Consider Various Meanings to Find Synonym Pairs

You may have already looked at antonyms (words meaning the opposite to each other) but now here’s a challenge about synonyms.

Can you help us out with these, word detective?

What do you notice about the words below?

thoughtful        generous        unselfish

They all mean the same thing...kind!

These words are called synonyms.

Synonyms are words that mean the same or have a very similar meaning to other words.

Which of the following are synonyms for busy?

lazy        hectic        greedy       rushed         active

Hectic, active and rushed are all synonyms as they mean the same or a similar thing.

A thesaurus is a great resource to use to look up synonyms for words.

Let’s try another:

The girl drew a picture.

Which of the following words is a synonym for drew and could replace it in the sentence?

wrote        sketched        scribbled

The answer is sketched as it has the closest meaning to drew.

Pssstt!! Here’s a handy hint to help you reach superstar status:

The first letter of the word synonym is the same as the first letter for similar.  

It’s a clever trick to remember what synonym means.

If you come across any new words in this activity, make a note of them so that you can use them in your writing.

It’s now your turn to identify synonyms.  

Good luck!