De*cid"ed (?), a.

1.

Free from ambiguity; unequivocal; unmistakable; unquestionable; clear; evident; as, a decided advantage.

"A more decided taste for science."

Prescott.

2.

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

Syn. -- Decided, Decisive. 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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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