precept, n. commandment, maxim, rule, adage, behest, injunction.

precious, a. costly, expensive; valuable; dear, beloved, adored, idolized.

precious stone. jewel, gem. See stone.

precise, a. exact; formal, punctilious, particular, prim, prudish.

precision, n. exactness, accuracy; formalness, prudery.

predatory, a. predaceous, plundering.

predestination, n. foreordination, foreordainment.

predict, v. prophesy, foretell, prognosticate, forebode, portend, augur, presage, vaticinate.

prediction, n. prophecy, soothsaying, divination, augury, prognostication.

predominant, a. dominant, overruling, ascendant, supreme.

preface, n. prologue, prelude. See introduction.

prejudice, n. prejudgment, bias; harm, mischief, detriment.

preposterous, a. absurd, ridiculous, irrational, inconsistent, foolish.

presage, n. omen, augury, auspice, portent; foreknowledge, premonition.

present, n. gift, donation, largess, gratuity, douceur.

preserve, v. conserve.--n. compote.

press, n. pressure, urgency.

press, v. squeeze, crowd, compress; urge, crowd; express; embrace, hug, clasp; oppress, enjoin, constrain.

pressed together. compact, serried, crowded.

pressing, a. urgent, importunate, exigent.

pretend, v. claim; simulate, feign, affect.

pretense, n. a.s.sumption, claim, pretension; simulation, affectation; pretext, feint, subterfuge.

pretty, a. comely, fair; personable, considerable. Antonyms: plain, homely, uncomely, ugly.

prevent, v. thwart, hinder, obstruct, preclude, obviate, forestall, intercept, avert, parry, deter, frustrate.

prevention, n. obstruction, thwarting, interruption, hindrance, preclusion, obviation, interception.

preventive, a. deterrent, prophylactic, obviating.--n.

prophylactic.

previous, a. former, foregoing, antecedent, prior, anterior.

prey, n. spoil, loot, plunder, booty; victim, quarry, captive; depredation, ravage, spoliation.

preying upon others. predatory.

p.r.i.c.k, n. goad, spur, gad; sting, compunction, qualm; puncture.

p.r.i.c.k, v. puncture, pierce, perforate; goad, spur, incite; sting, wound, hurt.

p.r.i.c.king, a. poignant, sharp, piercing, stinging.

p.r.i.c.kle, n. thorn, spine, barb.

p.r.i.c.kly, a. th.o.r.n.y, spiny, brambly, briery.

pride, n. self-esteem, self-respect; haughtiness, arrogance, hauteur, superciliousness, contumely, conceit, vanity, priggishness, lordliness, imperiousness. Antonyms: humility, shame, self-abas.e.m.e.nt, modesty, lowliness.

priestly, a. sacerdotal.

priestly garments. vestments, canonicals. See canonicals.

prim, a. formal, precise, demure, prudish.

prime minister. premier.

primer, n. hornbook.

primitive, a. pristine, primordial, primeval, primal; antique, quaint, old-fashioned; original, radical, primary.

princ.i.p.al, a. leading, chief, cardinal, paramount, main, foremost.

printing, n. typography; (for the blind) Braille.

prior, a. previous, former, antedecent, anterior.

priority, n. antecedence, anteriority, precedence.

prison, n. penitentiary, bridewell, jail, house of correction, clink, bastille.--v. imprison, incarcerate. a.s.sociated Words: mittimus, commit, commitment, turnkey, warden, remand, prisoner, convict.

privacy, n. retirement, seclusion; retreat, solitude, concealment, secrecy, secret.

private, a. personal, individual; secret, secluded, covert, sequestered, hidden, unrevealed.

privates, n. pl. genitals. See s.e.xual organs.