Synonyms Antonyms Review
SynonymsSame How to remember which one is which Antonyms Opposite
Synonyms are words that have the same or very similar meaning. words of the same language belong to the same part of speech possess one or more identical or nearly identical denotational meanings interchangeable, at least in some contexts
Absolute Ideographic stylistic
absolute – words coinciding in all their shades of meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics
ideographic (denotational)– words conveying the same concept but differing in shades of meaning e.g. to look – to see – to gaze – to glare
stylistic – words differing in stylistic characteristics e.g. father – Dad - Daddy
An antonym is a word that is the opposite meaning of another. It comes from the Greek words “anti” for opposite and “onym” for name. since language is complex, people may at times, disagree on what words are truly opposite in meaning to other words.
Graded antonyms Relational antonyms Complimentary antonyms
Graded antonyms are word pairs that have variations between the two opposites. For example, big and little are antonyms but there are a lot of changes before you get to the opposite meaning. Like this: Big, huge, bulky, full-size, slight, petite, little
Relational antonyms are pairs that have a relationship. Each word wouldn’t exist without the other. There can’t be a parent without a child or it’s either all or nothing. Other examples include: Open – close Husband – wife
Complimentary antonyms are word pairs that have no degree of meaning. There are only two opposite possibilities. Dead- alive True – false Male- female
We are singing a new song in chorus. The choir traveled to Europe to sing at the opera house. S ynonyms
We used flames to toast marshmallows. The blaze was so hot we could not get close to put it out. S ynonyms
The generous man gave his money away to the poor. At the beginning, Scrooge was miserly. A ntonyms
The affluent king gave to the needy. The impoverished people had no homes. A ntonyms