What is a synonym?

A synonym is a word with the same or a very similar meaning to another word. Big and large are synonyms, and so are happy and glad. Using synonyms makes writing more varied and interesting.

Examples

• big and large.
• happy, glad and cheerful.
• quick and fast.

Quick facts

• Synonyms have similar meanings; antonyms have opposite meanings.
• A thesaurus is a book that lists synonyms.