Hithes doc Version 14

folly, stupidity &c. 499; indiscretion &c. (rashness) 863; thoughtlessness &c. (inattention) 458 (neglect) 460; sabotage.

mismanagement, misconduct; impolicy[obs3]; 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[Fr], act of folly, balourdise[obs3]; botch, botchery[obs3]; 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 control, lose control of oneself, 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. 698; inexpert; bungling &c. v.; awkward, clumsy, unhandy, lubberly, gauche, maladroit; left-handed, heavy-handed; slovenly, slatternly; gawky.

adrift, at fault.

inapt, unapt; inhabile[Fr]; untractable[obs3], 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[obs3]; 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[Fr]; incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim[Lat]; out of the frying pan into the fire; non omnia possumus omnes [Lat][Vergil].
<-- R700, Proficient, and R701, Bungler, to character P2.3.2.3.2.4.19 expert (R700){{has_trait: skill, R698}}

P2.3.2.3.2.4.20 bungler (R701) {{has_trait: unskillfullness}}

-->

chicane, chicanery; sharp practice, knavery, jugglery[obs3]; 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, sidestep, artful dodge, wile; trick, trickery &c. (deception) 545; ruse, ruse de guerre[Fr]; 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[Fr]; net, trap &c. 545.

Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, fox, reynard; Scotchman; Jew, Yankee; intriguer, intrigant[obs3]; 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[Fr], 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[Lat]; flatter, make things pleasant; have an ax to grind.

dodge, sidestep, bob and weave.

tactful, diplomatic, politic; polite &c. 894.

rough diamond, matter of fact man; le palais de verite[Fr]; enfant terrible[Fr].

free-spoken, plain-spoken, outspoken; blunt, downright, direct, matter of fact, unpoetical[obs3]; unflattering.

731. Success 732. Failure

733. Trophy

734. Prosperity 735. Adversity

736. Mediocrity

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elaboration; finality; completeness &c. 52.

do, execute, make; go through, get through; work out, enact; bring about, bring to bear, bring to pass, bring through, bring to a head.

despatch, dispatch; knock off, finish off, polish off; make short work of; dispose of, set at rest; perform, discharge, fulfill, realize; put in practice, put in force; carry out, carry into effect, carry into execution; make good; be as good as one's word.

do thoroughly, not do by halves,go the whole hog; drive home; be in at the death &c. (persevere) 604a; carry through, play out, exhaust; fill the bill [U.S.].

finish, bring to a close &c. (end) 67; wind up, stamp, clinch, seal, set the seal on, put the seal; give the final touch &c.n. to; put the last, put the finishing hand to, put the finishing touches on; crown, crown all; cap.

[intransitive] ripen, culminate; come to a head, come to a crisis; come to its end; die a natural death, die of old age; run its course, run one's race; touch the goal, reach the goal, attain the goal; reach &c. (arrive) 292; get in the harvest.

done, completed &c. v.; done for, sped, wrought out; highly wrought &c. (preparation) 673; thorough &c. 52; ripe &c. (ready) 673.

nonperformance, inexecution[obs3]; neglect &c. 460.

fall short of &c. 304; do things by halves, parboil, scotch the snake not lull it; hang fire; be slow to; collapse &c. 304.

drop out.

Adj. not completed &c. v.; incomplete &c. 53; uncompleted, unfinished, unaccomplished, unperformed, unexecuted; sketchy, addle.

in progress, in hand; ongoing, going on, proceeding; on one's hands; on the anvil; in the fire, in the oven.

parboiled, half-baked.

Adv. re infecta[Lat].
#731. Success. -- N. success, successfulness; speed; advance &c. (progress) 282.

trump card; hit, stroke, score; lucky hit, fortunate hit, good hit, good stroke; direct hit, bull's eye; goal, point, touchdown; home run, homer, hole-in-one, grand slam; killing[make money], windfall bold stroke, master stroke; ten strike [U.S.]; coup de maitre[Fr], checkmate; half the battle, prize; profit &c. (acquisition) 775.

continued success; good fortune &c. (prosperity) 734; time well spent.

advantage over; upper hand, whip hand; ascendancy, mastery; expugnation[obs1], conquest, victory, subdual[obs3]; subjugation &c. (subjection) 749.

triumph &c. (exultation) 884; proficiency &c. (skill) 698.

conqueror, victor, winner; master of the situation, master of the position, top of the heap, king of the hill; achiever, success, success story.

gain a point, attain a point, carry a point, secure a point, win a point, win an object; get there *[U.S.]; manage to, contrive to; accomplish &c. (effect, complete) 729; do wonders, work wonders; make a go of it.

come off well, come off successful, come off with flying colors; make short work of; take by storm, carry by storm; bear away the bell; win one's wings, win one's spurs, win the battle; win the day, carry the day, gain the day, gain the prize, gain the palm; have the best of it, have it all one's own way, have the game in one's owns hands, have the ball at one's feet, have one on the hop; walk over the course; carry all before one, remain in possession of the field; score a success.

speed; make progress &c. (advance) 282; win one's way, make one's way, work one's way, find one's way; strive to some purpose; prosper &c. 734; drive a roaring trade; make profit &c. (acquire) 775; reap the fruits, gather the fruits, reap the benefit of, reap the harvest; strike oil * [U.S.], gain a windfall; make one's fortune, get in the harvest, turn to good account; turn to account &c. (use) 677.

triumph, be triumphant; gain a victory, obtain a victory, gain an advantage; chain victory to one's car; nail a coonskin to the wall.

surmount a difficulty, overcome a difficulty, get over a difficulty, get over an obstacle &c. 706; se tirer d'affaire[Fr]; make head against; stem the torrent, stem the tide, stem the current; weather the storm, weather a point; turn a corner, keep one's head above water, tide over; master; get the better of, have the better of, gain the better of, gain the best of, gain the upper hand, gain the ascendancy, gain the whip hand, gain the start of; distance; surpass &c. (superiority) 33.

defeat, conquer, vanquish, discomfit; euchre; overcome, overthrow, overpower, overmaster, overmatch, overset[obs3], override, overreach; outwit, outdo, outflank, outmaneuver, outgeneral, outvote; take the wind out of one's adversary's sails; beat, beat hollow; rout, lick, drub, floor, worst; put down, put to flight, put to the rout, put hors de combat[Fr], put out of court.

silence, quell, nonsuit[obs3], checkmate, upset, confound, nonplus, stalemate, trump; baffle &c. (hinder) 706; circumvent, elude; trip up, trip up the heels of; drive into a corner, drive to the wall; run hard, put one's nose out of joint.

settle, do for; break the neck of, break the back of; capsize, sink, shipwreck, drown, swamp; subdue; subjugate &c. (subject) 749; reduce; make the enemy bite the dust; victimize, roll in the dust, trample under foot, put an extinguisher upon.

answer, answer the purpose; avail, prevail, take effect, do, turn out well, work well, take, tell, bear fruit; hit it, hit the mark, hit the right nail on the head; nick it; turn up trumps, make a hit; find one's account in.

blunder &c. (mistake) 495; fault, omission, miss, oversight, slip, trip, stumble, claudication[obs1], footfall; false step, wrong step; faux pas[Fr], titubation[obs3], bevue[Fr], faute[Fr], lurch; botchery &c. (want of skill) 699[obs3]; scrape, mess, fiasco, breakdown; flunk [U.S.].

mishap &c. (misfortune) 735; split, collapse, smash, blow, explosion.

repulse, rebuff, defeat, rout, overthrow, discomfiture; beating, drubbing; quietus, nonsuit[obs3], subjugation; checkmate, stalemate, fool's mate.

fall, downfall, ruin, perdition; wreck &c. (destruction) 162; deathblow; bankruptcy &c. (nonpayment) 808.

losing game, affaire flambee.

victim; bankrupt; flunker[obs3], flunky [U.S.].

V. fail; be unsuccessful, be fruitless, be ineffectual, be ineffective.

not succeed &c. 731; make vain efforts &c. n.; do in vain, labor in vain, toil in vain; flunk [U.S.]; lose one's labor, take nothing by one's motion; bring to naught, make nothing of; wash a blackamoor white &c. (impossible) 471; roll the stones of Sisyphus &c. (useless) 645; do by halves &c. (not complete) 730; lose ground &c. (recede) 282; fall short of &c. 304.

miss, miss one's aim, miss the mark, miss one's footing, miss stays; slip, trip, stumble; make a slip &c., n. blunder &c. 495, make a mess of, make a botch of, botch it, miscarry, abort, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, come down in flames, get shot down, reckon without one's host; get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear &c. (blunder, mismanage) 699.

limp, halt, hobble, titubate[obs3]; fall, tumble; lose one's balance; fall to the ground, fall between two stools; flounder, falter, stick in the mud, run aground, split upon a rock; beat one's head against a stone wall, run one's head against a stone wall, knock one's head against a stone wall, dash one's head against a stone wall; break one's back; break down, sink, drown, founder, have the ground cut from under one; get into trouble, get into a mess, get into a scrape; come to grief &c. (adversity) 735; go to the wall, go to the dogs, go to pot; lick the dust, bite the dust; be defeated &c. 731; have the worst of it, lose the day, come off second best, lose; fall a prey to; succumb &c. (submit) 725; not have a leg to stand on.

come to nothing, end in smoke; flat out [obs1]; fall to the ground, fall through, fall dead, fall stillborn, fall flat; slip through one's fingers; hang fire, miss fire; flash in the pan, collapse; topple down &c. (descent) 305; go to wrack and ruin &c. (destruction) 162.

go amiss, go wrong, go cross, go hard with, go on a wrong tack; go on ill, come off ill, turn out ill, work ill; take a wrong term, take an ugly term; take an ugly turn, take a turn for the worse.

be all over with, be all up with; explode; dash one's hopes &c. (disappoint) 509; defeat the purpose; sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire.

Adj. unsuccessful, successless[obs3]; failing, tripping &c. v.; at fault; unfortunate &c. 735.

abortive, addle, stillborn; fruitless, bootless; ineffectual, ineffective, inconsequential, trifling, nugatory; inefficient &c. (impotent) 158; insufficient &c. 640; unavailing &c. (useless) 645; of no effect.

aground, grounded, swamped, stranded, cast away, wrecked, foundered, capsized, shipwrecked, nonsuited[obs3]; foiled; defeated &c. 731; struck down, borne down, broken down; downtrodden; overborne, overwhelmed; all up with; ploughed, plowed, plucked.

lost, undone, ruined, broken; bankrupt &c. (not paying) 808; played out; done up, done for; dead beat, ruined root and branch, flambe[obs3], knocked on the head; destroyed &c. 162.

frustrated, crossed, unhinged, disconcerted dashed; thrown off one's balance, thrown on one's back, thrown on one's beam ends[obs1]; unhorsed, in a sorry plight; hard hit.

stultified, befooled[obs3], dished, hoist on one's own petard; victimized, sacrificed.

wide of the mark &c. (error) 495; out of one's reckoning &c. (inexpectation) 508[obs3]; left in the lurch; thrown away &c. (wasted) 638; unattained; uncompleted &c. 730.

Adv. unsuccessfully &c. adj.; to little or no purpose, in vain, re infecta[Lat].

Phr. the bubble has burst, , "the jig is up", "the game is up" [Cymbeline]; all is lost; the devil to pay; parturiunt montes &c. (disappointment) 509[Lat]; dies infaustus[Lat]; tout est perdu hors l'honneur[Fr]; "if we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."[Dan Quayle].
#733. Trophy. -- N. trophy; medal, prize, palm, award; laurel, laurels; bays, crown, chaplet, wreath, civic crown; insignia &c. 550; feather in one's cap &c. (honor) 873; decoration &c. 877; garland, triumphal arch, Victoria Cross, Iron Cross.

triumph &c. (celebration) 883; flying colors &c. (show) 882.

luck; good luck, run of luck; sunshine; fair weather, fair wind; palmy days, bright days, halcyon days; piping times, tide, flood, high tide.

made man, lucky dog, enfant gate[Fr], spoiled child of fortune.

upstart, parvenu, skipjack[obs3], mushroom.