Synonyms and Antonyms

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DEVELOPMENTAL READING 1College of Education

Synonym: A word used when you can’t spell the word you want.

• Chicago Daily Tribune

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ynonyms are different words or phrases in the same language that have a similar meaning. For example, the words “bigger” and “larger” are synonyms. In comparing rocks and pebbles, either one could be used in the sentence.

Rocks are bigger than pebbles.Rocks are larger than pebbles.

Both sentences have the same meaning because the words “big” and “large” are synonyms. (“Bigger” and “larger” are the comparative forms of “big” and “large”.)

ntonyms are words that have opposite meanings. For example, “happy” and “sad” are antonyms. Read the following examples:

I am happy because the visitors have left.

I am sad because the visitors have left.

SYNONYMS and ANTONYMS

Lesson Three

SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS


When the word “happy” in the first sentence is replaced by the word “sad” in the second sentence, the meaning of the statement changes. This is because the meaning of the word “sad” is “not happy”. In the second sentence, it is as if you said, “I am not happy because the visitors have left”. This is the exact opposite of what you said in the first sentence.

Here is a list of some words and their antonyms and synonyms:

Word Synonyms Antonyms

abbreviate shorten, compress,

condense, cut back

lengthen, extend,

enlarge

abdicate abandon, give up,

leave, quit

appropriate, retain,

usurp

agrarian agricultural, rural,

natural

industrial, urban,

developed

allay alleviate, calm, ease excite, intensify,

provoke

anguish agony, grief, worry,

mourn

happiness, comfort,

carefree

antique old, rustic, obsolete new, modern, recent

apathetic emotionless,

impassive, indifferent

enthusiastic, caring,

concerned

archaic old, antique, obsolete new, young, modern

arrogate confiscate,

commandeer, seize

give, present, hand

over

assiduous active, busy,

industrious

lazy, slothful, neglectful

baleful deadly, malevolent,

foreboding

friendly, favourable,

helpful

baroque elaborate, flamboyant, dull, plain,



extravagant unsophisticated


begrudge jealous, covet, envy congratulate, content

blacklist ban, exclude, expel welcome, accept,

permit

bombastic flowery, grandiose,

ostentatious

humble, plain, normal

bourgeois common, traditional,

normal

adventurous,

ambitious, imaginative

brawny athletic, healthy, husky anaemic, scrawny, frail

browbeat nag, harass, intimidate boost, praise,

compliment

burnish polish, shine, buff dull, scuff, tarnish

buttress brace, prop, reinforce weaken, destabilize

cacophonous noisy, raucous, loud quiet, calm, peaceful

camaraderie friendship, brotherly,

companionship

dislike, hostility, hateful

chagrin annoy, disgrace,

displease

delight, please, enjoy

chasten punish, berate,

discipline

reward, assist,

encourage

circumlocution euphemism,

indirectness, wordiness

directness,

conciseness,

straightforwardness

clandestine secret, covert, illicit open, forthright,

publicly

climactic critical, paramount,

peak

dull, boring,

uninteresting




coagulate congeal, thicken,

solidify

dilute, melt, thin

covetous envious, greedy,

jealous

sharing, generous,

giving

cursory quick, abbreviated,

haphazard

thorough, meticulous,

painstaking

dauntless bold, valiant, brave cowardly, intimidated,

fearful

dearth absence, inadequacy,

scarcity

plenty, abundance,

excess

debauched degraded, immortal,

perverted

pure, mortal, virtuous

derogatory offensive, demeaning,

sarcastic

encouraging, praising,

flattering

domineering bossy, arrogant,

egotistic

submissive,

subservient, humble

earmark designate, allocate, tag any, all

ebullient outgoing, elated,

vivacious

apathetic, impassive,

disinterested

effervescent bubbly, fizzy, foamy flat, stale, watery

embellish decorate, adorn,

festoon

deface, mar, strip

ensconce hide, conceal, cache reveal, uncover, unveil

fabled legendary, mythical,

famed

obscure, unknown

facetious comical, teasing, ironic formal, serious, sombre




fetid loathsome, putrid,

decayed

fresh, clean, sweet

finicky picky, choosy, fussy easy-going, open-

minded, laid-back

flirtatious amorous, enticing, flirty shy, modest

gargantuan huge, massive, large small, tiny, miniscule

genesis start, beginning, initial end, finish, terminate

goad force, harass, provoke deter, discourage,

dissuade

gregarious friendly, affable,

sociable

introverted, unfriendly,

unsociable

gumption shrewdness,

sagaciousness, wit

ignorant, unable,

unwilling

habitual accustomed,

methodical, recurrent

unpractised, infrequent,

occasional

hallucination apparition, vision,

mirage

reality, fact, truth

heckle jeer, ridicule, disrupt encourage, praise,

applaud

homogenous uniform, alike, akin different, mixed, varied

hypothetical postulated, debatable,

supposed

sure, positive, proven

ignoble degenerate, corrupt,

wicked

noble, honourable,

respectable

illusory ostensible, imaginary,

misleading

true, real, actual




immutable fixed, permanent,

constant

variable, flexible

inchoate formless, embryonic,

immature

mature, developed,

formed

iridescent shimmering, lustrous,

prismatic

dull, flat, drab

jaundiced prejudiced, biased,

intolerant

tolerant, impartial,

neutral

jocular cheerful, amusing,

wacky

serious, grave, sombre

jovial sociable, affable,

cheerful

sad, unhappy, gloomy

judicious shrewd, astute, rational idiotic, foolish, reckless

jumble mix, shuffle, dishevel align, straighten,

organize

keen enthusiastic, earnest,

zealous

reluctant, apathetic,

uninterested

kindred homogenous, similar,

akin

different, unlike,

unaffiliated

kinky perverted, bizarre,

unusual

normal, ordinary,

conventional

knack ability, aptitude,

propensity

inability, ineptitude

kudos praise, applause, credit blame, criticism

laborious tiresome,

backbreaking, arduous

easy, simple, effortless


lackadaisical lazy, passive, half- enthusiastic, interested,



hearted ambitious

lecherous licentious, salacious,

corrupt

clean, prudish, chaste

lethargic lazy, languid, sleepy animated, lively,

energetic

loquacious talkative, chatty,

garrulous

quiet, reserved,

concise

macabre eerie, ghoulish, scary appealing, safe, normal

malicious mean, spiteful, hateful friendly, kind,

benevolent

meretricious superficial, insincere,

spurious

actual, truthful,

unembellished

modish stylish, trendy, chic old-fashioned,

unstylish, out dated

munificent magnanimous,

philanthropic,

charitable

stingy, miserly, greedy

nauseate sicken, repulse, offend please, appeal, delight

negligent neglectful, careless,

unthinking

diligent, thorough,

attentive

nihilism disbelief, scepticism,

denial

faith, belief, devotion

nominal trivial, unimportant,

token

expensive, significant,

important


nuisance bother, irritant,

annoyance

pleasure, delight,

happiness



obeisance deference, respect,

loyalty

irreverence, disrespect,

treachery

occlude congest, obstruct, clog clear, unplug, unclog

officious pushy, interfering,

overzealous

timid, modest,

unobtrusive

ogre troll, fiend, monster angel, fairy

ominous awesome, apocalyptic,

menacing

promising, favourable,

optimistic

painstaking meticulous, thorough,

finicky

negligent, haphazard,

careless

palatable savoury, appetizing,

delectable

unsavoury, distasteful

parsimonious greedy, miserly, selfish magnanimous,

generous, lavish

pauper beggar, bum, indigent tycoon, millionaire,

magnate

perspicacious shrewd, astute, clever dense, ignorant,

unknowing

qualm objection, anxiety,

misgiving

agreement,

concurrence, approval

quibble squabble, dispute,

hassle

agree, concur, approve

quick-witted smart, alert, perceptive stupid, inane,

uneducated


radiant shining, beautiful,

charming

sad, gloomy,

pessimistic

ramshackle dilapidated, run-down, new, sturdy, strong



decrepit

recalcitrant wayward, disobedient,

undisciplined

well-behaved,

obedient, passive

rhetorical pompous,

grandiloquent,

pretentious

humble, concise,

straightforward

ruminate think, consider,

contemplate

ignore, disregard

sadistic perverse, vicious,

barbarous

kind, benevolent,

merciful

salubrious wholesome, beneficial,

healthy

detrimental, harmful,

unhealthy

satiate satisfy, fulfil, slake deprive, starve,

withhold

scintillating animated, enthusiastic,

ebullient

dull, boring, obtuse

scurrilous vulgar, indecent,

obscene

decent, proper, refined

tabulate order, organize,

categorize

jumble, mix, shuffle

tedious laborious, monotonous,

wearisome

fun, varied, entertaining

tempestuous windy, blustery, violent calm, balmy, moderate


transcendent fantastic, awesome,

primordial

dull, mundane,

commonplace

tumultuous stormy, raucous,

boisterous

calm, peaceful,

harmonious



ubiquitous universal, omnipresent,

widespread

scarce, unusual, rare

ulterior secret, convert,

obscure

open, known, obvious

unanimous homogenous,

concurrent, unified

divided, schismatic,

split

uncouth misbehaved, ill-

mannered, unhygienic

polite, cultured,

sophisticated

unequivocal obvious, apparent,

blatant

obscured, vague,

undefined

vacillate straddle, fluctuate,

alternate

decided, resolute,

determined

vanquish defeat, overcome, win lose, capitulate, forfeit

vehement forceful, ardent,

zealous

apathetic, uncaring,

lukewarm

verbatim exactly, accurately,

literally

distorted, garbled,

confusing

veto refuse, disagree, refuse agree, concur, approve

wane dwindle, decline,

slacken

increase, grow, expand

wanton wasteful, careless,

frivolous

frugal, spendthrift,

miserly


warrant justify, sanction,

authorize

undetermined, refute,

refuse

wayward prodigal, misbehaved,

irresponsible

dependable,

responsible, respectful

wheedle entice, persuade, coerce, force, compel



seduce

yank pull, snatch, jerk push, shove

yearn desire, hanker, lust dislike, hate

yen urge, yearning, desire dislike, hatred,

revulsion

yoke fasten, connect, link separate, divorce,

unhitch

zany crazy, wacky, silly serious, somber,

sedate

zealous enthusiastic, ebullient,

ardent

indifferent, lethargic,

unconcerned

zenith peak, pinnacle, top valley, bottom

zest desire, ambition,

enthusiasm

apathy, lethargy,

indifference

zoom speed, streak, dash slow, crawl, ooze


The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms that are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

?Did you know that…


ACTIVITY 1

Look for the pairs of synonyms in the puzzle. Write them on the blanks provided.

Example:1. CLEAR – __SURE__

Start here:1. ________________________ - ________________________ 2. ________________________ - ________________________3. ________________________ - ________________________4. ________________________ - ________________________5. ________________________ - ________________________6. ________________________ - ________________________7. ________________________ - ________________________8. ________________________ - ________________________9. ________________________ - ________________________10.________________________ - ________________________

O L D A J H B K S M A R T C G L D B IM A E K O F P J P G L E M P T Y O E HR T I M S J A N T K R A U L Q V M F PX E O T K Y S P S Z Q H C A W R B O XS V C M I X S G O R G E O U S U D R EV F Z W N G I U X A H A N Y B T Y E ZD G L A D C V A J E B D S K F A C L GD K A M E J E N I F H H I M G R O N HR P Z T P L K Q O L A S D U M D S Q NO A Y J U M B L E W P R E T T Y T P CA Q T Y R U P S V R P T R W V U X B VR J Y X O A Y R B Z Y P A Q B L A N KW K F S H A R P B X A C T Z E D C F EA N F D M G H L A N C I E N T H D I G


Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!Let’s Practice!

R A R E SI B L O UC L E A RP O O R E


ACTIVITY 2

Encircle the word which does not belong to the group.

Example:1. evil decent poor bad bush

Start here:1. recent antique obsolete rustic old

2. malicious mean spiteful hateful kind

3. zoom crawl streak speed dash

4. bright clever smart simple intelligent

5. earthborn hominid immortal natural man

6. agree differ coincide concur admit

7. clemency mercy

forbearanc

e coldheartedness charity

8. indigent affluent flush rich opulent

9. courage prowess virtue valor cowardice

10. faith piety devotion atheism religion

ACTIVITY 3

Underline the word that would best collocates with the given term.

Example:1. tight / capable/ secure - knot

Start here:1. profound/ bottomless/ subterranean - ideas

2. ubiquitous/ everywhere/ far and wide - coconut trees

3. herculean/ giant/ mammoth - task

4. automated/ robotic/ independent - counting machine



5. silly/ immature/ unripe - answer

6. memorized/ brained/ mindful - speech

7. sweet / sugary/ saccharine - memory

8. wet/ sodden/ soggy - paint

9. indelible/ ineffaceable/ unforgettable - ink

10. religious/ pious/ secular - sector

ACTIVITY 4

Look for at least three (3) synonyms and two (2) antonyms of the following words in a thesaurus. Write your answers on the box.

Example:

Start here:patient lean swim calm

proud suspicious modest dull

forward great gigantic extraordinary


radiant

synonyms: beautiful, shining, charmingantonyms: sad, pessimistic


ACTIVITY 5

Identify the given pair of words whether synonyms or antonyms. Write S if they are synonyms and A for antonyms. Write your answer on the blank provided.

Example:____A___ 1. huge – midget

Start here:

________ 1. up – down

________ 2. small – little

________ 3. yes – no

________ 4. minute – tiny

________ 5. in – out

________ 6. soft – downy

________ 7. hot – cold

________ 8. wet – moist

________ 9. comport – differ

________ 10. weak – wimpy

ACTIVITY 6

A. Underline the words which are synonyms in the following sentences.

Example:1. Victor has enormous plaque of commendations while Alex has

cosmic trophies.

Start here:1. Tom commented that Sally was very pretty and Mike agreed that

Sally was very attractive.

2. Although the man was destitute, he was not poor in spirit.

3. Mary claimed she was happy because she felt so content.4. Lethargic generally means a person is very tired and extremely

sleepy.



5. George’s financial problems were great obstacles and impediments to paying his monthly bills. B. Underline the words which are antonyms in the following

sentences.

Example:1. Emma found a giant Sinraptor’s bone at the backyard of their home

and Chris also found a miniature bone of an Ingenia.

Start here:1. When you are loud, I will ask you to be quiet.2. You are kind even when he is mean to you.3. The sun is high at noon and low at sunset.4. Messy kids need to work on being tidy.5. Stop at a red light and go when it is green.

ACTIVITY 7

Write the antonym/s of the word/s inside the box and create a sentence either of the two words.

Example:1. old – young

__I want to grow old with you. __

Start here:

brother inside heedless gloomy honest

over sassy near timid noisy

1. – _____________________________________________________

2. –_____________________________________________________


old fat


3. –_____________________________________________________

4. –_____________________________________________________

5. –_____________________________________________________

6. –_____________________________________________________

7. –_____________________________________________________

8. –_____________________________________________________

9. –_____________________________________________________

10. –_____________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 8

Give the synonyms and antonyms of the underlined words found on the poem. Write them on the table below.

Example:Don’t tell me to grow upOr worst still act my age

Word Synonym Antonym1. grow expand decrease

Start here:BEGGAR CHILDRENby Emmanuel Torres

Wherever they go, skies looking for themRemain ghosts of killer kites

Even their clothes have the rip holes of kitesCaught raving among high electric branches.



Playgrounds they wander in are condemnedBy the fat book of proverbs: games have abandoned them.

They trail the tracks of sparrows’ slingshotWould stone down, live, into their dreamless hands.

Shreds of nests, wind struck, straw their hair.When they speak, plucking the high sleeves of the strangers

Beyond reach of sweat crowding their brows,It is all a hopscotch make-do language.

Reaped from wall of liberal graffiti(Colorum profiles, amulet signals, pistols

Pointed at hunger shaped like purse of hairy mouth)Patrolled by the shadow of a carnal cop.

Their eyes, alert, are blacker than a shadowThey spill about them and loose in crowded noons.

Catch-as-catch-can is what their fingers learnFrom hoops of skinny thorns: thus they survive.

If between the billboard siren and the rainy highwayTheir eyes fall on pebbles, their wishes are not

For marbles gleaming with rainbow swirls heavenBut for hubcaps to take to as far as the next possible town.

Word Synonym Antonym

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