Childrens Illustrated Thesaurus

168

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

precious

precious

adjective of great value and

importance » My mother

keeps her precious ring

in a small case.

expensive, invaluable,

priceless, prized, valuable

antonym: worthless

precise

adjective exact and accurate

» Millie gave such precise

answers that she got full marks.

accurate, actual, correct,

exact, particular, specific,

very

antonym: vague

predicament

noun a difficult situation

» The decision to go will leave

my aunt in a predicament.

fix (informal), hot water

(informal), jam (informal),

scrape (informal), tight spot

predict

verb to say that something

will happen in the future

» The judges are predicting

a close contest.

forecast, foresee, foretell,

prophesy, forebode,

portend, presage, soothsay

prediction

noun something that is forecast

in advance » His prediction

that it would rain turned out

to be true.

forecast, prophecy

prefer

verb to like one thing more

than another thing

» Does he prefer a particular

sort of music?

be partial to, favour, go for,

incline towards, like better

prejudice^1

noun an unreasonable or unfair

dislike or preference

» Edie complained that the

company had shown prejudice

against her because of her age.

bias, partiality,

preconception

prejudice^2

noun intolerance towards

certain people or groups

» As outsiders, we experienced

some prejudice when we first

moved to the area, but that has

gone now people know us.

bigotry, chauvinism,

discrimination, racism,

sexism

premonition

noun a feeling that something

unpleasant is going to happen

» He had a premonition that

there would be an earthquake.

foreboding,

funny feeling (informal),

omen, sign, portent,

presage, presentiment

preoccupied

adjective totally involved with

something or deep in thought

» I am preoccupied with the

book I’m writing.

absorbed, engrossed,

immersed, oblivious,

wrapped up

present^1

adjective being at a place or

event » Dad was present

when Simon received his prize.

at hand, here,

in attendance,

there, to hand

antonym: absent

present^2

noun something given to

someone » Vicky gave me

a birthday present.

donation, gift, offering

present^3

verb to give something to

someone » The mayor

presented the prizes.

award, bestow, donate,

give, grant, hand out

press^1

verb to apply force or weight

to something » Press the

blue button.

compress, crush, mash,

push, squeeze

press^2

verb to try hard to persuade

someone to do something

» My parents are pressing

me to invite more people

to my birthday party.

beg, implore, petition,

plead, pressurize, urge,

entreat, exhort, importune

pretend

verb to claim or give the

appearance of something

untrue » Vince pretended

to be asleep, but I knew better.

counterfeit, fake, falsify,

feign, pass yourself off as

pretentious

adjective making unjustified

claims to importance » Many

critics thought her work and

ideas pretentious and empty.

affected, conceited,

ostentatious, pompous,

snobbish, bombastic,

vainglorious

pretty^1

adjective attractive in a delicate

way » The bouqet of colourful

flowers looked pretty.

attractive, beautiful, cute,

lovely

pretty^2

adverb (informal) quite or

rather » He spoke English

pretty well.

fairly, kind of (informal),

quite, rather

prevent

verb to stop something from

happening » Loella was

prevented from going on the

fairground ride because she

wasn’t tall enough.

avert, foil, hinder, impede,

stop, thwart

previous

adjective happening or existing

before something else

» Zac had won the competition

the previous year.

earlier, former, one-time,

past, preceding, prior

price^1

noun the amount of money

paid for something

» The price of milk has

gone up recently.

amount, charge, cost,

fee, figure, value

price^2

verb to fix the price or value

of something » I don’t know

why it has been priced so high.

cost, estimate,

put a price on, value

pride^1

noun satisfaction about your

achievements » The chef took

pride in the dish he’d made.

delight, pleasure,

satisfaction

pride^2

noun an excessively high

opinion of yourself » His

pride made him unpopular.

arrogance, conceit,

egotism, smugness,

snobbery, vanity,

haughtiness, hauteur,

hubris, superciliousness

antonym: humility

My mother keeps her precious

ring in a small case.

Loella was prevented from going

on the fairground ride because

she wasn’t tall enough.

The bouquet of colourful flowers

looked pretty.

156-174_P.indd 168 22/03/17 11:36 am