Collins Dictionaries - Collins Primary Thesaurus

If you do something badly, you do it in an inferior way.

inadequately

He had been inadequately trained for the job.

poorly

The event was poorly organized.

shoddily

This house has been shoddily built.

unsatisfactorily

I feel the whole business has been handled unsatisfactorily.

ANTONYM: well

badly (2) ADVERB

If something affects you badly, it affects you in a serious way.

deeply

I am deeply hurt by these remarks.

gravely

He was gravely ill following a heart operation.

seriously

Four people have been seriously injured.

bad-mannered ADJECTIVE

Bad-mannered people are rude and thoughtless.

disrespectful

It is disrespectful to interrupt people when they are speaking.

inconsiderate

It was inconsiderate of Meg to take a second helping when others had not had their first.

rude

We decided not to leave a tip for the rude waiter.

bad-tempered ADJECTIVE

Bad-tempered people often lose their temper.

grumpy

Dad is always cheerful in the mornings. It’s me that is grumpy.

irritable

Some people get irritable when you read over their shoulder.

moody

When people are moody, you never quite know how they will greet you.

quarrelsome

The two quarrelsome brothers were always looking for a fight.

sulky

“If you’re going to be sulky, miss, you can go to your room,” Dad replied.

sullen

The sullen waiter snatched my plate and stalked off to the kitchen.

bag NOUN

A bag is a container for carrying things in.

Some types of bag:

backpack

briefcase

carrier bag

duffel bag

handbag

holdall

rucksack

sack

satchel

shopping bag

shoulder bag

suitcase

ban VERB

If you ban something, you forbid it to be done.

make illegal

The government proposes to make illegal the sale of imitation guns.

prohibit

Using all sorts of barricades, the landowner prohibited walkers from crossing his land.

bang (1) NOUN

A bang is a hard, painful bump against something.

blow

Kirstin suffered a blow to her head when the door opened suddenly.

knock

When I slipped on the stairs, I got a sharp knock on my funny bone.

bang (2) NOUN

A bang is a sudden, short, loud noise.

blast

The blast echoed round the quarry.

thud

With a thud, the encyclopedia hit the floor.

bare (1) ADJECTIVE

If your body is bare, it is not covered by any clothing.

in your birthday suit INFORMAL

I dreamt I was walking down the high street in my birthday suit.

naked

Lady Godiva rode naked on a horse through the middle of town.

nude

For many centuries, the nude body has been a popular subject for artists.

undressed

The nurse asked me to get undressed, ready for the medical examination.

without a stitch on INFORMAL

“And there I was, without a stitch on,” Mrs Lee, our neighbour, told me.

bare (2) ADJECTIVE

If something is bare, it is not covered with anything.

barren

The Grand Canyon, although magnificent, is a barren wilderness.

bleak

The Brontë sisters lived on the edge of a bleak, windswept moor.

desolate

The abandoned town was desolate.

➔ See empty (1)

barrier NOUN

A barrier is a fence or wall that prevents people or animals getting from one area to another.

barricade

The protesters erected a barricade across the main street.

obstacle

There are lots of obstacles to get over and under in an obstacle race.

obstruction

The roadworks were an obstruction and drivers had to be diverted around them.

base (1) NOUN

The base is the lowest part of something.

bottom

The lost cat mewed at the bottom of the well.

foot

“Please would you stand on the foot of my ladder to stop it slipping?” Dad asked.

foundation

The foundations of New York’s skyscrapers rest on solid rock.

base (2) NOUN

A base is the headquarters of an organization.

centre

A humble office in a run-down district was the unlikely centre of a huge corporation.

headquarters

We arranged to meet at our scout headquarters at four o’clock.

HQ

“HQ calling Tank 5,” the colonel snapped.

bat NOUN

A bat is a specially shaped piece of wood with a handle, used for hitting a ball in some games.

You play with…

a bat in baseball, cricket, rounders, softball and table tennis.

a club in golf.

a cue in pool and snooker.

a racket in badminton, squash and tennis.

a stick in hockey.

battle NOUN

A battle is a fight between armed forces, or a struggle between two people or groups with different aims.

action

It was the first time that the young soldier had seen action.

conflict

There was a conflict of opinions: the red party on one side, the greens on the other.

struggle

The struggle for power between the king and the government was a long one.

beach NOUN

The beach is an area of sand or pebbles beside the sea.

sands

The lifeguards sprinted down the sands and plunged into the waves.

seashore

After the tanker disaster, much of the seashore was coated in an oily sludge.

seaside

Aaron loved to spend his holidays at the seaside.

shore

We walked along the shore, looking for attractive shells.

water’s edge

The water’s edge was a seething mass of turtles.

beat (1) VERB

If someone or something beats someone or something else, they hit them hard and repeatedly.

batter

The burglar had battered down the door.

flog

In Nelson’s day, sailors who stole would be flogged with a whip called a cat-o’-nine-tails.

pound

Waves pounded the shore as the wind rose to screaming pitch.

thrash

The bully threatened, “Tom Brown, I shall thrash the living daylights out of you.”

beat (2) VERB

If you beat someone in a race or game, you defeat them or do better than them.

conquer

William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066.

lick INFORMAL

Abdel really licked me in the 100 metres sprint race.

run rings round INFORMAL

Our speedy attackers ran rings round their lumbering defenders.

thrash INFORMAL

“It’s a safe bet that we’ll get thrashed when we play you,” said Tim.

wipe the floor with INFORMAL

Our school team wiped the floor with kids much bigger than they were.

beautiful ADJECTIVE

You say someone or something is beautiful if they are very pleasing to look at.

attractive

People say my sister is attractive.

gorgeous

I overheard Dad telling Mum she looked gorgeous.

lovely

The photograph, I had to admit, even made my aunt look lovely.

pretty

Even some garden weeds can look pretty at certain times.

stunning INFORMAL

The sunset over the mountains was nothing less than stunning.

ANTONYMS: ugly or unattractive

beauty (1) NOUN

If a person has beauty, they have the quality of being beautiful.

elegance

Every movement the duchess made had an elegance about it.

good looks

The actor possessed rugged good looks.

loveliness

The opera singer’s loveliness was not matched by her selfish behaviour.

beauty (2) NOUN

If a place has beauty, it has the quality of being beautiful.

charm

This country cottage has tremendous charm and character.

loveliness

I think the loveliness of Athens is somewhat spoilt by the pollution.

splendour

Rome is famous for the splendour of its ancient buildings.