s that affords _rest_ to other parts of our
nature that have become weary. _Repose_ is a laying down, primarily of
the body, and figuratively a similar freedom from toil or strain of
mind. _Repose_ is more complete than _rest_; a _pause_ is a momentary
_cessation_ of activity; a black-smith finds a temporary _rest_ while
the iron is heating, but he does not yield to _repose_; in a _pause_ of
battle a soldier _rests_ on his arms; after the battle the victor
_reposes_ on his laurels. _Sleep_ is the perfection of _repose_, the
most complete _rest_; _slumber_ is a light and ordinarily pleasant form
of _sleep_. In the figurative sense, _rest_ of mind, soul, conscience,
is not mere _cessation_ of activity, but a pleasing, tranquil relief
from all painful and wearying activity; _repose_ is even more deep,
tranquil, and complete.

Antonyms:

agitation, disturbance, movement, stir, tumult,
commotion, excitement, restlessness, strain, unrest,
disquiet, motion, rush, toil, work.

* * * * *

RESTIVE.

Synonyms:

balky, impatient, rebellious, restless,
fidgety, intractable, recalcitrant, skittish,
fractious, mulish, refractory, stubborn,
fretful, mutinous, resentful, unruly,
frisky, obstinate, restiff, vicious.

_Balky_, _mulish_, _obstinate_, and _stubborn_ are synonyms of _restive_
only in an infrequent if not obsolete use; the supposed sense of
"tending to rest," "standing stubbornly still," is scarcely supported by
any examples, and those cited to support that meaning often fail to do
so. The disposition to offer active resistance to control by any means
whatever is what is commonly indicated by _restive_ in the best English
speech and literature. Dryden speaks of "the pampered colt" as
"_restiff_ to the rein;" but the rein is not used to propel a horse
forward, but to hold him in, and it is against this that he is
"_restiff_." A horse may be made _restless_ by flies or by martial
music, but with no refractoriness; the _restive_ animal impatiently
resists or struggles to break from control, as by bolting, flinging his
rider, or otherwise. With this the metaphorical use of the word agrees,
which is always in the sense of such terms as _impatient_,
_intractable_, _rebellious_, and the like; a people _restive_ under
despotism are not disposed to "rest" under it, but to resist it and
fling it off