.].

faute de mieux [Fr.]; by stress of; if need be.

Nor all thy piety nor wit shall draw it back to cancel half a [Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam].

disposition, inclination, leaning, animus; frame of mind, humor, mood, vein; bent &c (turn of mind) 820; penchant &c (desire) 865; aptitude &c 698.

docility, docibleness^†; persuasibleness^†, persuasibility^†; pliability &c (softness) 324.

geniality, cordiality; goodwill; alacrity, readiness, earnestness, forwardness; eagerness &c (desire) 865.

asset &c 488; compliance &c 762; pleasure &c (will) 600; gratuitous service.

labor of love; volunteer, volunteering.

see fit, think good, think proper; acquiesce &c (assent) 488; comply with &c 762.

swallow the bait, nibble at the bait; gorge the hook; have no scruple of, make no scruple of; make no bones of; jump at, catch at; meet halfway; volunteer.

Adj. willing, minded, fain, disposed, inclined, favorable; favorably-minded, favorably inclined, favorably disposed; nothing loth; in the vein, in the mood, in the humor, in the mind.

ready, forward, earnest, eager; bent upon &c (desirous) 865; predisposed, propense^†.

docile; persuadable, persuasible; suasible^†, easily persuaded, facile, easy-going; tractable &c (pliant) 324; genial, gracious, cordial, cheering, hearty; content &c (assenting) 488.

voluntary, gratuitous, spontaneous; unasked &c (ask) &c 765; unforced &c (free) 748.

a la bonne heure [Fr.]; by all means, by all manner of means; to one's heart's content; yes &c (assent) 488.

scrupulousness, scrupulosity; qualms of conscience, twinge of conscience; delicacy, demur, scruple, qualm, shrinking, recoil; hesitation &c (irresolution) 605; fastidiousness &c 868.

averseness &c (dislike) 867 [Obs.]; dissent &c 489; refusal &c 764.

V. be unwilling &c adj.; nill; dislike &c 867; grudge, begrudge; not be able to find it in one's heart to, not have the stomach to.

demur, stick at, scruple, stickle; hang fire, run rusty; recoil, shrink, swerve; hesitate &c 605; avoid &c 623.

oppose &c 708; dissent &c 489; refuse &c 764.

Adj. unwilling; not in the vein, loth, loath, shy of, disinclined, indisposed, averse, reluctant, not content; adverse &c (opposed) 708; laggard, backward, remiss, slack, slow to; indifferent &c 866; scrupulous; squeamish &c (fastidious) 868; repugnant &c (dislike) 867; restiff^†, restive; demurring &c v.; unconsenting &c (refusing) 764; involuntary &c 601.

Adv. unwillingly &c adj.; grudgingly, with a heavy heart; with a bad, with an ill grace; against one's wishes, against one's will, against the grain, sore against one's wishes, sore against one's will, sore against one's grain; invita Minerva [Lat.]; a contre caeur [Fr.]; malgre soi [Fr.]; in spite of one's teeth, in spite of oneself; nolens volens &c (necessity) 601 [Lat.]; perforce &c 744; under protest; no &c 536; not for the world, far be it from me.
604. Resolution -- N. determination, will; iron will, unconquerable will; will of one's own, decision, resolution; backbone; clear grit, true grit, grit [U.S.]; sand, strength of mind, strength of will; resolve &c (intent) 620; firmness &c (stability) 150; energy, manliness, vigor; game, pluck; resoluteness &c (courage) 861; zeal &c 682; aplomb; desperation; devotion, devotedness.

mastery over self; self control, self command, self possession, self reliance, self government, self restraint, self conquest, self denial; moral courage, moral strength; perseverance &c 604.1; tenacity; obstinacy &c 606; bulldog; British lion.

devote oneself to, give oneself up to; throw away the scabbard, kick down the ladder, nail one's colors to the mast, set one's back against the wall, set one's teeth, put one's foot down, take one's stand; stand firm &c (stability) 150; steel oneself; stand no nonsense, not listen to the voice of the charmer.

buckle to; buckle oneself put one's shoulder to the wheel, lay one's shoulder to the wheel, set one's shoulder to the wheel; put one's heart into; run the gauntlet, make a dash at, take the bull by the horns; rush in medias res, plunge in medias res; go in for; insist upon, make a point of; set one's heart upon, set one's mind upon.

stick at nothing, stop at nothing; make short work of &c (activity) 682; not stick at trifles; go all lengths, go the limit [Slang], go the whole hog; persist &c (persevere) 604.1; go through fire and water, ride the tiger, ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm.

earnest, serious; set upon, bent upon, intent upon.

steel against, proof against; in utrumque paratus [Lat.].

Adv. resolutely &c adj.; in earnest, in good earnest; seriously, joking apart, earnestly, heart and soul; on one's mettle; manfully, like a man, with a high hand; with a strong hand &c (exertion) 686.

at any rate, at any risk, at any hazard, at any price, at any cost, at any sacrifice; at all hazards, at all risks, at all events; a' bis ou a blanc [Fr.]; cost what it may; coute [Fr.]; a tort et a travers^†; once for all; neck or nothing; rain or shine.

constancy, steadiness; singleness of purpose, tenacity of purpose; persistence, plodding, patience; sedulity &c (industry) 682; pertinacy^†, pertinacity, pertinaciousness; iteration &c 104; bottom, game, pluck, stamina, backbone, grit; indefatigability, indefatigableness; bulldog courage.

solid, sturdy, staunch, stanch, true to oneself; unchangeable &c 150; unconquerable &c (strong) 159; indomitable, game to the last, indefatigable, untiring, unwearied, never tiring.

fickleness, levity, legerete [Fr.]; pliancy &c (softness) 324; weakness; timidity &c 860; cowardice &c 862; half measures.

waverer, ass between two bundles of hay; shuttlecock, butterfly; wimp; doughface [U.S.].

V. be irresolute &c adj.; hang in suspense, keep in suspense; leave "ad referendum"; think twice about, pause; dawdle &c (inactivity) 683; remain neuter; dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker^†, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind; debate, balance; dally with, coquet with; will and will not, chaser-balancer^†; go halfway, compromise, make a compromise; be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man; be afraid &c 860; let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would' [Macbeth]; falter, waver vacillate &c 149; change &c 140; retract &c 607; fluctuate; pendulate^†; alternate &c (oscillate) 314; keep off and on, play fast and loose; blow hot and cold &c (caprice) 608.

shuffle, palter, blink; trim.

vacillating &c v.; unsteady &c (changeable) 149; unsteadfast^†, fickle, without ballast; capricious &c 608; volatile, frothy; light, lightsome, light-minded; giddy; fast and loose.

weak, feeble-minded, frail; timid, wimpish, wimpy &c 860; cowardly &c 862; dough-faced [U.S.]; facile; pliant &c (soft) 324; unable to say 'no', easy-going revocable, reversible.

Adv. irresolutely &c adj.; irresolved^†, irresolvedly^†; in faltering accents; off and on; from pillar to post; seesaw &c 314.

Int. how happy could I be with either! [Gay].
606. Obstinacy -- N. obstinateness &c adj.; obstinacy, tenacity; cussedness [U.S.]; perseverance &c 604.1; immovability; old school; inflexibility &c (hardness) 323; obduracy, obduration^†; dogged resolution; resolution &c 604; ruling passion; blind side.

self-will, contumacy, perversity; pervicacy^†, pervicacity^†; indocility^†.

bigotry, intolerance, dogmatism; opiniatry^†, opiniativeness; fixed idea &c (prejudgment) 481; fanaticism, zealotry, infatuation, monomania; opinionatedness opinionativeness^†.

mule; opinionist^†, opinionatist^†, opiniator^†, opinator^†; stickler, dogmatist; bigot; zealot, enthusiast, fanatic.

die hard, fight against destiny, not yield an inch, stand out.

dogged; sullen, sulky; unmoved, uninfluenced unaffected.

willful, self-willed, perverse; resty^†, restive, restiff^†; pervicacious^†, wayward, refractory, unruly; heady, headstrong; entete [Fr.]; contumacious; crossgrained^†.

arbitrary, dogmatic, positive, bigoted; prejudiced &c 481; creed-bound; prepossessed, infatuated; stiff-backed, stiff necked, stiff hearted; hard-mouthed, hidebound; unyielding; impervious, impracticable, inpersuasible^†; unpersuadable; intractable, untractable^†; incorrigible, deaf to advice, impervious to reason; crotchety &c 608.

tergiversation, recantation; palinode, palinody^†; renunciation; abjuration^†, abjurement; defection &c (relinquishment) 624; going over &c v.; apostasy; retraction, retractation^†; withdrawal; disavowal &c (negation) 536; revocation, revokement^†; reversal; repentance &c 950; redintegratio amoris [Lat.].

coquetry; vacillation &c 605; backsliding; volte-face [Fr.].

turn coat, turn tippet^†; rat, apostate, renegade; convert, pervert; proselyte, deserter; backslider; blackleg, crawfish [U.S.], scab [Slang], mugwump [U.S.], recidivist.

time server, time pleaser^†; timist^†, Vicar of Bray, trimmer, ambidexter^†; weathercock &c (changeable) 149; Janus.

V. change one's mind, change one's intention, change one's purpose, change one's note; abjure, renounce; withdraw from &c (relinquish) 624; waver, vacillate; wheel round, turn round, veer round; turn a pirouette; go over from one side to another, pass from one side to another, change from one side to another, skip from one side to another; go to the rightabout; box the compass, shift one's ground, go upon another tack.

apostatize, change sides, go over, rat; recant, retract; revoke; rescind &c (abrogate) 756; recall; forswear, unsay; come over, come round to an opinion; crawfish [U.S.], crawl [U.S.].

draw in one's horns, eat one's words; eat the leek, swallow the leek; swerve, flinch, back out of, retrace one's steps, think better of it; come back return to one's first love; turn over a new leaf &c (repent) 950.

trim, shuffle, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold, coquet, be on the fence, straddle, bold with the hare but run with the hounds; nager entre deux eaux [Fr.]; wait to see how the cat jumps, wait to see how the wind blows.

election; political election (politics) 737.1.

selection, excerption, gleaning, eclecticism; excerpta^†, gleanings, cuttings, scissors and paste; pick &c (best) 650.

preference, prelation^†, opinion poll, survey; predilection &c (desire) 865.

use option, use discretion, exercise option, exercise discretion, one's option; adopt, take up, embrace, espouse; choose, elect, opt for; take one's choice, make one's choice; make choice of, fix upon.

vote, poll, hold up one's hand; divide.

settle; decide &c (adjudge) 480; list &c (will) 600; make up one's mind &c (resolve) 604.

select; pick and choose; pick out, single out; cull, glean, winnow; sift the chaff from the wheat, separate the chaff from the wheat, winnow the chaff from the wheat; pick up, pitch upon; pick one's way; indulge one's fancy.

set apart, mark out for; mark &c 550.

prefer; have rather, have as lief; fancy &c (desire) 865; be persuaded &c 615.

take a decided step, take a decisive step; commit oneself to a course; pass the Rubicon, cross the Rubicon; cast in one's lot with; take for better or for worse.

eclectic; choosing &c v.; preferential; chosen &c v.; choice &c (good) 648.

by choice, by preference; in preference; rather, before.

neutrality, indifference; indecision &c (irresolution) 605; arbitrariness.

coercion (compulsion) 744.

V. be neutral &c adj.; have no choice, have no election; waive, not vote; abstain from voting, refrain from voting; leave undecided; make a virtue of necessity [Two Gentlemen].

Adj. neutral, neuter; indifferent, uninterested; undecided &c (irresolute) 605.

Adv. either &c (choice) 609.

Phr. who cares?, what difference does it make?; There's not a dime's worth of difference between them [George Wallace].
610. Rejection -- N. rejection, repudiation, exclusion; refusal &c 764; declination

V. reject; set aside, lay aside; give up; decline &c (refuse) 764; exclude, except; pluck, spin; cast.

repudiate, scout, set at naught; fling to the winds, fling to the dogs, fling overboard, fling away, cast to the winds, cast to the dogs, cast overboard, cast away, throw to the winds, throw to the dogs, throw overboard, throw away, toss to the winds, toss to the dogs, toss overboard, toss away; send to the right about; disclaim &c (deny) 536; discard &c (eject) 297, (have done with) 678.