Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922.

Class V. Words Releasing to the Voluntary Powers
Division (I) Individual Volition
Section II. Prospective Volition
2. Degree of Subservience

642. Importance.

   NOUN:IMPORTANCE, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness, materiality.
  greatness [See Greatness]; superiority [See Superiority]; notability (repute) [See Repute]; weight (influence) [See Influence]; value (goodness) [See Goodness]; usefulness [See Utility].
  IMPORT, significance, concern; emphasis, interest.
  GRAVITY, seriousness, solemnity; no joke, no laughing matter; pressure, urgency, stress; matter of life and death.
  MEMORABILIA, notabilia, great doings; red-letter day.
  SALIENT POINT, outstanding feature; great -thing, – point; main chance, “the be-all and the end-all” [Macbeth]; cardinal point; substance, gist (essence) [See Intrinsicality]; sum and substance, gravamen, head and front; important -, principal -, prominent -, essential- part; half the battle; sine quâ non [L.]; breath of one’s nostrils (life) [See Life]; cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus; key, keynote; keystone; corner stone; trump card (device) [See Plan].
  CHIEF, top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna, triton among the minnows; “it” [U. S.]; the only pebble on the beach [U. S.]; burra (or bara) sahib [India]; bigwig [See Nobility].
   VERB:BE IMPORTANT &c. adj.; be somebody, be something; import, signify, matter, be an object; carry weight (influence) [See Influence]; make a figure (repute) [See Repute]; be in the ascendant, come to the front, lead the way, take the lead, play first fiddle, throw all else into the shade; lie at the root of; deserve -, merit -, be worthy of- -notice, – regard, – consideration.
  VALUE; attach -, ascribe -, give- importance &c. n.– to; care for; set store -upon, – by; mark [See Indication]; mark with a white stone, underline; write -, put -, print- in -italics, – capitals, – large letters, – large type, – bold-faced type, – letters of gold; accentuate, emphasize, lay stress on.
  MAKE MUCH OF; make -a fuss, – a stir, – a piece of work, – much ado- about.
   ADJECTIVE:IMPORTANT; of importance &c. n.; momentous, material; to the point; not to be -overlooked, – despised, – sneezed at [colloq.]; egregious; weighty (influential) [See Influence]; of note (repute) [See Repute]; notable, prominent, salient, signal; memorable, remarkable; worthy of -remark, – notice; never to be forgotten; stirring, eventful.
  in the front rank, first-rate, A1 or A number 1 [colloq.], first chop [Anglo-Ind. & colloq.]; superior [See Superiority]; considerable (great) [See Greatness]; marked &c. v.; rare [See Infrequency].
  GRAVE, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing.
  URGENT, pressing, critical, instant.
  PARAMOUNT, essential, vital, all-absorbing, radical, cardinal, chief, main, prime, primary, principal, leading, capital, foremost, overruling; of vital &c. importance.
  SIGNIFICANT, telling, trenchant, emphatic, pregnant; tanti [L.].
   ADVERB:IN THE MAIN; materially &c. adj.; above all, in the first place, before everything else; kat’ exochen [Greek], par excellence [F.], to crown all.
   QUOTATIONS:

1. Expende Hannibalem!—Juvenal
2. Delenda est Carthago!—Cato
3. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye.—Bible
4. We talked about all those great things for which literature is too small and only life large enough.—Chesterton