address, n.

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way, as appears in the expression "hail fellow, well met." Te salute is to greet with special token of respect, as a soldier his commander. To apostrophize is to solemnly address some person or personified attribute apart from the audience to whom one is speaking; as, a preacher may apostrophize virtue, the saints of old, or even the Deity. To appeal is strictly to call for some form of help or support. Address is slightly more formal than accost or greet, though it may often be interchanged with them. One may address another at considerable length or in writing; he accosts orally and briefly.

Address the memorial to the legislature; the president ad dressed the people in an eloquent speech; he addressed an intruder with indignation.

Address is that indefinable something which enables a man to gain his object without seeming exertion or contest, and generally with the favor and approval of those with whom he deals. It is a general power to direct to the matter in hand whatever qualities are most needed for it at the moment. It includes adroitness and discretion to know what to do or say and what to avoid; ingenuity to devise; readiness to speak or act; the dexterity that comes of practise; and tact, which is the power of fine touch as applied to human character and feeling. Courtesy and politeness are indispensable elements of good address. Compare SPEECH. Antonyms:

Address in dealing with opponents; the address of an accom

plished intriguer; an address to the audience.

Adequate, commensurate, and sufficient signify equal to some given occasion or work; as, a sum sufficient to meet expenses; an adequate remedy for the disease. Commensurate is the more precise and learned word, signifying that which exactly measures the matter in question. Adapted, fit, suitable, and qualified refer to the qualities which match or suit the occasion. A clergyman may have strength adequate to the work of a porter; but that would not be a fit or suitable occupation for him. Work is satisfactory if it satisfies those for whom it is done, though it may be very poor work judged by some higher standard. Qualified refers to acquired abilities; competent to both natural and acquired; a qualified teacher may be no longer competent, by reason of ill health. Able and capable suggest general ability and reserved power, able being the higher word of the two. An able man will do something well in any position. A capable man will come up to any ordinary demand. We say an able orator, a capable ac

An adherent is one who is devoted or attached to a person, party, principle, cause, creed, or the like. One may be an aider and supporter of a party or church, while not an adherent to all its doctrines or claims. An ally is more independent still, as he may differ on every point except the specific ground of union. The Allies who overthrew Napoleon were united only against him. Allies are regarded as equals; adherents and disciples are follow

ers.

The adherent depends more on his individual judgment, the disciple is more subject to command and instruction; thus we say the disciples rather than the adherents of Christ. Partisan has

adhesive adjacent

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the narrow and odious sense of adhesion to a party, right or wrong. One may be an adherent or supporter of a party and not a partisan. Backer is a sporting and theatrical word, personal in its application, and not in the best usage. Compare ACCESSORY. Antonyms:

Adhesive is the scientific, sticking or sticky the popular word. That which is adhesive tends to join itself to the surface of any other body with which it is placed in contact; cohesive expresses the tendency of particles of the same substance to hold together. Polished plate glass is not adhesive, but such plates packed together are intensely cohesive. An adhesive plaster is in popular language a sticking-plaster. Sticky expresses a more limited, and generally annoying, degree of the same quality. Glutinous, gummy, viscid, and viscous are applied to fluid or semi-fluid substances, as pitch or tar.

The stiff, wet clay, adhesive to the foot, impeded progress.

Adjacent farms may not be connected; if adjoining, they meet at the boundary-line. Conterminous would imply that their dimensions were exactly equal on the side where they adjoin. Contiguous may be used for either adjacent or adjoining. Abutting refers rather to the end of one building or estate than to the neighborhood of another. Buildings may be adjacent or adjoining that are not attached. Near is a relative word, places being called near upon the railroad which would elsewhere be deemed remote. Neighboring always implies such proximity that the in

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adorn

habitants may be neighbors. Next views some object as the nearest of several or many; next neighbor implies a neighborhood.

Antonyms:

In the old sense of wonder, admire is practically obsolete; the word now expresses a delight and approval, in which the element of wonder unconsciously mingles. We admire beauty in nature and art, delight in the innocent happiness of children, enjoy books or society, a walk or a dinner. We approve what is excellent, applaud heroic deeds, esteem the good, love our friends. We honor and respect noble character wherever found; we revere and venerate it in the aged. We extol the goodness and adore the majesty and power of God.

Admire at may still very rarely be found in the old sense of

To embellish is to brighten and enliven by adding something that is not necessarily or very closely connected with that to which it is added; to illustrate is to add something so far like in kind as to cast a side-light upon the principal matter. An author embellishes his narrative with fine descriptions, the artist illustrates it with beautiful engravings, the binder gilds and decorates the volume. Garnish is on a lower plane; as, the feast was garnished with flowers. Deck and bedeck are commonly said of apparel; as, a mother bedecks her daughter with silk and jewels. To adorn and to ornament alike signify to add that which makes anything beautiful and attractive, but ornament is more exclusively on the material plane: as. the gateway was ornamented with delicate

affront agent

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carving. Adorn is more lofty and spiritual, referring to a beauty which is not material, and can not be put on by ornaments or decorations, but seems in perfect harmony and unity with that to which it adds a grace; if we say, the gateway was adorned with beautiful carving, we imply a unity and loftiness of design such as ornamented can not express. We say of some admirable scholar or statesman, " he touched nothing that he did not adorn.” At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place.

One may be annoyed by the well-meaning awkwardness of a servant, irritated by a tight shoe or a thoughtless remark, vexed at some careless neglect or needless misfortune, wounded by the ingratitude of child or friend. To tease is to give some slight and perhaps playful annoyance. Aggravate in the sense of offend is colloquial. To provoke, literally to call out or challenge, is to begin a contest; one provokes another to violence. To affront is to offer some defiant offense or indignity, as it were, to one's face; it is somewhat less than to insult. Compare PIQUE.

In strict philosophical usage, the prime mover or doer of an act is the agent. Thus we speak of man as a voluntary agent, a free agent. But in common usage, especially in business, an agent is not the prime actor, but only an instrument or factor, acting under orders or instructions. Compare CAUSE.