Archimedes said give me a lever and I will move the world. I say give me a synonym and I will create new worlds. We just need one good word to start with.
Synonyms are words that mean the same thing. This definition is a good BEGINNING, but once you get STARTED you will SET IN MOTION situations where you will need to TAKE UP newer, better definitions. It can be a big problem. So let’s start with big. What are some synonyms of big? When are they the same, how are they different and do they stop being synonyms?

There are many synonyms for big: large, giant, huge. These words talk about size. I think they talk about overall size, so in the video I say that for me tall is not a synonym for big. Coffee culture has complicated things with its own special size vocabulary so that now tall means small. It looks like I was right and wrong, tall is used to reference size but it is not used as an antonym for big. Like I said defining synonyms can be a big problem. Or should I say difficult?

Even if they are different, are they too different? Sometimes words may not be literal synonyms but we can learn a lot from linking them together. Think of them as adventures in trying different ways of doing things. Consider the words Pretty, Beautiful, and Cute.

Would you like people to say that you are pretty, beautiful, or cute? I’d actually like people to say I am handsome. Handsome is a word we tend to use for men who are good looking. Good looking women are usually described as beautiful. Any of these words would be ok and express pretty much the same meaning. Peter is handsome. Peter is beautiful. Peter is good looking. But each one feels a little different, especially when somebody is talking about you.

Nuance describes how synonyms can say the same thing but feel differently.
We can do the same with worksheets. Here are two different ways to present synonym sets. Can you see how they are the same but different?

Let’s look at BIG, MAJOR and IMPORTANT.

Tokyo is a BIG city, almost 14 million people live there.
Tokyo is BIG in the sense of population. The number of people who live in Tokyo is a very BIG number.

Tokyo is a MAJOR city with two international airports.
Tokyo is a BIG transportation hub. Even if the population of Tokyo was small, it would still be a MAJOR city because of the airports.

Tokyo is an IMPORTANT city, it is the capital of Japan.
Even if Tokyo was very small and had no airports it would still be an important city because it is the capital of Japan.
Interesting side note, a very small city in the United States is Montpelier, the capital of Vermont. Montpelier is important for being the capital of Vermont even though the population of Montpelier is less than 10,000 people. Montpelier doesn’t even have a McDonald’s. That may make it an especially important city.

Another way of understanding synonyms is thinking about the very different ways people talk about the same thing. Think about your hand. How would you describe your hand? Do you think a doctor would use the same words to talk about your hand? I know I would need to bring a dictionary along with me or ask a lot of questions because my doctor is going to use a bunch of words I don’t know. But I’ll learn them.

As we learn synonyms and appreciate the nuance they bring to our conversations and our thinking we will get a better and richer understanding of English. The best way to do that is with friends. Talk to each other about the words you know and how you think they are different.

There is no set answer on the limits of meaning for words, at one point it is all up to you. While we can’t have fixed answers, we can respect the range of meaning it is possible for words to hold. One fun way to check what other people think a word means is through social media hashtags, especially on sites like Instagram. You get an instant picture dictionary.

That’s a lot to think about. The key point is there is more than one way to say something and your way is just as good as mine. Whatever you do with synonyms you can do with antonyms too. This is all just a part of building a better vocabulary. Click here to learn more about VOCABULARY BUILDING.

You can view our complete collection of SYNONYM SETS here.