| Main Entry: | baffle |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | hinder |
Synonyms: |
beat, block, check, circumvent, dash, defeat, disappoint, foil, frustrate, impede, obstruct, prevent, ruin, thwart, upset |
Antonyms: |
abet, aid, assist, encourage, help, relieve, support |
| Main Entry: | balk |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | thwart |
Synonyms: |
baffle, bar, beat, check, circumvent, counteract, cramp, cramp one's style, dash, defeat, disappoint, disconcert, foil, forestall, frustrate, hinder, obstruct, prevent, ruin, stall, stop, throw a curve, throw monkey wrench in, upset the apple cart |
Antonyms: |
aid, help, make easier |
| Main Entry: | cheat |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | frustrate, thwart |
Synonyms: |
baffle, check, defeat, deprive, foil, prevent |
| Main Entry: | comedown |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | letdown, blow |
Synonyms: |
anticlimax, blow, collapse, comeuppance, crash, cropper, decline, defeat, deflation, demotion, descent, disappointment, discomfiture, dive, down, downfall, failure, fall, flop, humiliation, pratfall, reverse, ruin, setback, undoing, wreck |
Antonyms: |
ascent, boon, boost, fortune, promotion |
| Main Entry: | confute |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disprove, refute |
Synonyms: |
blow sky high, break, bring to naught, confound, contradict, controvert, defeat, demolish, dismay, disprove, expose, invalidate, knocks props out from under, negate, oppugn, overcome, overthrow, overturn, overwhelm, parry, prove false, prove wrong, put down, rebut, set aside, shut up, silence, subvert, tap, upset, vanquish |
| Notes: | refute means 'to show conclusively to be false or illogical' and applies primarily to assertions or arguments; confute means 'to prove wrong' and applies primarily to the person or agency making the assertion or argument |
Antonyms: |
affirm, attest, confirm, endorse, prove, verify |
| Main Entry: | counteract |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | do opposing action |
Synonyms: |
annul, buck, cancel, cancel out, check, contravene, correct, counterbalance, countercheck, countervail, counterwork, cross, defeat, fix, foil, frustrate, go against, halt, hinder, invalidate, negate, negative, neutralize, offset, oppose, prevent, rectify, redress, resist, right, thwart |
Antonyms: |
aid, approve, assist, help, support |
| Main Entry: | coup de grĂ¢ce |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | finishing blow |
Synonyms: |
blow, clincher, comeuppance, deathblow, defeat, final blow, final stroke, kill, knockout, mercy stroke, mortal blow, quietus |
| Main Entry: | crush |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | defeating soundly |
Synonyms: |
annihilate, bear down, beat, blot out, blow away, conquer, defeat, demolish, extinguish, force down, ice*, kill, obliterate, overcome, overpower, overwhelm, quelch, quell, reduce, ruin, squelch, stamp out, strangle, subdue, subjugate, suppress, vanquish, wreck |
Antonyms: |
lose, surrender, yield |
| Main Entry: | debacle |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | catastrophe |
Synonyms: |
beating, blue ruin, breakdown, collapse, crack-up, crash, defeasance, defeat, devastation, disaster, dissolution, downfall, drubbing, failure, fiasco, havoc, licking, overthrow, reversal, rout, ruin, ruination, shellacking, smash, smashup, trouncing, vanquishment, washout, wreck |
Antonyms: |
boon, miracle, wonder |
| Main Entry: | defeat |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | overthrow, beating |
Synonyms: |
KO, ambush, annihilation, beating, blow, break, breakdown, check, collapse, conquest, count, debacle, defeasance, destruction, discomfiture, downthrow, drubbing, embarrassment, extermination, failure, fall, insuccess, killing*, lacing, licking, loss, massacre, mastery, nonsuccess, paddling, rebuff, repulse, reverse, rout, ruin, scalping, setback, shellacking, slaughter, subjugation, thrashing, trap, trashing, trimming, triumph, trouncing, vanquishment, waxing, whaling, whipping, whitewashing |
Antonyms: |
conquest, success, triumph, victory, win |