Synonyms and antonyms

In a nutshell

You may come across synonyms and antonyms in a dictionary when looking up a word in the dictionary or a thesaurus. Synonyms have the same or a similar meaning to the word you're looking for while antonyms mean the opposite. In this summary, you will learn how to identify both synonyms and antonyms.

Synonyms

A synonym has the same or similar meaning as the original word you have in mind.

Examples

original word	synonym
small	tiny, little
fast	quick, rapid

Tip: By using a thesaurus to look up synonyms, you can improve both your vocabulary and your writing.

Antonyms

An antonym has the opposite meaning of the word you're looking for.

Examples

original word	Antonym
sad	happy
tall	short
new	old