English Vocabulary

Synonyms

Synonyms are words of the same grammatical class (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) that have similar meaning. No word means exactly the same as any other word and, therefore, there are no exact synonyms in English.

Certain words may convey the same general notion, e.g. slay, kill, murder, execute and slaughter. Though they are used in different senses and in different contexts, they may be treated as synonyms. Read the examples given below.

• He was slain on the battlefield.
• He was killed in action.
• The robbers killed him and looted his property.
• He was murdered in cold blood.
• The criminal was executed.
• The sheep were all slaughtered.

A list of synonyms is given below. No such list, of course, can be comprehensive. Students may refer to Rogert’s Thesaurus for a further list of synonyms.

abbreviate – abridge, shorten
abstain – refrain
absurd – ridiculous
accomplish – achieve, perform
adversity – calamity, misfortune
adversary – opponent, enemy
alteration – change
amusement – diversion, recreation
anger – ire, wrath, rage
ascend – rise, soar, climb
authentic – genuine
autocrat – despot, tyrant
avaricious – greedy
aversion – dislike, antipathy
bias – prejudice
blend – mix, mingle
bondage – slavery
brave – courageous, bold
brief – concise, short
brisk – vigorous
cause – reason
check – restrain, stop, curb
command – order
compel – coerce, force
competition – rivalry
comprehend – understand, grasp
confer – grant
confess – admit
confuse – confound, perplex
conscious – aware
contemplate – meditate
contrary – opposite
couple – pair, brace
courteous – polite, civil
degeneration – deterioration
deplorable – regrettable, lamentable
despise – scorn, disdain
deny – refuse
dexterous – clever, skilful
dismal –gloomy
divide – part, separate
dizzy – giddy, dazed, unsteady
eccentric – peculiar, odd
efficient – able, competent
emphasise – stress
endure – suffer, tolerate
energy – force, vigour
enormous – huge, immense
error – mistake, blunder
eternal – timeless, perpetual
famous – celebrated, renowned
feeble – weak, infirm
felicity – happiness, bliss
ferocious – fierce, savage
flashy – showy, gaudy
foolish – silly, stupid
frailty – weakness, failing, foible
frank – candid, open

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