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GRACEFUL.
Synonym:
beautiful.
That which is _graceful_ is marked by elegance and harmony, with ease of
action, attitude, or posture, or delicacy of form. _Graceful_ commonly
suggests motion or the possibility of motion; _beautiful_ may apply to
absolute fixity; a landscape or a blue sky is _beautiful_, but neither
is _graceful_. _Graceful_ commonly applies to beauty as addressed to
the eye, tho we often speak of a _graceful_ poem or a _graceful_
compliment. _Graceful_ applies to the perfection of motion, especially
of the lighter motions, which convey no suggestion of stress or strain,
and are in harmonious curves. Apart from the thought of motion,
_graceful_ denotes a pleasing harmony of outline, proportion, etc., with
a certain degree of delicacy; a Hercules is massive, an Apollo is
_graceful_. We speak of a _graceful_ attitude, _graceful_ drapery.
Compare BEAUTIFUL; BECOMING.
Antonyms:
See synonyms for AWKWARD.
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GRIEF.
Synonyms:
affliction, melancholy, regret, sorrow, trouble,
distress, mourning, sadness, tribulation, wo.
_Grief_ is acute mental pain resulting from loss, misfortune, or deep
disappointment. _Grief_ is more acute and less enduring than _sorrow_.
_Sorrow_ and _grief_ are for definite cause; _sadness_ and _melancholy_
may arise from a vague sense of want or loss, from a low state of
health, or other ill-defined cause; _sadness_ may be momentary;
_melancholy_ is more enduring, and may become chronic. _Affliction_
expresses a deep heart-sorrow and is applied also to the misfortune
producing such _sorrow_; _mourning_ most frequently denotes sorrow
publicly expressed, or the public expression of such _sorrow_ as may
reasonably be expected; as, it is common to observe thirty days of
_mourning_ on the death of an officer of state.
Antonyms:
See synonyms for HAPPINESS.
Prepositions:
Grief _at_ a loss; _for_ a friend.
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HABIT.
Synonyms:
custom, habitude, routine, system, use,
fashion, practise, rule, usage, wont.
_Habit_ is a tendency or inclination toward an action or condition,
which by repetition has become easy, spontaneous, or even unconscious,
or an action or regular series of actions, or a condition so induced.
_Custom_ is the uniform doing of the same act in the same circumstance
for a definite reason; _routine_ is the
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