What is the synonym and antonym for the word

Difference between Synonym and Antonym

By Theydiffer — September 28, 2016

The English language is a colorful and beautiful one because it doesn’t have only one particular word to describe something. It is not content with having just one word to express a concept. We have synonyms and antonyms to use. But what are these two terms about? For people whose main language is different, it can be hard to differentiate these two.

Definitions

Synonyms are words that have similar meanings. They are often used to help people communicate their feelings in other ways. Synonyms can be used interchangeably.

Examples:

• Mary’s answer surprised me.
• Mary’s response surprised me.

The two words, answer and response, have the same meaning and can be interchanged. Not every synonym can be interchangeable. For example, nibbling a cookie is different from devouring a cookie. Nibble is taking a small bite while devour is swallowing it whole.

Examples of synonyms

Nouns

• Power and force
• Important and significant
• Baby and infant
• Car and automobile
• Freedom and liberty
• Organization, management, institution
• King, monarch, ruler, czar
• Image, illustration, icon, figure
• Home, house, residence, dwelling

Adjectives

• Intelligent, smart, brilliant, bright
• Beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, stunning
• Empty, vacant, abandoned, uninhabited
• Sad, unhappy, sorrowful, distressed
• Big, huge, enormous, gigantic

Verbs

• Run, sprint, dash
• Leap, jump, hop, skip
• Talk, speak, communicate, chat
• Smile, beam, grin

Antonyms are the opposite of synonyms and they are two words that are the opposite of each other.

Examples of antonyms

Nouns

• Noise – silence
• Beginning – end
• Summer – winter
• Friend – enemy
• Day – night
• Life – death
• South – north

Adjectives

• Beautiful – ugly
• Courteous – rude
• Clever – stupid
• Empty – full
• Cheerful – dreary
• Dry – wet
• Healthy – sick

Verbs

• Increase – decrease
• Brighten – fade
• Encourage – discourage
• Hide – reveal
• Approve – disapprove
• Create – destroy
• Close – open

What is the difference between a synonym and an antonym? Their difference simply lies in their meaning. Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly identical meanings, while antonyms are words that have opposite meanings.

Comparison Chart

Synonyms	Antonyms
Words that have similar meanings	Words that have opposite meanings
Examples: Small – tiny Angry – mad Bucket – pail Crazy – insane Loyal – faithful	Examples: Straight – crooked Generous – stingy Compliment – insult Positive – negative Hero – villain

A
synonym – is
a word of similar or identical meaning to one or more words in the
same language. All languages contain synonyms but in English they
exist in superabundance.

Classification:

1. Total synonyms

• an extremely rare occurrence

• Ulman: “a luxury that
  language can hardly afford.”

• M. Breal spoke about a law
  of distribution in the language (words should be synonyms, were
  synonyms in the past usually acquire different meanings and are no
  longer interchangeable).

Ex.: бегемот –
гиппопотам

2. Ideographic synonyms.

• They bear the same idea but
  not identical in their referential content.

• Ex.:
  to
  ascent – to mount – to climb

• To happen – to occur – to
  befall – to chance

• Look – appearance –
  complexion – countenance

3.
Dialectical synonyms.

• Ex.:
  lift
  – elevator

• Queue – line

• Autumn – fall

4. Contextual synonyms.

Context can emphasize some
certain semantic trades & suppress other semantic trades; words
with different meaning can become synonyms in a certain context.

Ex.:
tasteless – dull

Active – curious

Curious – responsive

Synonyms can reflect
social conventions.

Ex.:
Clever
(neutral)

Bright (Only
speaking about younger people by older people)

Brainy (Is not used
by the higher educated people)

Intelligent
(Positive connotation)

Dever-clever
(Stylistically remarked)

5. Stylistic synonyms.

Belong to different styles.

Child (neutral) — Infant
(elevated) – Kid (colloquial)

To die (neutral) — To kick the
bucket (colloquial).

Sources of synonymy.

Synonymy
– the coincidence in the essential meanings of linguistic elements
which (at the same time) usually preserve their differences in
connotations and stylistic characteristics.

O.
Jespersen and many others used to stress that the English language is
especially rich
in synonyms, because Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans
fighting and settling upon
the soil of the British Isles could not but influence each other’s
speech. British
scholars studied Greek and Latin and for centuries used Latin as a
medium for communication on scholarly topics.
Synonymy has its characteristic patterns in each language. Its
peculiar feature in English is the contrast between simple native
words stylistically neutral, literary words borrowed from French and
learned words of Greco-Latin origin. New
words may be formed by affixation or loss of affixes, by conversion,
compounding, shortening and so on, and being coined, form synonyms to
those already in use.

Antonyms
– a class of words grouped together on the basis of the semantic
relations of opposition. Antonyms are words belonging to one part of
speech sharing certain common semantic characteristics and in this
respect they are similar to such semantic classes as synonyms,
lexical sets, lexico-semantic groups. (lexical
sets
(предметные или тематические группы) —
words denoting different things correlated on extralinguistic
grounds: lion, tiger, leopard, puma, cat refer to the lexical set of
“the animals of the cat family’; words describing different sides
of one and the same general notion are united in a lexico-semantic
group: group denoting “physical movement” – to go, to turn, to
run). There exist different classifications of antonyms.Structurally,
antonyms can be divided into antonyms
of the same root
(1), e.g. to do – to undo, cheerful – cheerless, and antonyms
of different roots
(2), e.g. day – night, rich – poor. Semantically,
antonyms may be classified into contradictories, contraries and
incompatibles.

1.
Contradictories
represent the type of semantic relations that exist between pairs
like, for
example, dead – alive, single – married.
Contradictory antonyms are mutually opposed, they deny one another.

2.
Contraries
are antonyms that can be arranged into a series according to the
increasing difference in one of their qualities. This may be observed
in cold – hot and cool – warm which are intermediate members.
Thus, we may regard as antonyms not only cold and hot but also cold
and warm. Contrary antonyms may also be considered in terms of
degrees of the quality involved. Thus, water may be cold or very
cold, and water in one glass may be colder than in another glass.

3.
Incompatibles
are antonyms which are characterized by the relations of exclusion.
For
example, to
say morning is to say not afternoon, not evening, not night. The use
of one member of this set implies the exclusion of the other members
of the set. A relation of incompatibility may be also observed
between
colour terms
since the choice of red, for example, entails the exclusion of black,
blue, yellow, etc.

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In this article, we will learn about the important “Antonyms and Synonyms” for SSC CGL and for other competitive exams. Kindly bookmark this article for future reference.

What is a Synonym?

A Synonym is a word or phrase with the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or phrase. Thus, words that are similar in meaning are called “Synonyms”.  
 

Synonyms Example :

Demanded(verb): to ask for something in an extremely firm or aggressive way.
For example, “Student demanded a refund”.
Synonyms: appeal, trade

Imposed(verb): to make a law, rule, opinion, etc. be accepted by using your power or authority.
For example, “The Event organizers made it clear that the decision was ours and was not imposed by them.”     
Synonyms: enforce, decree

Enhanced(verb): to improve or make something look better.
For example, “Today’s technology is constantly trying to bring new and enhanced versions of products.”
Synonyms: augment, boost

Acrimonious (adjective): 
Meaning: angry and bitter; typically of speech or discussion.
For example, “an acrimonious dispute about wages”.
Synonyms: acrid, bitter, embittered, hard, rancorous, resentful, sore

What is an Antonym?

An antonym is a term or phrase that has the opposite meaning to another. In simple words, we can say that Antonyms are the opposite of any given word. Such words with opposite meanings are known as “Antonyms”.
 

Antonyms Example : 

Acrimonious (adjective): 
Meaning: angry and bitter; typically of speech or discussion.
For example, “an acrimonious dispute about wages”.
Antonyms: caring, forgiving, gentle, kind, loving, sweet, sympathetic, tender, warm

Decoy (verb):
Meaning: lure or entice (a person or animal) away from their intended course, typically into a trap.
For example, “He used to hum a song to decoy her”.       
Antonyms: repellent

Despotism (noun):
Meaning: exercising your absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.
For example, “the ideology of enlightened despotism”.
Antonyms: democracy, self-governance, freedom, self-determination

Chary (adjective):
Meaning: cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something.
For example, “Harleen had been chary of revealing the complete truth”.
Antonyms: careless, heedless, incautious, unguarded, unmindful.

Synonyms and Antonyms Examples 

Sr. No.	Word	Meaning	For Example	Synonyms	Antonyms
1	Berserk (adjective):	out of control with anger or excitement; wild or frenzied.	Students went berserk when they knew that their fellow mate has brought a gun in class.	agitatedly, confusedly, crazily, desperately, feverishly	calmly, collectedly, composedly, coolly
2	Vantage  (noun)	a place or position affording a good view of something.	Riyan could see across the river from his vantage point.	advantage, better, bulge	detriment, stranglehold, disparity, imbalance, inequality
3	Ostracize (verb):	exclude from a society or group.	Since he was studious and introvert, he was ostracized by his classmates.	castigate, chastise, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, admonish, chide, reprove	approve, endorse, eulogize, exalt
4	Rudimentary (adjective)	belonging to or characteristic of an early level of skill or development.	rudimentary shelters were built by prehistoric peoples.	basic, simple, uncomplicated, backward, underdeveloped, undeveloped, unsophisticated	advanced, developed, evolved, high, higher, late
5	Bulwark (noun)	to drive danger or attack away from; a defensive wall	they vowed to use any means necessary to bulwark the country against attack.	model, original, originator	assail, assault, attack
6	Archetype (noun)	a prototype; an original which has been imitated.	A Library in my city is the archetype of an old-style themed Library.	model, original, originator	copy, imitation, replica, reproduction
7	Invidious (adjective)	(of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others.	It is invidious to judge someone by listening to a one-sided story only	covetous, envious, green-eyed, jaundiced, jealous, resentful	generous, kind, kind-hearted, altruistic, benevolent, charitable
8	Smug (adjective)	having or showing excessive pride in oneself or one’s achievements.	Aarav was feeling smug when he learned he cleared IIT	arrogant, assumptive, bumptious, cavalier	egoless, humble, modest, uncomplacent
9	Palliate (verb)	allay or moderate (fears or suspicions).	My lawyer for this case would try to palliate, my act from the standpoint of the law	Vijay Malaya and Neerav Modi are accused of peculating Bank’s money.	aggravate, exacerbate
10	Niggardly (adjective)	ungenerous with money, time, etc.; mean.	“Rishi accused the Government of being unbelievably niggardly”.	careful, chary, conserving, economical, economizing, frugal	altruistic, selfless, unselfish, extravagant
11	Malediction (noun)	a magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of bringing about evil; a curse.	“Workers left the factory, muttering maledictions against their Supervisor.”	anathema, ban, curse, execration, imprecation	citation, commendation, endorsement
12	Legion (adjective)	great in number.	“her fans are legion”	many, multi-fold, multiple, multiplex, multitudinous, numerous	few, countable, limited
13	Gratuitous (adjective)	done without good reason; uncalled for.	“gratuitous violence”	dispensable, inessential, needless, nonessential, uncalled-for, unessential, unnecessary, unwarranted	all-important, crucial, important, vital, imperative, pressing, urgent
14	Horrendous (adjective)	extremely unpleasant, horrifying, or terrible.	“Vartika suffered horrendous injuries”.	daunting, demoralizing, disconcerting, discouraging, dismaying	calming, comforting, consoling, inviting, pacifying
15	Callous (adjective)	cheerful friendliness; geniality.	Some people make callous comments even for the last rites and funerals as well.	boorish, heedless, inconsiderate, thoughtless, uncaring, unfriendly, unloving, unthinking	charitable, compassionate, humane, kindly, merciful.

Difference Between Synonyms and Antonyms 

Sr. No.	Antonyms	Synonyms
1	Antonyms are words with opposite meanings	Synonyms are words with similar meanings
2	Antonyms of some words are formed by adding a prefix	Synonyms cannot be formed by adding a prefix
3	For Example- Waste	For Example- Economise

Practice Questions on Synonyms:

Choose the choice that most closely matches the highlighted word.
 

1. Odious

A. Delightful
B. Friendly
C. Decorative
D. Disgusting
E. Esthetic

Answer:   D
Odious: extremely unpleasant

2. Vivacious

A. Imaginary
B. Lively
C. Lazy  
D. Timely 
E. Perceptible

Answer:   B
Vivacious: attractively lively and animated (typically used of a woman).

3. Sporadic

A. Punctual
B. Frequent
C. Scattered
D. Irrelevant
E. Continuous

Answer: C
Sporadic: occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated.

4. Anticipate

A. Predict 
B. Contemplate
C. Assert
D. Neglect
E. Doubtfulness  

Answer: A
• Anticipate: regard as probable; expect or predict.

5. Persevere

A. Hesitate
B. Concede
C. Renounce
D. Persist
E. Discontinue

Answer: D
• Persevere: continue in the course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success.
• Concede: admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it.
• Renounce: formally declare one’s abandonment of (a claim, right, or possession).

6. Emancipation

A. Imprisonment
B. Liberation
C. Detention
D. Constraint
E. Subjugation    

Answer: B
• Emancipation: the fact or process of being set free from legal, social, or political restrictions; liberation.
• Detention: the action of detaining someone or the state of being detained in official custody.
• Constraint: a limitation or restriction. 
• Subjugation: the act of bringing someone or something under domination or control.

7. Beseech

A. Appeal
B. Mandate
C. Praise
D. Threaten
E. Relax

Answer: A
Beseech: ask (someone) urgently and fervently to do something; implore; entreat.

8. Garrulous

A. Quarrelsome
B. Confident
C. Talkative
D. Disgusting
E. Charming

Answer: C

Garrulous: excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.

Practice Questions on Antonyms : 

Choose the choice that is opposite to the highlighted word.

1. Subservient

A. Submissive
B. Servile
C. Obedient
D. Domineering
E. Agreeable

2. Boisterous

A. Tranquil 
B. Disorderly
C. Obstreperous
D. Tumultuous
E. Unrestrained

Answer: A

• Boisterous: noisy, energetic, and cheerful.
• Tranquil: free from disturbance; calm.
• Obstreperous: noisy and difficult to control. 
• Tumultuous: making an uproar or loud, confused noise.

3. Cacophony

A. Disharmony
B. Pandemonium
C. Turbulence
D. Hullabaloo
E. Euphony  

Answer: E

• Cacophony: a harsh discordant mixture of sounds
• Disharmony: lack of harmony or agreement. 
• Pandemonium: wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar.
• Turbulence: a state of conflict or confusion.
• Hullabaloo: a commotion; a fuss.
• Euphony: the quality of being pleasing to the ear.

4. Insipid

A. Uninteresting
B. Exciting  
C. Spiritless
D. Unpalatable
E. Monotonous  

Answer: B

• Insipid: lacking flavour; weak or tasteless. 
• Unpalatable: not pleasant to taste.

5. Pragmatic

A. Practical
B. Sensible
C. Idealistic
D. Realistic
E. Expedient

Answer: C

• Pragmatic: dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
• Expedient: suitable or appropriate
• Idealistic: unrealistically aiming for perfection
• Sensible: practical and functional rather than decorative.

6. Impetuous

A. Reckless
B. Hasty
C. Heedless
D. Cautious
E. Agitated

Answer: D

• Impetuous: acting or done quickly and without thought or care.
• Reckless: heedless of danger or the consequences of one’s actions; rash or impetuous. 
• Heedless: showing a reckless lack of care or attention.

7. Flippant

A. Disrespectful
B. Courteous 
C. Thoughtless
D. Strong
E. Successful

Answer: B

• Flippant: not showing a serious or respectful attitude.
• Courteous: polite, respectful, or considerate in manner. 

 FAQs on Synonyms and Antonyms :

Que 1. How to learn Synonyms and Antonyms
Answer: To learn Antonyms and Synonyms one must read new words daily and try to use these words in daily conversation. Keep revising these words and focus mainly on application.

Que 2. Is Antonyms and Synonyms are important for SSC CGL
Answer: Yes it is very important not only for SSC CGL but also for all competitive exams. One should focus on these questions. 4 -5 questions are asked in SSC CGL pre exams and in mains it plays a major role.

Que 3. What if one is not able to learn Antonyms and Synonyms so he/she afford to leave these questions in the exam?
Answer: This Question is totally subjective, who is going to ask this question? If someone is brilliant in Quant, Reasoning, GS, and English grammar and able to score 40+ marks in English only then he/she should afford to leave such questions otherwise one should focus on these questions.
 

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