What are Synonyms and Antonyms?

Wouldn’t it be challenging if you were asked to express your thoughts or communicate your ideas by using only one word. If a place, person or object is described with the help of a single word, then writing, reading and speaking will be certainly boring. Fortunately, we have myriads of words to express our thoughts and feelings. The words that have similar meanings are known as synonyms and the words that have opposite meanings are known as antonyms.  Synonyms and antonyms both are indispensable parts of the English language. All words have synonyms as well as antonyms and also help us to communicate our feelings and ideas precisely to others. Let us understand the synonyms and antonyms in detail:

Synonyms 

Synonyms refer to words that have the same or similar meanings. In short, the word that contains the same or very nearly the same meaning is called as a synonym. It can be used interchangeably while writing or speaking. For example, small (word) – tiny (synonym). However, there are few words that have identical meaning, but the words are not necessarily interchangeable. For instance, explode (word) – blow up (synonym). Here explode is a formal word, but blow up is an informal word. Generally, synonyms are used interchangeably without changing the overall meaning of a sentence. These words show different variations of the same understanding. 

Examples of synonym:

•    Good – Great, Excellent, Wonderful, Fine

•    Weak – Delicate, Wimpy, Fragile, Flimsy

•    Intelligent – Clever, Sharp, Intellectual, Bright

•    Lazy – Idle, Dull, Indolent, Lethargic

•    Beautiful – Gorgeous, Lovely, Marvelous, Attractive

Antonyms

Antonyms refer to words that have opposite meanings. In short, the word that contains opposite meaning is called as an antonym.  For example, introvert (word) - extrovert (antonym). It is important to choose the right antonym while writing. For instance, the antonym of ‘warm’ is cool or chilly, but ‘cool’ can be interpreted as ‘stylish’. According to the English language, antonyms are categorized into three different parts, including graded antonyms, relational antonyms and complementary antonyms.

Examples of antonym:

1. Graded Antonym: The word pairs that have variation between the two opposites. For example:

•    Healthy – Sick

•    Good – Bad

•    Big – Little

2. Relational Antonym: The word pairs have a relationship and would not exist without the other. For example:

•    Front – Rear

•    Girl – Boy

•    Open – Close

3. Complementary Antonym: The words that have two opposite possibilities and no degree of meaning. For example:

•    Male – Female

•    Dark – Light

•    Dead – Alive