Homework Help: Synonyms and Antonyms

Synonym and Antonym Help

What Are Synonyms?

Synonyms are words that share the same or similar meaning. Typically, when you use a synonym to replace a word in a sentence, the meaning of the sentence won't change. However, some synonym words don't share the exact same definition, so changing words could alter the meaning of the sentence slightly.

Examples of Synonyms

Below are some examples of synonyms:

Big - huge, gigantic, large and humungous

Smart - intelligent, clever, genius and bright

Difficult - challenging, hard, trying and tough

Friendly - nice, chummy, welcoming and sociable

What are Antonyms?

Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. When you encounter antonyms in your homework assignments, you'll often have to choose the word that has a different definition than the underlined word in a sentence. Sometimes, you'll have to provide the definitions of antonym words as well.

Examples of Antonyms

Below are some examples of antonyms:

Big - small, little, tiny and microscopic

Smart - dumb, slow, ignorant and unintelligent

Difficult - easy, simple, manageable and uncomplicated

Friendly - mean, cold, rude and unsociable

Why Use Synonyms and Antonyms?

Using the same words over and over again in a story or paragraph can make your writing boring. Using synonyms and antonyms allow you to solve that problem by adding variety to the words you use. Furthermore, when you use synonyms and antonyms, you are forcing yourself to learn new words and increase your vocabulary.

Using a Thesaurus

A resource that will help you with synonyms and antonyms is a thesaurus. To use a thesaurus, you'll locate the word that you know, and a list of the synonyms and antonyms for the word will be listed. Similar to a dictionary, the words will be found in alphabetical order. You can obtain a hard copy of a thesaurus from your local bookstore, or you can find free versions on the Internet. In addition, you may be able to find one in the reference section of your local library.