Synonym Meaning
/ˈsɪn.əˌnɪm/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA term (word or phrase) which is synonymous with others.
nounAny of the various names that could in theory be used for a taxon in accordance with the relevant rules., The subset of those names other than the one to be used according to the rules.
Sentence Examples
"Car" is a synonym of "automobile".
Is there another word for synonym?
Be careful! Affective dependency is not synonym for love!
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the thesaurus, a common ____ for the adjective 'quick' is 'fast'.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The word 'happy' is a common ____ for 'joyful', as both words have a very similar and positive meaning today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sinonyme, from Latin synōnymum, from Ancient Greek συνώνυμον (sunṓnumon), neuter singular form of συνώνυμος (sunṓnumos, “synonymous”), from σύν (sún, “with”) + ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”). By surface analysis, syn- + -onym.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The proportion of English words that have an exact synonym is small."
— 1991, William T. Parry, Edward A. Hacker, Aristotelian Logic:
"It's quite the turnaround from only a few months ago when Michael Kors (KORS) sales were sagging and its stock was tanking. Experts said the brand was "overexposed," a synonym for ugly in the fashion world."
— 2016 February 26, Heather Long, “Michael Kors' secret to success”, in CNN Business:
"According to the petition, posted on Change.org, the venerable publisher, which produces the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), offers a series of synonyms for woman, including “bitch, besom, piece, bit, mare, baggage, wench, petticoat, frail, bird, bint, biddy, filly.”"
— 2019 September 18, Lianne Kolirin, “Thousands sign petition to remove sexist terms from Oxford Dictionaries”, in CNN:
"Synonyms are part of the SQL standard and are used frequently by Oracle DBAs. Note that Oracle includes both private and public synonyms."
— 2011, Paul Nielsen, Uttam Parui, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Bible:
"The fair fame of this good Knight has suffered greatly from the levity of his critics, and still more from the chattering of nugators, blatterones, sermocinators, and other superficial dignitaries; insomuch that his very name is synonymed with that of a liar."
— 1848, United Service Magazine and Naval Military Journal, page 556:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the thesaurus, a common ____ for the adjective 'quick' is 'fast'.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The word 'happy' is a common ____ for 'joyful', as both words have a very similar and positive meaning today.