To abase is to bring down so that the victim feels himself lowered in estate or external condition. To debase is to produce a marked decline in actual worth or in moral quality. To degrade is to lower in rank or status. To humble is to lower in dignity or self-esteem, or as used reflexively, to restrain one's own pride; the word often implies that the person has been over-proud or arrogant. To humiliate is to deprive of self-esteem or to bring into ignominy. To disgrace is to bring actual shame upon.
Sentences: They ____ the guilty officer from captain to lieutenant. A man should ____ himself before God. He had so ____ himself that I no longer expected good of him. His detection at cheating had ____ him before the students. By successive overlords they had been ____ into a condition of serfdom. The aristocratic old lady was ____ by her loss of social position. The conversion of so much bullion into money had ____ the coinage.
<Answer, reply, response, rejoinder, retort, repartee.>
An interesting thing about the answer group is that the generic term has a somewhat strong rival in reply, itself fairly inclusive. We must therefore discriminate rather fully between answer and reply. The former is a return in words to a question, a communication, or an argument. The latter suggests a more or less formal answer, as one carefully prepared or intelligently thought out. We might give an answer offhand, but are less likely to give a reply so. We may give any kind of answer to a question, but if we give a reply, the implication is that we have answered it definitely, perhaps satisfactorily. On the other hand, in controversial matters we may, though we by no means always do, imply a more conclusive meeting of objections through answer than through reply. A response is an expected answer, one in harmony with the question or assertion, or in some way carrying the thought farther. A rejoinder is a quick reply to something controversial or calling forth opposition. A retort is a short, sharp reply, such as turns back censure or derision, or as springs from anger. A repartee is an immediate and witty reply, perhaps to a remark of similar character which it is intended to surpass in cleverness.
Sentences: The detailed ____ to our letter should reach us within a week. The plays of Oscar Wilde abound in brilliant ____. The speaker's ____ to the heckler was incisive and scathing. My ____ to that third question in the examination in history was incorrect. The congregation read the ____ in unison. You have enumerated objections to my course; here is their ____. "This is no ____, thou unfeeling man, to excuse the current of thy cruelty." There was silence throughout the chamber as the old statesman rose to make his ____. To the tenderfoot's remark the guide mumbled an indifferent ____. Our appeal for the sufferers elicited but a poor ____.
<Ask, inquire, question, interrogate, interpellate, query, quiz, catechize, request, beg, solicit, entreat, beseech, crave, implore, supplicate, importune, petition.>
From the general tree of asking grow many branches, different in size, in the direction they take, in the shades of meaning they cast. What can we learn from a rapid scrutiny of each? That to inquire is to ask for specific information. That to question is to keep asking in order to obtain detailed or reluctantly given information. That to interrogate is to question formally, systematically, or thoroughly. That to interpellate is to question as of unchallenged right, as in a deliberative body. That to query is to bring a thing into question because of doubt as to its correctness or truth. That to quiz is to question closely and persistently, as from meddlesomeness, opposition, or curiosity. That to catechize is to question in a minute, perhaps impertinent, manner in order to ascertain one's secrets or the amount of his knowledge or information. That to request is to ask formally and politely. That to beg is to ask for deferentially or humbly, especially on the ground of pity. That to solicit is to ask with urgency. That to entreat is to ask with strong desire and moving appeal. That to beseech is to ask earnestly as a boon or favor. That to crave is to ask humbly and abjectly, as though unworthy of receiving. That to implore is to ask with fervor and intense earnestness. That to supplicate is to ask with urgent or even desperate appeal. (Both implore and supplicate imply humility, as of a prayer to a superior being.) That to importune is to ask for persistently, even wearyingly. That to petition is to ask a superior, usually in writing, for some favor, grant, or right.
Assignment for further discrimination: <plead, pray>.
Sentences: The leader of the minority ____ the upholders of the measure sharply as to a secret understanding. I ____ you to keep your promise. I shall ____ that solution for the present. The colonists ____ Great Britain for a redress of grievances. She ____ the governor to grant her husband a pardon. A child is naturally inquisitive and ____ many questions. I ____ you to show mercy. On bended knees he ____ God's forgiveness. "I'm stopp'd by all the fools I meet And ____ in every street." The policeman ____ the suspect closely. The prosecuting attorney ____ the witness. We are ____ funds to aid the famine-stricken people of India. He ____ me about your health. You should ____ at the office about the lost package. She ____ your presence at the party. Every one resents being ____. I ____ you to care for the child after I am gone. A fool can ____ questions a wise man can't answer. She annoyed them by constantly ____ them for favors. The reporter ____ into the causes of the riot. "____ and it shall be given you." I ____ your pardon, though I well know I do not deserve it. The man ____ me to give him some money for food.
<Burn, scorch, singe, sear, parch, char, incinerate, cremate, cauterize.>