Synonyms

Synonyms are words with the same or nearly the same meaning: big and large, begin and start. They are rarely exactly the same, so choose the one that fits best, and use them to avoid repeating a word.

Key facts

  • Synonyms mean nearly the same: happy, glad, cheerful; begin and start.
  • Synonyms are rarely exactly the same: enormous is bigger than big, and furious is angrier than cross. Pick the one that fits best.
  • Use synonyms to avoid repeating a word, and to choose the word that fits best: said could be whispered, shouted or asked.

Worked examples

Example 1

Which word means the same as quick: slow, fast or quiet?

  1. a quick runner means a fast runner: the meaning stays the same.
  2. slow is the opposite (an antonym), and quiet is about sound.

Answer: fast

Example 2

Find a word that means the same as little: tall, small, long.

  1. Try each word in its place: a little dog, a small dog.
  2. small keeps the same meaning.

Answer: small

Example 3

Which word means the same as glad: happy, sad or cross?

  1. I am glad to see you. I am happy to see you. means the same.
  2. So glad and happy are synonyms.

Answer: happy

Example 4

Which word is the strongest: cold, freezing or cool?

  1. Put them in order from least to most: cool, cold, freezing.
  2. freezing is the coldest, so it is the strongest.

Answer: freezing

Example 5

Put in order from least to most: huge, big, enormous.

  1. All three are synonyms, but they are not equally strong.
  2. big is ordinary, huge is very big and enormous is the strongest.

Answer: big, huge, enormous

Example 6

Replace said with a better synonym: "Help!" said Leo.

  1. Look at the context: Help! is a frightened shout.
  2. A synonym for said that shows this is screamed or yelled.

Answer: "Help!" screamed Leo.

Example 7

Choose the best synonym for walked to show that someone was sad: marched, trudged or skipped.

  1. marched sounds proud and skipped sounds happy.
  2. trudged means walked slowly and heavily: it shows the person was sad or tired.

Answer: trudged

Example 8

Give a synonym and an antonym for generous.

  1. A synonym means the same: someone generous is giving.
  2. An antonym means the opposite: selfish.

Answer: synonym: kind or giving; antonym: mean or selfish

Example 9

Are wet and dry synonyms or antonyms?

  1. Something wet has water on it; something dry has none.
  2. They mean opposite things, so they are antonyms.

Answer: Antonyms