Web 2.0 → Homepage → decided

decided

Decided De*cid"ed, a. 1. Free from ambiguity; unequivocal; unmistakable; unquestionable; clear; evident; as, a decided advantage. ``A more decided taste for science. --Prescott. [1913 Webster]

2. Free from doubt or wavering; determined; of fixed purpose; fully settled; positive; resolute; as, a decided opinion or purpose.

Syn: Decided, Decisive.

Usage: We call a thing decisive when it has the power or quality of deciding; as, a decisive battle; we speak of it as decided when it is so fully settled as to leave no room for doubt; as, a decided preference, a decided aversion. Hence, a decided victory is one about which there is no question; a decisive victory is one which ends the contest. Decisive is applied only to things; as, a decisive sentence, a decisive decree, a decisive judgment. Decided is applied equally to persons and things. Thus we speak of a man as decided in his whole of conduct; and as having a decided disgust, or a decided reluctance, to certain measures. ``A politic caution, a guarded circumspection, were among the ruling principles of our forefathers in their most decided conduct. --Burke. ``The sentences of superior judges are final, decisive, and irrevocable. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]