English

What are Synonyms? Examples of Synonyms

len Alfred Ajibola - Sat, 20th April, 2019 @ 12:29 PM

Topics in English

Phrase: Types of Phrase Clause explained with its types Essay: How to write the major types of essay Nouns and Adjectives: Examples of nouns formed from adjectives Meaning and Examples of Homonyms Idioms and Examples of Idioms What are Synonyms? Examples of Synonyms Figures of Speech: Meaning, examples and types of figure of speech Relative pronouns and compound relative pronouns explained with examples Transitive and Intransitive Verbs explained with examples Phrase explained with examples Essay: Formal, Semi-Formal and Informal Essays explained


Academic Questions in English

Please click here to see all Questions and Answers

For this question and the three questions below, choose the option that best completes the sentence.

The doctor _____ the illness as malaria, not dysentery.

  • A. Discovered

  • B. Diagnosed

  • C. Tested

  • D. Examined

  • E. Announced

  • F. Prescribed

The principal reacted to the disrespectful action of the student with strong _____.

  • A. Indignation

  • B. Condemnation

  • C. Accusation

  • D. Demonstration

  • E. Mobilization

  • F. Impunity

Since the writer did not indicate his name, the editor did not publish such a/an _____ article.

  • A. Poor

  • B. Libellous

  • C. Discourteous

  • D. Impolite

  • E. Anonymous

  • F. Scandalous

The play was so interesting that the _____ clapped for a long time at the end.

  • A. Congregation

  • B. Fans

  • C. Spectators

  • D. Audience

  • E. Watchers

  • F. People

Answer true of false with regards to the sentence below:

'Humility' is a noun and 'Humble' is an adjective

  • A. True

  • B. False

A part of a sentence or clause that contains a verb and something concerning the subject within that sentence is termed a/an _____.

  • A. Predicate

  • B. Object

  • C. Adverbial clause

  • D. Adverbial phrase

  • E. Half clause

  • F. Body of adverbial clause

The acronym Wi-Fi stands for _____.

  • A. Wireless Files

  • B. Wireless Flips

  • C. Wireless Fidelity

  • D. Wireless Freedom

  • E. Wireless and Free

  • F. Wireless Fun

The words massacre and bloodbath are _____.

  • A. Antonyms

  • B. Synonyms

  • C. Homonyms

  • D. Homophones

  • E. Heteronyms

  • F. Heterophone



What is a Synonym?


A synonym is a word or a phrase or an expression that has an exact or closely related meaning with another word or phrase or expression.

Please read on phrases and clauses here.


Words or phrase that has an exact or closely related meaning are said to be synonymous. As an instance, we could say:

  • The football match has began is synonymous to: The football match has commenced.

There are so many synonymous words in English language. One may be asked in an English examination to choose an answer that is nearest in meaning to the question of interest. Having a good idea of symnonyms will aid us with such questions.

See english past questions and answers, WAEC, 1990 here.

Please read on idioms here.


Below are some synonymous words, that is, (words with similar meaning):

Hi - Hello

Start – Begin – Commence

Lucky – Fortunate

Lookalike - Similar

Mother – Mom – Mummy

Overseas – Abroad

Full - Filled

Heal – Cure

Accomplish – Achieve

Bizarre – Weird

Right – Correct

Sick – Ill

Exit – Leave

Add – Plus

Subtract – Minus

Rich – Wealthy

Reach – Arrive

Massacre – Bloodbath

Close – Near

Close – Shut

Innocent – Blameless

Kids - Children

Silly – Foolish

On purpose – Intentionally

Curler – Roller

Reply – Answer

Intentional – Deliberate

Backside – Bum

Disclaimer – Denial

Comfortable - Cozy

Categorize – Classify

Eternal – Everlasting

Via – Through

Thank you – Thanks

Final - Last

Yeah – Yes

Fate – Destiny

Believe – Faith

Commencement – Graduation

Evil – Wicked

Satan – Devil

Stress – Emphasize

Stupid – Dull

Committed – Dedicated

Versus – Against

Above – Over

Perplex – Confused

Enormous – Huge – Immense

Support – Corroborate

Ratify – Confirm

Pain – Agony

Settle – Resolve

Classify – Categorize

Characteristics – Features

Shame – Disgrace

Respect – Honour

Comfort – Consolation

Famous – Popular

Disappear – Vanish

Crazy – Mad

Please read on figures of speech here.

See Literature in English past questions and answers, JAMB, 1979 here.

Note the followings:


  • Antonyms are words or phrase or expressions with opposite meanings; for example:
  • Boy | Girl


  • Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings; for example:
  • Bark (of a tree) and Bark (sound from a dog)


  • Heteronyms are words that are spelt the same way but pronounced differently; for example:
  • Bow (to show respect) and Bow (of an arrow)


  • Homophones are two or more words that are pronounced the same way (both words have got the same sound sound) but they have different meanings, spellings and origins; for example:
  • Ate (past tense of eat) and Eight (the number 8)

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Amazing facts in English

Scrunched and strengthed are the longest one-syllable words in the English language

The longest word in English language with only one vowel is 'strengths'

The word pangram refers to a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet. Below is an example of a pangram:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

The word Paraskevidekatriaphobia means the fear of Friday the 13th, while Triskaidekaphobia means an extreme fear of the number 13

Angry and Hungry are the only two English words that currently ends in '-gry'

The only English word with five consecutive vowels is 'queueing'

The dot on the top of letter ‘i’ is called a tittle

The sentence below uses every letter in the English alphabet:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Cat furnishings - Len Academy

The furry tufts of hair inside a cat's ear are called ear furnishings

There are only four words in the English language that end in 'dous'. These are:

  • Tremendous 

  • Horrendous

  • Stupendous

  • Hazardous


Notable points in English

Homonyms are words with the same spellings, same sounds but different meanings.

Below are some sentences containing homonyms with their respective meanings:

  • Keen

We have a keen match against Ronaldo’s team and Messi seems to be keen.

Keen: An involvement of people competing very hard for something.

Keen: Very interested in something.

  • Tear

Regardless the tear you shed, Mr. Frank will still tear your examination scripts.

Tear: The drop of liquid that comes out from a person's eye when they cry.

Tear: To damage something by pulling or cutting it apart.

  • Jot

There isn't any jot of truth in what he said, so I didn't jot anything down.

Jot: A very small amount of something

Jot: To write something quickly

Please read more on homonyms here

Certain words in English language appear to be similar but are quite different in meaning.

The table below shows some examples:

 Childlike

 Childish

 Stimulus

 Stimulant

 Destructible

 Destructive

 Negligible

 Negligent

 Comprehensible

 Comprehensive


Synonyms should not be confused with the above instance. They are different words with similar meanings.

Please read more on synonyms here.

Some words always exist in the plural form. Examples of such words are:

  • Scissors
  • Shears
  • Alms
  • News
  • Trousers

Possessive adjective tells you the owner of a thing. For instance;

This is his car.

'His' in the above statement is describing him as the owner of the car; and this makes 'his' a possessive adjective.

That is your bag.

'Your' is a possessive adjective in the above statement.

Note: An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

Possessive pronouns show possession.

A possessive pronoun will always correspond with each of the personal pronouns. For Instance:

I own the book. ('I' is a personal pronoun)

The book is mine. ('Mine' is the possessive pronoun)

She owns a car. ('She' is a personal pronoun)

The car is hers. ('Hers' is the possessive pronoun)