body, brawn, brute force, material substance, matter.
circumstantial, diminutive, little, slender, comminuted, exact, particular, small, critical, fine, precise, tiny. detailed,
That is _minute_ which is of exceedingly limited dimensions, as a grain of dust, or which attends to matters of exceedingly slight amount or apparent importance; as, a _minute_ account; _minute_ observation. That which is broken up into _minute_ particles is said to be _comminuted_; things may be termed _fine_ which would not be termed _comminuted_; as, _fine_ sand; _fine_ gravel; but, in using the adverb, we say a substance is finely _comminuted_, _comminuted_ referring more to the process, _fine_ to the result. An account extended to very _minute_ particulars is _circumstantial_, _detailed_, _particular_; an examination so extended is _critical_, _exact_, _precise_. Compare FINE.
adversity, disappointment, ill fortune, ruin, affliction, disaster, ill luck, sorrow, bereavement, distress, misadventure, stroke, blow, failure, mischance, trial, calamity, hardship, misery, tribulation, chastening, harm, mishap, trouble, chastisement, ill, reverse, visitation.
_Misfortune_ is adverse fortune or any instance thereof, any untoward event, usually of lingering character or consequences, and such as the sufferer is not deemed directly responsible for; as, he had the _misfortune_ to be born blind. Any considerable _disappointment_, _failure_, or _misfortune_, as regards outward circumstances, as loss of fortune, position, and the like, when long continued or attended with enduring consequences, constitutes _adversity_. For the loss of friends by death we commonly use _affliction_ or _bereavement_. _Calamity_ and _disaster_ are used of sudden and severe _misfortunes_, often overwhelming; _ill fortune_ and _ill luck_, of lighter troubles and failures. We speak of the _misery_ of the poor, the _hardships_ of the soldier. _Affliction_, _chastening_, _trial_, and _tribulation_ have all an especially religious bearing, suggesting some disciplinary purpose of God with beneficent design. _Affliction_ may be keen and bitter, but brief; _tribulation_ is long and wearing. We speak of an _affliction_, but rarely of a _tribulation_, since _tribulation_ is viewed as a continuous process, which may endure for years or for a lifetime; but we speak of our daily _trials_. Compare CATASTROPHE.