Lesson: Synonyms and Antonyms

LESSON: SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS SYNONYMS A synonym is a word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. The use of synonyms is very essential in English. First, synonyms help in word choice to find a more accurate match to the meaning you're trying to communicate. Second, they help you add more variety in your writing and avoid using the same word too much. Examples Request-beg/ask Find-search Bold-brave Carton-box Dangerous-risky Link-join Fast-quick Ill-sick Easy-simple Mistake-error Sad-unhappy Beautiful – attractive Exercise: provide synonyms for the underlined words The Essence of Studies The essence of studies is to develop one’s intellect. Just as I.M Copi puts it, “all reasoning is thinking but not all thinking is reasoning”. I derived utmost satisfaction after completing my basic English lessons with excellent grades. The last class was a very enthusiastic gathering of learned individuals wanting to showcase their skills and indeed, it turned out to be so. ANTONYMS An antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word. Simply put, an antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word, such as cold-hot, good-bad, man-woman, tall-short, black-white etc. More examples Buy-sell Accept-reject Big-small God-Satan Laugh-cry Not yet-already Yes-no Never-always Wise-foolish Light-darkness Smooth-rough Exercise: give at least two antonyms for the following words; Nasty : Take : Useful : Terrible : Thirsty : Repair : Forget : Liquid : Allow : Dead : MORE EXERCISES Fill in the blanks with the words opposite in meaning to those underlined. (10mks) 1. What looks like a convenient shortcut may prove to be very ……………………… in the long run. 2. No one wants to listen to an ignorant man but everybody listens to a ……………….. man. 3. Gold in an expensive metal while iron is …………………… 4. My application was accepted but his was ………………………. 5. The teacher tried to make the student confident but he still looked very ……………………….. 6. He failed to qualify in the first two attempts but …………………. in the third one. 7. He often visits me but I ………………….. go to his house. 8. He is brave but his brother is ……………………. 9. An airplane consumes more fuel while ascending than while ………………………. 10. Tigers are very common in Kerala but lions are …………………