Synonyms & Antonyms
Some words are twins that mean the same thing. Others are rivals that mean the exact opposite. Learn to spot both, work out new words from clues in the sentence, and build opposites with prefixes like un-, dis- and im-.
1What are synonyms and antonyms?
English has a huge number of words. Many of them share a meaning, and many are exact opposites. Knowing these pairs makes your writing richer and helps you score quick marks in the olympiad.
- Synonym
- A word that means the same (or nearly the same) as another word. big → large, begin → start, glad → happy.
- Antonym
- A word that means the opposite of another word. big → small, accept → reject, ancient → modern.
A synonym must be the same part of speech. The synonym of the verb begin is the verb start, not the noun beginning. The antonym of the adjective brave is the adjective cowardly, not the noun coward.
2How to crack these questions
In the exam you will see a word and four options. Follow these steps every single time. They take only a few seconds.
Use context clues
When you meet a new word inside a sentence, the other words around it are clues. Detectives use clues; so can you.
| Kind of clue | Example sentence | What the clue tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Cause / reason | The old man was weary after the long walk. | A long walk makes you tired. So weary = tired. |
| Synonym nearby | The room was spotless; it was completely clean. | The second half repeats the idea: spotless = very clean. |
| Opposite nearby | Rohan is timid, but his sister is bold. | “But” shows a contrast with bold, so timid = shy, easily frightened. |
| Example | Mangoes are abundant in May; every shop is full of them. | Shops full of mangoes → abundant = plentiful. |
| Definition | An ancient temple, one that is over a thousand years old, stands on the hill. | The words after the comma explain it: ancient = very old. |
Put each option in place of the word. The sentence should keep the same meaning for a synonym and the opposite meaning for an antonym. “The old man was very angry / happy / hungry / tired after the long walk.” Only tired keeps the meaning.
Choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word: The hungry lion devoured its meal in a few minutes.
3Synonym bank: 90 must-know pairs
These pairs come up again and again in Class 4 olympiad papers. They are grouped by theme so they are easier to learn. Read one table a day and say each pair aloud.
Size, amount and speed
| Word | Synonym | Word | Synonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| big | large | swift | rapid |
| huge | enormous | fast | quick |
| small | little | slow | sluggish |
| tiny | minute (say my-NEWT) | begin | start |
| vast | immense | end | finish |
| abundant | plentiful | halt | stop |
| scarce | rare | hurry | hasten |
| enough | sufficient | ascend | climb |
| whole | entire | leave | depart |
| broad | wide | reach | arrive |
Feelings and character
| Word | Synonym | Word | Synonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| glad | happy | brave | courageous |
| sad | sorrowful | polite | courteous |
| angry | cross | honest | truthful |
| afraid | scared | clever | intelligent |
| weary | tired | lazy | idle |
| calm | peaceful | wise | sensible |
| anxious | worried | famous | well-known |
| amazed | astonished | humble | modest |
| shy | timid | miserly | stingy |
| cheerful | jolly | stubborn | obstinate |
Describing things
| Word | Synonym | Word | Synonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| delicate | fragile | rich | wealthy |
| ancient | very old | poor | needy |
| modern | up-to-date | dirty | filthy |
| beautiful | lovely | costly | expensive |
| strong | powerful | silent | quiet |
| weak | feeble | noisy | loud |
| difficult | hard | correct | right |
| easy | simple | strange | odd |
| bright | shining | danger | peril |
| damp | moist | fertile | fruitful |
Actions (verbs)
| Word | Synonym | Word | Synonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| shout | yell | mend | repair |
| speak | talk | gather | collect |
| answer | reply | protect | guard |
| ask | enquire | destroy | ruin |
| buy | purchase | allow | permit |
| help | assist | try | attempt |
| get | obtain | seize | grab |
| choose | select | weep | cry |
| look | glance (a quick look) | praise | commend |
| show | display | devour | gobble |
| shut | close | vanish | disappear |
| hide | conceal | tell | inform |
| need | require | shine | glow |
| think | ponder | shake | tremble |
| jump | leap | wander | roam |
Synonyms are rarely perfect twins. Look, glance, stare and peep all mean “use your eyes”, but a glance is quick, a stare is long and a peep is secret. In the exam, choose the option closest in meaning.
Choose the synonym of vast.
Which pair is NOT a pair of synonyms?
4Antonym bank: 78 must-know pairs
Many antonyms are completely different words (not made with a prefix). You simply have to know them. Learn them in themes.
Size, amount and time
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| big | small | ancient | modern |
| wide | narrow | early | late |
| thick | thin | first | last |
| deep | shallow | begin | end |
| full | empty | temporary | permanent |
| many | few | always | never |
| maximum | minimum | before | after |
| abundant | scarce | dawn | dusk |
| expand | contract | young | old |
| increase | decrease | fresh | stale |
Movement and position
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| arrive | depart | above | below |
| ascend | descend | inside | outside |
| rise | fall | forward | backward |
| push | pull | float | sink |
| enter | exit | near | far |
| import | export | top | bottom |
Feelings and character
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| brave | cowardly | humble | proud |
| polite | rude | wise | foolish |
| generous | miserly | lazy | hard-working |
| kind | cruel | friend | enemy |
| happy | sad | hero | villain |
| strong | weak | guilty | innocent |
| love | hate | praise | blame |
Actions
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| accept | reject | lend | borrow |
| give | take | laugh | cry |
| buy | sell | attack | defend |
| win | lose | build | destroy |
| remember | forget | allow | forbid |
| open | shut | include | exclude |
| send | receive | question | answer |
| freeze | melt | whisper | shout |
Describing things
| Word | Antonym | Word | Antonym |
|---|---|---|---|
| rough | smooth | cheap | expensive |
| hot | cold | beautiful | ugly |
| wet | dry | rich | poor |
| clean | dirty | safe | dangerous |
| sweet | bitter | sharp | blunt |
| noisy | quiet | loose | tight |
| straight | crooked | public | private |
| success | failure | victory | defeat |
The antonym of generous is miserly, NOT poor. The antonym of ancient is modern, NOT historic. Rich and poor are about money; generous and miserly are about sharing. A rich person can be miserly, and a poor person can be generous!
Choose the antonym of temporary.
5Making opposites with prefixes
A prefix is a small group of letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning. Many prefixes mean “not”, so they turn a word into its opposite: happy → unhappy. The hard part is choosing the right prefix.
| Prefix | Meaning & rule | Examples (word → antonym) |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not. The most common prefix; used with many everyday words. | happy → unhappy, kind → unkind, able → unable, lucky → unlucky, tidy → untidy, fair → unfair, safe → unsafe, well → unwell, known → unknown, common → uncommon |
| dis- | not, or the reverse of an action | honest → dishonest, agree → disagree, like → dislike, appear → disappear, obey → disobey, connect → disconnect, loyal → disloyal, order → disorder, advantage → disadvantage, comfort → discomfort |
| in- | not | correct → incorrect, complete → incomplete, visible → invisible, active → inactive, separable → inseparable, direct → indirect, dependent → independent, expensive → inexpensive, formal → informal, capable → incapable |
| im- | not; used before b, m, p | possible → impossible, polite → impolite, patient → impatient, perfect → imperfect, pure → impure, mature → immature, mortal → immortal, balance → imbalance, proper → improper |
| il- | not; used before l | legal → illegal, logical → illogical, literate → illiterate, legible → illegible |
| ir- | not; used before r | regular → irregular, responsible → irresponsible, relevant → irrelevant, replaceable → irreplaceable, rational → irrational |
| non- | not; often with a hyphen | sense → nonsense, stop → non-stop, living → non-living, violent → non-violent, veg → non-veg |
| mis- | wrongly or badly | behave → misbehave, understand → misunderstand, fortune → misfortune, use → misuse, lead → mislead, place → misplace, spell → misspell |
Opposites made with suffixes
Some pairs change at the end instead. The suffix -ful means “full of” and -less means “without”: careful ↔ careless, hopeful ↔ hopeless, useful ↔ useless, harmful ↔ harmless, painful ↔ painless, fearful ↔ fearless.
Examiners love made-up options. Inaccept, unseparable, disseparable, unpossible, unlegal and disregular are not English words. The real antonyms are reject, inseparable, impossible, illegal and irregular. If a word looks odd, say it aloud: fake words usually sound wrong.
Spot the error: which opposite is formed wrongly?
Which word forms its opposite with the prefix im-?
6Trap words and tricky pairs
Most wrong answers in this topic come from a few clever tricks. Learn them once and you will not fall for them again.
1. Sound-alike words
| Word | Sounds like | Real antonym |
|---|---|---|
| accept (to take what is offered) | except (leaving out) | reject |
| expand (grow bigger) | expend (spend) | contract |
| lose (not win) | loose (not tight) | win / find |
| quite (fairly, very) | quiet (silent) | — |
2. One word, two opposites
Some words have more than one meaning, so they have more than one antonym. Read the sentence to know which meaning is used.
More examples: old → new (an old car) or young (an old man); close → open (close the door) or far (the shop is close by).
3. Words that look like opposites but are not
- flammable and inflammable mean the same: easily set on fire. The opposite is non-flammable.
- invaluable means extremely valuable (priceless), not “worth nothing”. The opposite of valuable is worthless.
- priceless also means extremely precious, even though it ends in -less.
4. Read the question word!
Test papers mix both kinds of question. Many options include one synonym and one antonym on purpose. If the question asks for the same meaning of brave, the answer is courageous, even though cowardly (the antonym) is sitting right there to catch you. Circle the words SAME, OPPOSITE, NOT in the question before you look at the options.
Choose the antonym of light in this sentence: This school bag is very light.
7Watch and explore
These short videos explain the ideas in this lesson in a different way. The Khan Academy ones show how good readers use clues and word parts.
- 📖What are synonyms and antonyms?bbc.co.uk/bitesize · read, watch and try the quiz
- 📖Prefixes and how to use thembbc.co.uk/bitesize · un-, dis-, mis- and more
- 📖Dealing with unfamiliar wordsbbc.co.uk/bitesize · work out meanings from clues
- 🎮Wordsmyth Kids dictionarykids.wordsmyth.net · look up a word, see its synonyms
- 🎮Cambridge Dictionarydictionary.cambridge.org · meanings, thesaurus & pronunciation
8Quick recap
- A synonym has the same (or nearly the same) meaning: big – large, swift – rapid, delicate – fragile.
- An antonym has the opposite meaning: accept – reject, expand – contract, ancient – modern.
- A synonym or antonym must be the same part of speech as the given word.
- Use context clues: causes, examples, “but” contrasts and definitions in the sentence.
- Do the swap test: put the option into the sentence and check the meaning.
- im- before b, m, p; il- before l; ir- before r; in-, un-, dis- for many others.
- dis- words to know: dishonest, disagree, disobey, disappear, dislike, disloyal.
- non- means not (non-living); mis- means wrongly (misbehave, misunderstand).
- -ful ↔ -less: careful – careless, useful – useless.
- Fake words like inaccept and unseparable are traps. Separable → inseparable.
- Sound-alikes are traps: except is not the opposite of accept.
- Generous ↔ miserly (not poor); flammable = inflammable; invaluable = very precious.