A synonym is a word or phrase that has a similar or the exact meaning as another word or phrase.

Therefore synonyms can be used interchangeably within a sentence and the sentence would still have the same meaning. An easy way to remember the meaning is to remember that the word synonym begins with the letter S (for same).
It’s important to learn as many synonyms as possible as this will help you to improve your writing and speaking.

Synonyms help to improve your vocabulary and make writing and speaking more interesting when expressing ideas. A thesaurus can help you to learn synonyms for different words.

For example the words big and huge are synonyms because they have the same meanings.
➜ The elephant is big.
➜ The elephant is huge.

The adjective big and huge both mean of large size.

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For example, right and correct are synonyms because they have the same meanings. 

➜ That is the right answer.

➜ That is the correct answer.

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Some other examples are:

Smart  －  Intelligent

Alike  －  Same

Small  －  Tiny

Begin  －  Start

Rich  －  Wealthy

Scared  －  Afraid 

Download the free information sheet, list of 40 common synonyms, and then put your knowledge into practice by completing the topic worksheet.