A rule or principle that provides guidance to appropriate behavior.
synonyms: guideline, guidepost.
Roget 699:
unskillfulness
etc.
adj.;
want of skill
etc.
698;
incompetence,
incompentency†;
inability,
infelicity,
indexterity†,
inexperience;
disqualification,
unproficiency†;
quackery.
folly,
stupidity
etc.
499;
indiscretion
etc.
(rashness)
863;
thoughtlessness
etc.
(inattention)
458
(neglect)
460;
sabotage.
mismanagement,
misconduct;
impolicy†;
maladministration;
misrule,
misgovernment,
misapplication,
misdirection,
misfeasance;
petticoat government.
absence of rule,
rule of thumb;
bungling
etc.
v.;
failure
etc.
732;
screw loose: too many cooks.
blunder
etc.
(mistake)
495;
etourderie gaucherie [Fr.],
act of folly,
balourdise†;
botch,
botchery†;
bad job,
sad work.
sprat sent out to catch a whale,
much ado about nothing,
wild-goose chase.
bungler
etc.
701;
fool
etc.
501.
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Roget 463:
experiment;
essay
etc.
(attempt)
675;
analysis
etc.
(investigation)
461;
screen;
trial,
tentative method,
t=atonnement.
verification,
probation,
experimentum crucis [Lat.],
proof,
(demonstration)
478;
criterion,
diagnostic,
test,
probe,
crucial test,
acid test,
litmus test.
crucible,
reagent,
check,
touchstone,
pix†;
assay,
ordeal;
ring;
litmus paper,
curcuma paper†,
turmeric paper;
test tube;
analytical instruments
etc.
633.
empiricism,
rule of thumb.
feeler;
trial balloon,
pilot balloon,
messenger balloon;
pilot engine;
scout;
straw to show the wind.
speculation,
random shot,
leap in the dark.
analyzer,
analyst,
assayist†;
adventurer;
experimenter,
experimentist†,
experimentalist;
scientist,
engineer,
technician.
subject,
experimentee†,
guinea pig,
experimental animal.
[experimental method]
protocol,
experimental method,
blind experiment,
double-blind experiment,
controlled experiment.
poll,
survey,
opinion poll.
epidemiological survey [Med.],
retrospective analysis,
retrospective survey,
prospective survey,
prospective analysis;
statistical analysis.
literature search,
library research.
tryout,
audition.
[results of experiment]
discovery
etc.
480;
measurement
etc.
466;
evidence
etc.
467.
[reasoning about an experiment]
deduction,
induction,
abduction.
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Roget 477:
intuition,
instinct,
association,
hunch,
gut feeling;
presentiment,
premonition;
rule of thumb;
superstition;
astrology†;
faith
(supposition)
514.
sophistry,
paralogy†,
perversion,
casuistry,
jesuitry,
equivocation,
evasion;
chicane,
chicanery;
quiddet†,
quiddity;
mystification;
special pleading;
speciousness
etc.
adj.;
nonsense
etc.
497;
word sense,
tongue sense.
false reasoning,
vicious reasoning,
circular reasoning;
petitio principii [Lat.],
ignoratio elenchi [Lat.];
post hoc ergo propter hoc [Lat.];
non sequitur,
ignotum per ignotius [Lat.].
misjudgment
etc.
481;
false teaching
etc.
538.
sophism,
solecism,
paralogism†;
quibble,
quirk,
elenchus†,
elench†,
fallacy,
quodlibet,
subterfuge,
subtlety,
quillet†;
inconsistency,
antilogy†;
a delusion, a mockery, and a snare"
[Denman];
claptrap,
cant,
mere words;
lame and impotent conclusion"
[Othello].
meshes of sophistry,
cobwebs of sophistry;
flaw in an argument;
weak point,
bad case.
overrefinement†;
hairsplitting
etc.
v..
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Dutch: vuistregel
Polish: wytyczna