Example: Is the media under siege?
1. Siege [seej]
- Noun: the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible; any prolonged or persistent effort to overcome resistance; a series of illnesses, troubles, or annoyances besetting a person or group.
- Synonyms: annoy, bedevil, beset, plague, badger, blockade.
- Antonyms: aid, make happy, please, assist, help, soothe.
Example: The anecdote might well be apocryphal.
2. Anecdote [an-ik-doht]
- Noun: a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature; a short, obscure historical or biographical account.
- Synonyms: episode, gag, narration, narrative, reminiscence, short story.
3. Apocryphal [uh-pok-ruh-fuh l]
- Adjective: of doubtful authorship or authenticity; of or relating to the Apocrypha; of doubtful sanction; uncanonical; false; spurious.
- Synonyms: fictitious, inaccurate, mythical, unsubstantiated, untrue.
- Antonyms: true, authentic, doubtless, real.
Example: In the not-too-distant past, all this was welcome because the ‘other’ was either a foreign power or an oligarch or a dictator.
4. Oligarch [ol-i-gahrk]
- Noun: one of the rulers in an oligarchy.
- Synonyms: autocrat, boss, chief, commander, despot, fascist, leader, tycoon, tyrant, absolutist, adviser, authoritarian.
- Antonyms: employee, follower, worker.
5. Dictator [dik-tey-ter, dik-tey-ter]
- Noun: a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.
- Synonyms: autocrat, boss, chief, commander, despot, fascist, leader, tycoon, tyrant, absolutist, adviser, authoritarian.
- Antonyms: employee, follower, worker.
Example: In these circumstances, nationalism had a positive, and liberating, effect. But in all these cases the common consciousness it built was founded on blood, gore, war, victory, defeat, humiliation and jubilation.
6. Liberate [lib-uh-reyt]
- Verb: to set free, as from imprisonment or bondage; to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government; to free (a group or individual) from social or economic constraints or discrimination, especially arising from traditional role expectations or bias.
- Synonyms: detach, emancipate, free, redeem, rescue, save, deliver.
- Antonyms: harm, hold, hurt, incarcerate, detain, imprison.
7. Gore [gawr, gohr]
- Noun: blood that is shed, especially when clotted; murder, bloodshed, violence, etc.
- Synonyms: blood, carnage, slaughter.
8. Jubilation [joo-buh-ley-shuh n]
- Noun: a feeling of or the expression of joy or exultation; a joyful or festive celebration.
- Synonyms: happiness, joy, exultation, festivity, gladness, merriment.
- Antonyms: sadness, sorrow, unhappiness, woe.
Example: State government insisted that the five persons killed on Tuesday during the farmers’ agitation did not die in police firing.
9. Agitation [aj-i-tey-shuh n]
- Noun: the act or process of agitating; state of being agitated (to disturb or excite emotionally); persistent urging of a political or social cause or theory before the public.
- Synonyms: disturbance, turbulence, turmoil, unrest, upheaval, commotion.
- Antonyms: calm, harmony, order, peace, tranquility.
Example: Mr. Chouhan blamed the Congress for “politicising the protests and instigating violence.”
10. Instigate [in-sti-geyt]
- Verb: to cause by incitement; foment; to urge, provoke, or incite to some action or course.
- Synonyms: abet, bring about, foment, incite, inflame, initiate, kindle.
- Antonyms: deter, discourage, dissuade, halt, neglect, put out.
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