Childrens Illustrated Thesaurus

141

a b c d e g h i j k l m p q r s t u v w x y z

n

o

f

mend

verb to repair something

broken

▲ SEE ABOVE

mention^1

verb to talk about something

briefly » I mentioned the party

to Lisa, but I don’t know if

she’ll come.

allude to, bring up, broach,

hint, intimate, refer to,

touch on, touch upon

mention^2

noun a brief comment about

something » There was no

mention in the programme of

my role in the show.

allusion, reference

merciful^1

adjective showing kindness

» The merciful king treated

his subjects with kindness.

compassionate, humane,

kind

antonym: merciless

merciful^2

adjective showing forgiveness

» The merciful teacher gave us

no homework over the holidays.

forgiving, lenient

antonym: merciless

merciless

adjective showing no kindness

or forgiveness » The airport

staff were merciless when

I forgot my passport and

wouldn’t let me on the plane.

callous, cruel, heartless,

implacable, ruthless,

hard-hearted, pitiless,

unforgiving

antonym: merciful

mercy^1

noun the quality of kindness

» The wrestler showed no

mercy to his opponent.

compassion, kindness,

pity, benevolence, charity

mercy^2

noun the quality of forgiveness

» The criminal threw himself

upon the mercy of the court.

forgiveness, leniency,

clemency, forbearance

merit^1

noun worth or value

» Our PE teacher said that a

keen attitude had as much

merit as natural talent.

excellence, value,

virtue, worth

merit^2

noun a good quality that

something has » They

discussed the merits of

the different cakes on offer.

advantage, asset, strength,

strong point, virtue

merit^3

verb to deserve something

» Buying a new camera merits

careful consideration.

be entitled to, be worthy of,

deserve, earn, warrant

mess^1

noun a state of untidiness

» The room was in a mess

after the party.

chaos, disarray, disorder

mess^2

noun a situation that is full of

problems » How are we going

to get out of this mess?

fix (informal), jam (informal),

muddle, turmoil

mess^3 : mess up

verb to spoil something

» He messed up his career.

botch, bungle, make a hash

of (informal), muck up (slang),

ruin, screw up (slang), spoil

The room was in a mess

after the party.

mess

mend

verb to repair something broken

» He mended the bicycle.

darn

She darned the hole

in her sock.

fix

She fixed the leak

in the car engine.

patch

He patched the roof where

the rain came in.

renovate

They renovated the old ship.

repair

When will you get around

to repairing the broken chair?

restore

She liked to restore

antique furniture.

137-145_M.indd 141 13/01/17 12:24 pm