N. inattention, inconsideration,
inconsiderateness, oversight,
inadvertence,
inadvertency,
nonobservance, disregard,
supineness, etourderie, want of thought,
heedlessness,
insouciance,
abstraction, absence of mind, absorption of mind, preoccupation, distraction,
reverie, brown study, deep musing, fit of abstraction
V. be inattentive, overlook, disregard, pass by not observe, think little of, close one's eyes to, shut one's eyes to, pay no attention to, dismiss from one's thoughts, discard from one's thoughts, discharge from one's thoughts, dismiss from one's mind, discard from one's mind, discharge from one's mind, drop the subject, think no more of, set aside, turn aside, put aside, turn away from, turn one's attention from, turn a deaf ear to, turn one's back upon, abstract oneself, dream, indulge in reverie, escape notice, escape attention, come in at one ear and go out at the other,
forget, call off the attention, draw off the attention, call away the attention, divert the attention, distract the mind, put out of one's head,
disconcert,
discompose, put out,
confuse,
perplex,
bewilder,
moider,
fluster,
muddle,
dazzle, throw a sop to cerberus
Adj. inattentive,
unobservant, unmindful,
heedless, unthinking,
unheeding,
undiscerning,
inadvertent, mindless, regardless, respectless, listless, blind,
deaf, bird- witted, hand over head,
cursory,
percursory,
giddy-brained, scatter- brained, hare-brained, unreflective, unreflecting, ecervele,
offhand,
dizzy,
muzzy,
brainsick,
giddy, giddy as a goose, wild,
harum-scarum,
rantipole,
highflying,
heedless, careless,
inconsiderate, thoughtless, absent, abstracted,
distrait, absentminded, lost, lost in thought, wrapped in thought,
rapt, in the clouds,
bemused, dreaming on other things, musing on other things, preoccupied,
engrossed, daydreaming, in a reverie, off one's guard,
napping,
dreamy, caught napping,
disconcerted, distracted, put out
Int. stand at ease, stand easy, phr, the attention wanders, one's wits gone a woolgathering, one's wits gone a bird's nesting, it never entered into one's head, the mind running on other things, one's thoughts being elsewhere, had it been a bear it would have bitten you, 129
N. want of -intelligence, want of - intellect, shadowness,
silliness,
foolishness,
imbecility, incapacity, vacancy of mind, poverty of intellect, weakness of intellect, clouded perception, poor head, apartments to let,
stupidity,
stolidity,
hebetude, dull understanding, meanest capacity, shortsightedness,
incompetence, one's weak side, not one's strong point,
bias,
infatuation, simplicity,
puerility,
babyhood,
dotage,
anility, second childishness,
fatuity,
idiocy,
idiotism,
driveling, folly,
frivolity,
irrationality, trifling,
ineptitude,
nugacity,
inconsistency, lip wisdom,
conceit,
sophistry,
giddiness,
eccentricity,
extravagance,
rashness, act of folly, b, be - imbecile, have no -brains, have no sense,
trifle,
drivel, radoter,
dote,
ramble, play the fool, play the monkey, monkey around, fool around, take leave of one's senses (insanity) 503, not see an inch beyond one's nose, stultify oneself, talk nonsense
Adj. unintelligent, unintellectual, unreasoning, mindless, witless, reasoningless, brainless, halfbaked, having no head, not -bright,
inapprehensible, weak headed, addle headed, puzzle headed, blunder headed, muddle headed, muddy headed, pig headed, beetle headed, buffle headed, chuckle headed, mutton headed, maggoty headed, grossheaded, beef headed, fat witted, fat-headed,
weak-minded,
feeble-minded, dull minded, shallow minded, lack-brained,
rattle-brained, rattle headed, half witted, lean witted, short witted, dull witted,
blunt-witted,
shallow-pated, clod-pated, addle- pated,
dim-sighted, short-sighted,
thick-skulled, weak in the upper story, shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft,
sappy,
spoony, dull, dull as a beetle,
stupid, heavy,
insulse,
obtuse,
blunt,
stolid,
doltish,
asinine, inapt,
prosaic, hebetudinous,
childish, child-like,
infantine,
infantile,
babyish,
babish,
puerile,
anile, simple,
old-womanish,
fatuous,
idiotic,
imbecile,
driveling,
blatant,
babbling,
vacant,
sottish,
bewildered,
blockish, unteachable boeotian, boeotic,
bovine, ungifted,
undiscerning,
unenlightened, unwise, unphilosophical,
apish, simious,
foolish,
silly, senseless,
irrational,
insensate,
nonsensical,
inept,
maudlin,
narrow-minded,
bigoted,
giddy,
rash,
eccentric,
foolish, unwise,
injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason,
ridiculous,
absurd,
idiotic,
silly,
stupid,
asinine, ill-imagined, ill-advised,
ill-judged, ill-devised, mal entendu, inconsistent,
irrational, unphilosophical,
extravagant,
sleeveless, idle, pointless, useless, inexpedient,
frivolous Phr. davus sum non, "a fool's bolt is soon shot" clitellae bovi sunt impositae, "fools rush in where angels fear to tread", il n' a ni bouche ni eperon, "the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read", "to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound"
N. disordered reason, disordered intellect, diseased mind, unsound mind, abnormal mind,
derangement, unsoundness,
psychosis,
neurosis, cognitive disorder, affective disorder,
insanity,
lunacy, madness,
mania,
rabies, furor, mental alienation,
aberration,
paranoia, schizophrenia,
dementation,
dementia,
demency,
phrenitis,
phrensy,
frenzy,
raving,
incoherence, wandering,
delirium, calenture of the brain,
delusion,
hallucination,
lycanthropy, brain storm|,
vertigo,
dizziness,
swimming,
sunstroke, coup de soleil,
siriasis,
fanaticism,
infatuation,
craze,
oddity,
eccentricity, twist, monomania (caprice) 608, kleptodipsomania,
hypochondriasis,
melancholia, depression, clinical depression, severe depression,
hysteria,
amentia, screw loose, tile loose, slate loose, bee in one's bonnet, rats in the upper story,
dotage V. be insane, become insane, lose one's senses, lose one's reason, lose one's faculties, lose one's wits, go mad, run mad, lose one's marbles, go crazy, go bonkers, flip one's wig, flip one's lid, flip out, flip one's bush,
rave,
dote,
ramble,
wander,
drivel, have a screw loose, have a devil, avoir le diable au corps, lose one's head, render mad, drive mad,
madden,
dementate, addle the wits, addle the brain, derange the head,
infatuate,
befool, turn the brain, turn one's head, drive one nuts
Adj. insane,
mad,
lunatic,
loony,
crazy,
crazed,
aliene,
non compos mentis, not right,
cracked, touched, bereft of reason, all possessed, unhinged, unsettled in one's mind,
insensate, reasonless, beside oneself,
demented,
daft, phrenzied,
frenzied, frenetic, possessed, possessed with a devil,
deranged,
maddened,
moonstruck, shatterpated, mad-brained, scatter brained, shatter brained, crackbrained, touched, tetched, off one's head,
maniacal,
delirious,
lightheaded,
incoherent,
rambling,
doting, wandering,
frantic,
raving, stark staring mad, stark raving mad, wild-eyed,
berserk,
delusional,
hallucinatory,
corybantic,
dithyrambic,
rabid,
giddy,
vertiginous, wild,
haggard,
mazed,
flighty, distracted,
distraught, depressed,
agitated, hyped up,
bewildered, mad as a march hare, mad as a hatter, of unsound mind, touched in one's head, wrong in one's head, not right in one's head, not in one's right mind, not right in one's wits, upper story, out of one's mind, out of one's wits, out of one's skull, far gone, out of one's senses, out of one's wits, not in one's right mind,
fanatical,
infatuated, odd,
eccentric, hypped,
hyppish, spaced out,
imbecile,
silly,
&c. 499 Adv. like one possessed
Phr. the mind having lost its balance, the reason under a cloud, tet exaltee, tet montee, ira furor brevis est, omnes stultos insanire
N. irresolution, infirmity of purpose, indecision, indetermination, undetermination|, unsettlement, uncertainty,
demur,
suspense,
hesitating,
hesitation,
hesitancy,
vacillation,
changeableness,
fluctuation,
alternation,
caprice,
fickleness,
levity, legerete,
pliancy, weakness,
timidity,
cowardice, half measures,
waverer, ass between two bundles of hay,
shuttlecock,
butterfly, wimp,
doughface V. be irresolute, hang in suspense, keep in suspense, leave "ad referendum", think twice about,
pause,
dawdle, 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, "let 'i dare not' wait upon 'i would'",
falter, waver vacillate, change, retract,
fluctuate,
pendulate, alternate, keep off and on, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold,
shuffle,
palter,
blink,
trim Adj. irresolute, infirm of purpose,
double-minded,
half-hearted, undecided, unresolved, undetermined,
shilly-shally,
fidgety,
tremulous,
hesitating, off one's balance, at a loss,
vacillating, unsteady,
unsteadfast,
fickle, without ballast,
capricious, volatile,
frothy, light,
lightsome,
light-minded,
giddy, fast and loose, weak,
feeble-minded,
frail,
timid, wimpish, wimpy,
cowardly,
dough-faced,
facile,
pliant, unable to say "no",
easy-going,
revocable, reversible
Int. "how happy could i be with either!"
N. caprice, fancy,
humor,
whim,
whimsy,
whimsey,
whimwham,
crotchet, capriccio,
quirk,
freak,
maggot,
fad,
vagary,
prank, fit,
flimflam,
escapade,
boutade, wild-goose chase,
capriciousness,
kink V. be capricious, have a maggot in the brain, take it into one's head, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, blow hot and cold, play fast and loose, play fantastic tricks, tourner casaque
Adj. capricious,
erratic,
eccentric, fitful,
hysterical, full of whims,
maggoty, inconsistent,
fanciful,
fantastic,
whimsical,
crotchety,
kinky, particular,
humorsome,
freakish,
skittish,
wanton,
wayward, contrary,
captious, arbitrary,
unconformable, penny wise and pound foolish,
fickle,
frivolous,
sleeveless,
giddy, volatile
Adv. by fits and starts, without rhyme or reason
Phr. nil fuit unquain sic inipar sibi, the deuce is in him
N. unskillfulness, want of skill,
incompetence, incompentency, inability,
infelicity,
indexterity, inexperience,
disqualification,
unproficiency,
quackery, folly,
stupidity,
indiscretion, thoughtlessness (neglect) 460, sabotage, mismanagement, misconduct, impolicy,
maladministration, misrule, misgovernment, misapplication, misdirection,
misfeasance, petticoat government, absence of rule, rule of thumb,
bungling, failure, screw loose, too many cooks,
blunder, etourderie gaucherie, act of folly, balourdise,
botch,
botchery, bad job, sad work, sprat sent out to catch a whale, much ado about nothing, wild-goose chase,
bungler,
fool V. be unskillful, not see an inch beyond one's nose,
blunder,
bungle,
boggle,
fumble,
botch,
bitch,
flounder,
stumble,
trip,
hobble, 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, make two bites of a cherry, play at cross purposes, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, put the cart before the horse, lock the stable door when the horse is stolen, 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, take the shadow for the substance, 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, 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
Adj. unskillful,
inexpert,
bungling,
awkward,
clumsy,
unhandy,
lubberly,
gauche,
maladroit,
left-handed,
heavy-handed,
slovenly,
slatternly,
gawky,
adrift, at fault, inapt, unapt,
inhabile, untractable, unteachable,
giddy,
inconsiderate,
stupid, inactive, incompetent, unqualified, disqualified, ill-qualified, unfit,
quackish, raw, green, inexperienced,
rusty, out of practice, unaccustomed, unused, untrained,
uninitiated,
unconversant,
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
Phr. one's fingers being all thumbs, the right hand forgets its cunning, il se noyerait dans une goutte d'eau, incidit in scyllam qui vult vitare charybdim, out of the frying pan into the fire, non omnia possumus omnes
N. rashness,
temerity, want of caution,
imprudence,
indiscretion, overconfidence,
presumption,
audacity,
precipitancy,
precipitation,
impetuosity,
levity,
foolhardihood,
foolhardiness,
heedlessness,
thoughtlessness,
carelessness,
desperation,
quixotism,
knight-errantry, fire eating, gaming,
gambling, blind bargain, leap in the dark, leap of faith, fool's paradise, too many eggs in one basket,
desperado,
rashling,
madcap, daredevil,
hotspur, fire eater,
bully,
bravo,
hector,
scapegrace, enfant perdu, don quixote, knight- errant, icarus,
adventurer,
gambler,
gamester,
dynamitard,
boomer V. be rash, stick at nothing, play a desperate game, run into danger, play with fire, play with edge tools, carry too much sail, sail too near the wind, ride at single anchor, go out of one's depth, take a leap in the dark, buy a pig in a poke, donner tete baissee,
knock, one's bead against a wall, rush on destruction, kick against the pricks, tempt providence, go on a forlorn hope, go on a fool's errand, reckon one's chickens before they are hatched, count one's chickens before they are hatched, reckon without one's host, catch at straws, trust to a broken reed, lean on a broken reed
Adj. rash,
incautious,
indiscreet,
imprudent,
improvident,
temerarious,
uncalculating,
heedless, careless, without ballast, heels over head, head over heels,
giddy,
wanton,
reckless, wild,
madcap,
desperate, devil-may-care,
hot-blooded,
hotheaded,
hotbrained,
headlong,
headstrong,
breakneck,
foolhardy,
harebrained,
precipitate, impulsive,
overconfident,
overweening,
venturesome,
venturous,
adventurous,
quixotic, fire eating,
cavalier,
janty,
jaunty, free and easy, off one's guard
Adv. post haste, a corps perdu, hand over head, tete baissee,
headforemost, happen what may, come what may
Phr. neck or nothing, the devil being in one, non semper temeritas est felix, paucis temeritas est bono multis malo
