Prepositional Phrases Grouped by Concept and TopicA abandon of spontaneity abatement of misery aberrations of judgment abhorrence of meanness absence of vainglory abyss of ignominy accent of conviction accretions of time accumulation of ages accuracy of aim acquisition of knowledge activity of attention acuteness of sensibility admixture of fear affectation of content affinity of events age of ignorance agility of brain agony of despair air of assumption ambitious of success amiability of disposition amplitude of space anachronisms of thought anchor of moderation angle of vision annulment of influence aping of manners apostle of culture ardor of life arrogance of opinion aspect of grandeur assumption of sternness atmosphere of obscurity attitude of mind attribute of weakness austerities of fanaticism authority of manner avalanche of scorn avenues of dissemination Individual Words Grouped by Conceptable, skilful, thorough, and genuine absolute, complete, unqualified, and final accurate, precise, exact, and truthful active, alert, vigorous, and industrious actual, positive, certain, and genuine adequate, uniform, proportionate, and equitable adventurous, fine, active, and gossipy adverse, antagonistic, unfriendly, and hostile advisable, advantageous, acceptable, and expedient affable, diffident, humble, and mild affectionate, tender, loving, and attached affluent, opulent, abundant, and ample allurements, pits, snares, and torments anger, indignation, resentment, and rage animate, impel, instigate, and embolden animosity, malice, enmity, and hatred annul, frustrate, reverse, and destroy anxiety, caution, watchfulness, and solicitude apparent, ostensible, plausible, and specious appropriate, use, arrogate, and usurp [arrogate = claim without right; appropriate] approval, enthusiasm, sympathy, and applause aptitude, capacity, efficiency, and power arbitrary, dictatorial, domineering, and imperious [imperious = arrogantly domineering or overbearing] architecture, sculpture, painting, and poetry ardent, impatient, keen, and vehement argue, discuss, dispute, and prove arrangement, place, time, and circumstance art, science, knowledge, and culture artful, wily, insincere, and disingenuous artificial, soulless, hectic, and unreal assemble, amass, accumulate, and acquire assiduity, tenderness, industry, and vigilance [assiduity = persistent application] assurance, persuasion, fidelity, and loyalty attention, effort, diligence, and assiduity [assiduity = persistent application] august, magnanimous, important, and distinguished authoritative, independent, arbitrary, and supreme avaricious, grasping, miserly, and parsimonious [parsimonious = excessively frugal] aversion, dislike, hatred, and repugnance A blind rage like a fire swept over him A book that rends and tears like a broken saw A breath of melancholy made itself felt like a chill and sudden gust from some unknown sea A cloud in the west like a pall creeps upward A cloud like a flag from the sky A cluster of stars hangs like fruit in the tree A confused mass of impressions, like an old rubbish-heap A cry as of a sea-bird in the wind A dead leaf might as reasonably demand to return to the tree A drowsy murmur floats into the air like thistledown A face as imperturbable as fate A face as pale as wax A face tempered like steel A fatigued, faded, lusterless air, as of a caged creature A few pens parched by long disuse A figure like a carving on a spire A fluttering as of blind bewildered moths A giant galleon overhead, looked like some misty monster of the deep A glacial pang of pain like the stab of a dagger of ice frozen from a poisoned well A glance that flitted like a bird A great moon like a red lamp in the sycamore A grim face like a carved mask A hand icily cold and clammy as death A heart from which noble sentiments sprang like sparks from an anvil A jeweler that glittered like his shop A lady that lean'd on his arm like a queen in a fable of old fairy days A life, a Presence, like the air A life as common and brown and bare as the box of earth in the window there A light wind outside the lattice swayed a branch of roses to and fro, shaking out their perfume as from a swung censer A lightning-phrase, as if shot from the quiver of infallible wisdom A list of our unread books torments some of us like a list of murders A little breeze ran through the corn like a swift serpent A little weed-clogged ship, gray as a ghost A long slit of daylight like a pointing finger A memory like a well-ordered cupboard A mighty wind, like a leviathan, plowed the brine A mind very like a bookcase A mystery, soft, soothing and gentle, like the whisper of a child murmuring its happiness in its sleep A name which sounds even now like the call of a trumpet A note of despairing appeal which fell like a cold hand upon one's living soul A purpose as the steady flame A question deep almost as the mystery of life A quibbling mouth that snapped at verbal errors like a lizard catching flies A radiant look came over her face, like a sudden burst of sunshine on a cloudy day A reputation that swelled like a sponge A ruby like a drop of blood A shadow of melancholy touched her lithe fancies, as a cloud dims the waving of golden grain A silver moon, like a new-stamped coin, rode triumphant in the sky A slow thought that crept like a cold worm through all his brain A smile flashed over her face, like sunshine over a flower A soft and purple mist like a vaporous amethyst A soft haze, like a fairy dream, is floating over wood and stream A soul as white as heaven A sound like the throb of a bell A stooping girl as pale as a pearl A sudden sense of fear ran through her nerves like the chill of an icy wind A sweet voice caroling like a gold-caged nightingale A thin shrill voice like the cry of an expiring mouse A thing of as frail enchantment as the gleam of stars upon snow A vague thought, as elusive as the smell of a primrose A vanishing loveliness as tender as the flush of the rose leaf and as ethereal as the light of a solitary star A voice as low as the sea A voice soft and sweet as a tune that one knows A white bird floats there, like a drifting leaf Against a sky as clear as sapphire Age, like winter weather Agile as a leopard Agitated like a storm-tossed ship Air like wine All around them like a forest swept the deep and empurpled masses of her tangled hair All like an icicle it seemed, so tapering and cold All my life broke up, like some great river's ice at touch of spring All silent as the sheeted dead All sounds were lost in the whistle of air humming by like the flight of a million arrows All that's beautiful drifts away like the waters All the world lay stretched before him like the open palm of his hand All unconscious as a flower Alone, like a storm-tossed wreck, on this night of the glad New Year An anxiety hung like a dark impenetrable cloud An ardent face out-looking like a star An ecstasy which suddenly overwhelms your mind like an unexpected and exquisite thought An envious wind crept by like an unwelcome thought An ideal as sublime and comprehensive as the horizon An immortal spirit dwelt in that frail body, like a bird in an outworn cage An impudent trick as hackneyed as conjuring rabbits out of a hat An indefinable resemblance to a goat An isle of Paradise, fair as a gem An old nodding negress whose sable head shined in the sun like a polished cocoanut An omnibus across the bridge crawls like a yellow butterfly An undefined sadness seemed to have fallen about her like a cloud An unknown world, wild as primeval chaos An unpleasing strain, like the vibration of a rope drawn out too fast And a pinnace like a flutter'd bird came flying from afar And a tear like silver, glistened in the corner of her eye And all our thoughts ran into tears like sunshine into rain And at first the road comes moving toward me, like a bride waving palms And Dusk, with breast as of a dove, brooded And eyes as bright as the day And fell as cold as a lump of clay And her cheek was like a rose And here were forests ancient as the hills And many a fountain, rivulet, and pond, as clear as elemental diamond, or serene morning air And melting like the stars in June And night, as welcome as a friend And silence like a poultice comes to heal the blows of sound And spangled o'er with twinkling points, like stars And the smile she softly uses fills the silence like a speech As a child in play scatters the heaps of sand that he has piled on the seashore As a cloud that gathers her robe like drifted snow As a flower after a drought drinks in the steady plunging rain As a leaf that beats on a mountain As a lion grieves at the loss of her whelps As a man plowing all day longs for supper and welcomes sunset As a sea disturbed by opposing winds As amusing as a litter of likely young pigs As arbitrary as a cyclone and as killing as a pestilence As austere as a Roman matron As beautiful as the purple flush of dawn As blind as a mole As brief as sunset clouds in heaven As bright as sunlight on a stream As busy as a bee As cattle driven by a gadfly As chimney sweepers come to dust As clear as a whistle As clear as the parts of a tree in the morning sun As close as oak and ivy stand As delicate and as fair as a lily As delightful to the mind as cool well-water to thirsty lip As diamond cuts diamond As direct and unvarying as the course of a homing bird As distinct as night and morning As dry as desert dust As dumb as a fish As easily as the sun shines As easy as a turn of the hand As elastic as a steel spring As extinct as the dodo As faint as the memory of a sound As familiar to him as his alphabet As fatal as the fang of the most venomous snake As fleeting and elusive as our dreams As foam from a ship's swiftness As fresh and invigorating as a sea-breeze As full of eager vigor as a mountain stream As full of spirit as a gray squirrel As gay and busy as a brook As gently as the flower gives forth its perfume As gently as withered leaves float from a tree As graceful as a bough As grave as a judge As great as the first day of creation As high as heaven As I dropped like a bolt from the blue As I dwelt like a sparrow among the spires As if a door were suddenly left ajar into some world unseen before As impossible as to count the stars in illimitable space As in the footsteps of a god As inaccessible to his feet as the clefts and gorges of the clouds As inexorable as the flight of time As innocent as a new laid egg As iridescent as a soap bubble As locusts gather to a stream before a fire As mellow and deep as a psalm As men strip for a race, so must an author strip for the race with time As merry as bees in clover As nimble as water As one who has climbed above the earth's eternal snowline and sees only white peaks and pinnacles As pale as any ghost As patient as the trees As quick as the movement of some wild animal As radiant as the rose As readily and naturally as ducklings take to water As reticent as a well-bred stockbroker As ruthlessly as the hoof of a horse tramples on a rose As shallow streams run dimpling all the way As simple as the intercourse of a child with its mother As sleep falls upon the eyes of a child tired with a long summer day of eager pleasure and delight As some vast river of unfailing source As stars that shoot along the sky As still as a stone As stupid as a sheep As sudden as a dislocated joint slipping back into place As summer winds that creep from flower to flower As supple as a step-ladder As swaggering and sentimental as a penny novellete [novellete = short novel] As swift as thought As the accumulation of snowflakes makes the avalanche As the bubble is extinguished in the ocean As the dew upon the roses warms and melts the morning light As the fair cedar, fallen before the breeze, lies self-embalmed amidst the moldering trees As the light straw flies in dark'ning whirlwinds As the lightning cleaves the night As the loud blast that tears the skies As the slow shadows of the pointed grass mark the eternal periods As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again As unapproachable as a star As weird as the elfin lights As well try to photograph the other side of the moon At extreme tension, like a drawn bow Away he rushed like a cyclone Awkward as a cart-horse |
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Book Lover > Vocabulary Builder > Useful Words and Phrases
A Dictionary of Useful Phrases - A
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Here is a collection of excellent phrases and word combinations starting with the letter A that you can use to add spice to your writings and speech. |
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See also these useful collections of phrases, similes and word groups:
- Prepositional Phrases - Sets of paired adjectives that together add up to more than the sum of their parts.
- Significant Phrases - aired nouns, adjectives and adverbs, which together create an impactful and vivid image of the thought you want to convey.
- Public Speaking Sample Phrases - huge collection of examples and phrases are designed to make your oral presentations and debates more impactful and clear.
- Business Phrases - These phrases will help you say what you mean with emphasis and let you stand out from the usual corporate memo and report.
- Conversational Phrases - parts of sentences that you can use as building blocks for larger conversations.
- Striking Similes - similes and figures of speech that you can use to make your writing more emphatic and vivid.
- Literary Expressions - a vast collection of literary phrases, allusions and similes that you can use to spice up your writing and make it more impactful and noteworthy.
- Impressive Phrases - These phrases and groups of related adjectives are meant to make an impact on the reader or listener.
- Felicitous Phrases - Groupings of three words that fit perfectly together and use repetition to create emphasis and striking imagery.
