deliberate

deliberate adj

1 willful, intentional, *voluntary, willing

Analogous words: purposed, intended (see INTEND): conscious, cognizant, *aware: mortal, *deadly

Antonyms: impulsive

Contrasted words: inadvertent, *careless, heedless, thoughtless

2 Deliberate, considered, advised, premeditated, designed, studied are comparable when applied to a person's acts, words, or accomplishments with the meaning thought out in advance.

Deliberate implies full awareness of the nature of what one says or does and often a careful and unhurried calculation of the intended effect or of the probable consequences

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a deliberate lie

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a deliberate snub

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Poe's consummate and deliberate technique— Lowes

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the deliberate insertion into a lyrical context of pieces of slang and "prosaic" words—Day Lewis

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the tone of most comment, whether casual or deliberate, implies that ineptitude and inadequacy are the chief characteristics of government— Frankfurter

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Considered, unlike deliberate, which it closely resembles in meaning, is seldom applied to questionable acts or practices; it suggests careful study from all angles rather than calculation and often, therefore, connotes soundness or maturity of judgment

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there was no time for a considered reply

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the committee had before it many half-baked and a few considered proposals

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it [the press] is against Democrats, so far as I can see, not after a sober and considered review of the alternatives, but automatically, as dogs are against cats— A. E. Stevenson

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he saw no reason to parade his considered and decided loyalty— Wylie

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Advised mostly is used with deprecatory or intensifying adverbial modifiers and denotes so well thought out and considered that possible criticisms and objections have been reviewed and answers to them prepared

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she felt well advised to visit him before deciding to be his wife— Forster

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the public is well- advised to leave methodological decisions to members of the medical profession— Woodring

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Its related adverb advisedly is often used to carry the implications of considered (which has no adverb)

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he told them he used the offending word advisedly

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everything in this difficult situation has been done advisedly

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I often say that one must permit oneself, and that quite advisedly and deliberately, a certain margin of misstatement— Cardozo

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Premeditated emphasizes forethought and planning but often falls far short of deliberate in implying careful calculation and awareness of consequences

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certain self- conscious preciosities in his premeditated style— Powys

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It is applied especially to things (as crimes or insults) which are morally or socially unacceptable and for which only overwhelming impulse or overmastering passion (as of fear or rage) could reasonably be offered as extenuating circumstances; in such relation, then, premeditated implies wrongdoing unmitigated by circumstances

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a premeditated murder

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plain that Thady's presence on the scene at the moment was accidental and that the attack could not have been premeditated— Trollope

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Designed and its adverb designedly are often applied to what has the appearance of being accidental, spontaneous, or natural but which is actually the result of intention

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the designed failure of a project

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useless to seek to know whether he has been for years overlooked, or always designedly held prisoner— Dickens

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Studied is applied chiefly to effects gained or qualities achieved as a result of painstaking effort or careful attention to detail; it connotes absence of spontaneity

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a rather studied performance of a Beethoven symphony

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the studied dignity and anxious courtesy of the actor-manager— Shaw

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It is also applied to offensive acts committed with cool deliberation and with attention to their probable effect

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treat the opposition with studied discourtesy

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Analogous words: planned, schemed, projected (see corresponding verbs under PLAN n): calculated (see CALCULATE): *careful, meticulous, scrupulous

Antonyms: casual

Contrasted words: haphazard, *random, hit-or-miss, desultory, happy-go-lucky, chance, chancy

3 leisurely, *slow, dilatory, laggard

Analogous words: *cautious, circumspect, wary, chary, calculating: *cool, collected, composed, imperturbable

Antonyms: precipitate, abrupt

Contrasted words: impetuous, headlong, sudden, hasty (see PRECIPITATE)

deliberate vb reflect, cogitate, *think, reason, speculate

Analogous words: *ponder, meditate, ruminate, muse