#857. [Object and cause of ridicule.] Laughingstock. —­ N.
laughingstock, jestingstock[obs3], gazingstock[obs3]; butt, game, fair game; April fool &c. (dupe) 547[obs3].
     original, oddity; queer fish, odd fish; quiz, square toes; old monkey,
old fogey, fogey monkey, fogy monkey; buffoon &c. (jester) 844; pantomimist &c. (actor) 599.
     schlemiel.
     jest &c. (wit) 842. 
     Phr. dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt[Lat].

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                         3.  PROSPECTIVE AFFECTIONS
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     #858.  Hope. —­ N. hope, hopes; desire &c. 865; fervent hope, sanguine
expectation, trust, confidence, reliance; faith &c. (belief) 484; affiance, assurance; secureness, security; reassurance.
     good omen, good auspices; promise, well grounded hopes; good prospect,
bright prospect; clear sky.
     assumption, presumption; anticipation &c. (expectation) 507.
     hopefulness, buoyancy, optimism, enthusiasm, heart of grace,
aspiration.
     [person who is hopeful] optimist, utopian, utopist[obs3].

     castles in the air, castles in Spain, chateaux en Espagne[Fr], le pot
aut lait[Fr], Utopia, millennium; day dream, golden dream; dream of Alnaschar[obs3]; airy hopes, fool’s paradise; mirage &c. (fallacies of vision) 443; fond hope.
     beam of hope, ray of hope, gleam of hope, glimmer of hope, flash of
hope, dawn of hope, star of hope; cheer; bit of blue sky, silver lining, silver lining of the cloud, bottom of Pandora’s box, balm in Gilead; light at the end of the tunnel.
     anchor, sheet anchor, mainstay; staff &c. (support) 215; heaven &c.
981. 
     V. hope, trust, confide, rely on, put one’s trust in; lean upon; pin
one’s hope upon, pin one’s faith upon &c. (believe) 484.
     feel hope, entertain hope, harbor hope, indulge hope, cherish hope,
feed hope, foster hope, nourish hope, encourage hope, cling to hope, live in hope, &c. n.; see land; feel assured, rest assured, feel confident, rest confident &c. adj.
     presume; promise oneself; expect &c. (look forward to) 507.
     hope for &c. (desire) 865; anticipate.
     be hopeful &c. adj.; look on the bright side of, view on the sunny
side, voir en couleur de rose[Fr], make the best of it, hope for the best; put a good face upon, put a bold face upon, put the best face upon; keep one’s spirits up; take heart, take heart of grace; be of good heart, be of good cheer; flatter oneself, “lay the flattering unction to one’s soul”
     catch at a straw[hamlet], hope against hope, reckon one’s chickens
before they are hatched, count one’s chickens before they are hatched.
     [cause hope] give hope, inspire hope, raise hope, hold out hope &c.
n.; promise, bid fair, augur well, be in a fair way, look up, flatter, tell a flattering tale; raise expectations[sentient subject]; encourage, cheer, assure, reassure, buoy up, embolden.