English Synonyms Page
From an ELT/TEFL/TESL perspective
© By Leon Przybyla III
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Foreword One of the best ways to improve your "word power" is
to know the special meanings, nuances and differences in USAGE
between English synonyms. hyper (above) + nomy (name) Hypernomy is the condition of being inclusive of all other synonymy of a given set of synonyms. Hypernym is the word which includes the meanings of all the other synonyms. Like this:
In the diagram above, the word "look" is a hypernym, and the diagram illustrates the hypernomic condition of "look". |
Table of Contents
(Sorry, but these are not in any specific order)
Click on any area to go directly on the page with the lesson
| Speak (v.i., v.t.) | Speak has two usages [Speak comes from the noun speech
which also has two usages]:
1. Speech1 = the ability to produce the SOUNDS of words and sentences accurately; This is related to "Speak" v.i. AND "Speak" v.t., where the direct object is a language. Examples: (i) He speaks well. (ii) He
speaks poorly. 2. Speech2 = an oral composition, presented in front of an audience; This is related to "Speak" v.t. where the direct object is an audience (it looks like an indirect object, but it's not, usually). Examples: (i) Pres. Bush spoke to the troops in Korea. (ii) Pres. Bush gave a speech to the troops in Korea. Note: it is possible to use a direct object and an indirect object, but it is not common. Examples: (i) I spoke English to my students. [but in this case "spoke" has the number 1 meaning only]. If you say, "I spoke in English to my students" "spoke" has the number two meaning, and there is only one object, because "in English" is an adverbial phrase. |
| Talk (v.i., v.t.) |
Examples: (i) I talk. (ii) I talk with you. (iii) We talk about the price of tea in China. |
| Say (v.t.) | Say is a confusing word. In all my life growing up
in the states, moving around from California to West Virginia, I had
NEVER heard ANY native English speaker put the indirect object before
the direct object (with the ONE exception of reflexive pronoun object)
and I taught my students in Korea thusly. Then, about a year ago,
I went to the UK for a couple months, and I heard a UK citizen
(apparently a native English speaker) use the indirect object
first. I was so embarrassed. Now, I teach my students that
in the UK it is not uncommon to hear the indirect object first, but if
one goes to America and uses the indirect object first, the Americans
will hear it as an awkward expression of a non-native speaker.
direct object: something (sth) indirect object: (to) somebody (sb) American style: say + sth + to + sb Example: I said "I love you" to my son. in the UK, I would seem that the direct object and indirect object are interchangeable, but the indirect object must have "to" before it. |
| Tell (v.t.) | In the case of "tell", the direct object and
indirect object are the opposite of "say".
direct object: sb indirect object: (about) sth Example: I told him about the party. Note: the indirect object is optional, AND IT IS INCORRECT TO SWITCH THE ORDER OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT. There are a few idiomatic expressions which break the rule I gave above: For example: (i) Tell a story. (ii) Tell a joke. In those cases, the direct object has been omitted, when it is commonly known "who" the direct object is. Example of full sentence: Tell us a story. |
| Mention (v.t.) | Mention means to reveal some information briefly. |
| Discuss (v.t.) | Discuss means to have a conversation on a specific topic |
| Converse | Same as "talk" |
| Comment | Usually comment on sth already said |
| Argue | Argue means to have a verbal fight
v.i. : Don't argue with me. v.t. : Why argue about politics? Nobody wins. |
| Debate | Debate means to have a formal verbal competition with
rules and a judge, and a winner and a loser. [forgive my many "and"s].
v.i. : I like to debate. v.t. : Let's debate about politics. |
| Hear | Hear denotes ability to perceive sound; in other words, it means having a fully-functional auditory nervous system. |
| Listen | Listen denotes hearing + trying to comprehend what is being said |
| Comprehend | Comprehend denotes understanding input;
Listen and Comprehend, or Read and Comprehend |
| school | place of learning; hypernomy or hypernymy of all words below
If you want to be specific, you should add an adjective: 1. public/private elementary school |
| academy | usually private school AND often one that teaches 1 subject, e.g., the academy of art. |
| institute | 1. a school of higher learning Example: MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 2. a place of extra-curricular learning |
| college | "college" is a very general word from Latin collegium
"community, society, guild."
If you want to be specific, you should add an adjective: 1. junior college "J.C." A "colleague" is usually a person who is in the same academic field AND/OR in the same profession. |
| university | similar to institute1; BUT, a university usually contains
various colleges, e.g.:
1. the university's college of education Note: it is not difficult to comprehend the differences between "college" an "university" if you know the etymology of each word. "College" means a groups of people interested in the same thing(s) "Uni" (one) + "versity" (many) = one school with many colleges. |
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ghost, phantom, spirit, soul, apparition, specter, sprite, banshee, disembodied spirit, un-embodied spirit, devil, Devil, demon, Satan, Lucifer, angel, Holy Ghost, ghoul, goblin, zombie |
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| ghost | [Old English Word] a metaphysical being (hypernomy or hypernym of all below) |
| phantom | [Latinate Word] a ghost that can be seen, but not touched; OR heard, but not seen (but usually the latter, i.e., heard, but NOT SEEN) |
| spirit | [Latinate Word] the breath of life |
| soul | [Old Norse Word] same as spirit; the immortal part of humans |
| apparition | [Latinate Word] something that suddenly appears (usually a ghost) |
| specter | [Latinate Word] a visible disembodied spirit {same root as "spectacle", "spectator"} |
| sprite | [originally, same as spirit] BUT now it means: elf or fairy (incidentally, this would be much like the Korean do-ggae-bi, not in physical traits, but rather in all other traits. Physically, the do-ggae-bi looks like an ogre, and is translated as such, but do-ggae-bis do not harm humans, in fact, they're often thought of as the benefactors of human beings.) |
| banshee | [Gaelic Word] a female spirit in Gaelic folklore that warns a family of the approaching death of a member by her appearance or especially by wailing unseen under the windows of the house a night or two before the time of the death she foretells (Merriam-Webster online Dictionary) {This is most similar to Korean A©ø©øa¡¾I¨öA (Cheo-nyeo Gui-shin}. |
| disembodied spirit | the spirit of a dead person |
| unembodied spirit | the spirit of an unborn person |
| devil | [Old English Word] an evil spirit |
| Devil | king of the evil spirits |
| demon | [Greek Word] originally: a lower deity (between gods and humans); now: a devil that can become incarnate, or take a human body. |
| Satan | [Hebrew Word] name of king of the devils |
| Lucifer | [Latinate Word] means: one who bears light or enlightenment. It is the Latinate metaphor for Satan, because Satan was a "son of the morning", one of the first of the creations of God. (Judaeo-Christian mythology). Lucifer is also the one who gave enlightenment to Adam and Eve. |
| angel | [Greek Word] originally: messenger; now: messenger of God |
| Holy Ghost | the Spirit of God (Judaeo-Christian mythology) |
| ghoul | [Arabic Word] a being that robs graves to feed on the flesh of dead people |
| goblin | an ugly sprite, sometimes evil, sometimes mischievous |
| zombie | [Voodoo Word] (1) the power to make the dead alive again; (2) a dead person that has been brought back to life |
| Note: these are NOT synonyms, but the English-Korean dictionaries say that they have the same meaning. This is to dispel such nonsense. | |
| Effective | producing the desired effect (result) [from the
root word "effect" v.t.: to produce or cause sth]
Example: I wanted to build a bridge. I built a bridge in ten years. I was effective. Why? Because I accomplished my goal, which was to build a bridge. |
| Efficient | conserving something [from the root word
"efface" v.t.: to eliminate or eradicate sth]
Example: I wanted to build a bridge. I built a bridge by myself in ten years. It was effective. Then, I built a bridge in two years with the help of some workers. It was time-efficient. But, I had to pay them a lot of money. It was NOT cost-efficient. Also, I used wood, which is not as strong as stone or steel, so I had to use a lot of wood to reinforce the bridge. It was NOT material-efficient. Then, I built a bridge with migrant workers in two years with steel and concrete. It was effective, time efficient, cost-efficient, and material-efficient. Another Example: I want to buy a car that is effective in giving me speed and power AND efficient in conserving fuel and money. I find out that I cannot have both. I can get an effective car, but it is not efficient. Or I can get an efficient car, but it's not very effective. |
| job | ...any activity which is compensated with money
full time job = job which works 40 hours per week or more [US] part time job = job which works less than 40 hours per week [US] |
| profession | ...any job which requires higher education, esp., doctor, lawyer, nurse, teacher, engineer, scientist, etc. |
| vocation | "Voc" means "voice" in Latin. "Vocare" means "to voice" (v.t.). So, "vocation" means something that is done because the "voice" in one's mind directs one to do it. It usually refers to a job that one feels driven to do by some inner "voice". |
| occupation | ...any activity which occupies one's time. "To occupy" means "to fill". So, an occupation is something which fills one's spare time. (It usually refers to the thing which fills the major part of one's time). |
| electric (a.) | of, about, relating to electricity
examples: electric shock, electric power, electric resistance, electric current, electric flow, etc. |
| electrical (a.) | conveying electricity
examples: electrical wires, electrical components, etc. |
| electronic (a.) | having a system which is operated by electrical
wires and components
examples: electronic equipment, electronic device, etc. |
| special note: | you can think like this: the longer the word, the
more complex the meaning. For instance:
Electronic equipment is composed of electrical components, and electrical components convey electric power/current. |
| include | to have (sth, which is abstract, untouchable) |
| contain | to have (sth, which is concrete, touchable) |
| have | to possess (sth, either abstract or concrete) [hypernym] |
| Sample sentences:
- English includes many words, and some words include many meanings. |
|
| be made of | Where the component has retained much of its original
form, "be made of" is used.
Example: Glasses are made of glass. |
| be made from | Where the component has been altered to the point where it
is no longer recognizable, "be made from" is used.
Example: Glass is made from sand. |
| be composed of | The word "compose" includes two morphemes:
"com" + "pose". "com" means
'together' and "pose" means 'put'. When something is
"composed", two or more things are put together, usually
manually.
Example: A song is composed of words and music. |
| consist of | The word "consist" includes two morphemes:
"con" + "sist". "con" means
'together' and "sist" means 'exist'. So,
"consist" means two or more things exist together.
Example: My family consists of two people, my son and me. |
| beach | the land near a body of water, which consists of particles of sand |
| shore | the land near a body of water, which consists of any kind of sand, dirt or soil |
| coast | the length of land that connects one side of a continent with a sea or ocean |
| ~side | hypernomy (hypernymy) of all these synonyms |
| bank | a vertical, near vertical, or steep land-water connection. [usually used for a river bank, but can be used for lakes and seas as well] |
| pre-note: | it is important not to distinguish the lexical/linguistic items above by definitions alone, but ALSO BY FUNCTION !!! |
| had better | The function of this lexical item is WARNING.
The item "had better ((do sth))" is often collocated with "or else...", suggesting a negative consequence of NOT doing that thing. For example: "You had better not stick up your middle finger at another motorist in America, or else you might become a victim of road rage." See Idioms Page for definition of "road rage". |
| have to & must | With these two linguistic items, we must look at TWO TYPES
OF FUNCTION: SEMANTIC FUNCTION and GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION.
While the Semantic Function is the same for both linguistic items, the Grammatical Functions are different... SEMANTIC FUNCTION: to explicate a situation where there is no other choice, i.e., it is required, and/or compulsory. GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS: In "have + to-infinitive" we see that "have" is functioning just as any normal verb, which is collocated with another verb. But "must" functions as an "auxiliary verb". Furthermore, while some auxiliary verbs, such as "can" have a past tense, there is no past (nor a future tense) for "must". |
| ought to & should | The semantic function of these two linguistic items is
VERY different from the ones above.
SEMANTIC FUNCTIONS: 1. Giving advice or suggestion NOW, let me explain what "obligation" means, because most Asian bilingual lexicons are WRONG! Look at the diagram below:
As you can see, obligation reaches into the realm of "that which is compulsory" as well as into the realm of "that which is owed". The semantic function of "should" is the kind of obligation which is "owed", NOT compulsory. That which is compulsory belongs to the semantic function of "have to" or "must". Example: I should raise my son. Why? Not because I am compelled to do so, but because I owe it to him, being his natural father. I have a moral obligation to raise my son. |
| home, house, housing, abode, domicile, dwelling, dormitory, barracks | |
| home | Home is any place where someone lives. It could be the street, a car, or even a city, or country. In a way, it could be considered a hypernym of all words below |
| house | a home made for one family [US]. [in the UK, it would be called a "detached house", because most houses are duplexes in the UK. See ABC Page for differences between US and UK English.] |
| housing | a container or covering |
| abode | a place to abide |
| domicile | [from French] meaning: home |
| dwelling | a place to dwell |
| dormitory | a place to sleep |
| barracks | a place for military personnel to sleep |
/,
"clothes" is pronounced: /klos/ ]
| faculty, staff | |
| faculty | [U] "the teaching staff and those members of the administrative staff having academic rank in a college, university, or other educational institution or one of its divisions" (Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary) |
| staff | [U] all employees of a given company or institution or department |