Mystery number one. Is it possible to replace with impunity enormous to its synonym monumental?
Mystery number two. What is the antonym of the word long?
Despite tons of new advanced vocabulary, students continue to use simple words like good, bad, beautiful, interesting, and teachers continue to beg them: “well, tell me amazing, fantastic, awesome!»
And it's all true, you can't argue. Take a look at the old post about, it has not lost its relevance.
However, since then there have been new thoughts about synonyms, antonyms and phrases in English language.
Synonyms in English
Advanced synonyms are great. But there is one big BUT.
Just because words are synonymous does not mean they are universal and interchangeable. Different synonyms may have different compatibility. Just because
- enormous
- giant
- substantial
Synonyms do not mean that they are always interchangeable.
Dictionary definitions of different synonyms do not add clarity:
- notably large in size, amount or extent
- exceptionally large or heavy
- large and heavy, impressively large
These are definitions of 3 DIFFERENT words. Do you see the difference? Here I am no. The dictionary in this case does not help, but only confuses. Much more useful for understanding the difference (and the difference in meaning, and the difference in usage) is the knowledge of phrases.
Different synonyms are often combined with different words in different contexts.
- enormous appetite (but not monumental)
- giant screen (but not dramatic)
- vast majority (but not enormous)
- substantial breakfast (but not vast)
Let's take the floor together small and do the same with him. I will even provide screenshots from the dictionary (Longman Dictionary Online) to make sure that I did not invent these definitions myself.
How are you? Are these definitions very useful?
And here are phrases with different synonyms for the word small
- tiny hint / bikini / minority
- petty crime / theft / cash
- miniature golf / version
- teeny bit / bit upset / piece
- baby carrots
- miniscule fragment / portion
- small-scale enterprise / production
- slight difference / emphasis
- period limited / number of (tickets)
- minute detail / trace
Quite another matter!
The funniest thing I've heard on this subject is the phrase:
When I was *miniscule, I loved candies
It's just that the student decided to start using advanced synonyms for ordinary words, downloaded one of the lists that are circulating on the net, and began to sculpt whatever he hit anywhere. And specifically in this context about “when I was little” and no fancy synonyms are needed, it’s enough:
When I was little / a kid, I loved candies.
Antonyms in English
Since we are talking about synonyms, it is worth talking about antonyms. They are very interesting sometimes.
What is the antonym of the word long? If at the beginning of the post your first impulse was to answer short, read on))
In fact, to the question "what is the antonym of the word X?" cannot be answered without taking into account the phrases. For example, at long word the antonym is indeed short word.
And here it will be different:
- long breakfast - quick breakfast
- long experience - limited experience
- long discussion - brief discussion
(In Google and in the corpus of examples brief discussion many times more than short discussion, which means that although short doesn't seem to be an error brief discussion is a more common phrase.)
That is, you can’t just take and answer the question “what is the antonym of the word long(and any other) "?)) Most often, the antonym will be short, but not at all necessary.
Or with the word subtle and its antonyms, let's have fun:
- subtle colors - bold colors
- subtle flavor - pronounced flavor
- subtle message - clear message
Walk so walk! Let's do the same with antonyms heavy:
- heavy rain - light rain
- heavy accent
- heavy criticism - minor criticism⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Stop learning words!
All of the above is one of the reasons to fall in love, chunks and lexical approach. Words go together in a certain way with certain words, but not with others.
You can't just throw words; one cannot randomly replace all simple words with advanced synonyms; one cannot think linearly in terms long-short, heavy-light, rich-poor- and at the same time sound in English naturally.
Antonyms in English
Antonyms are words that have the opposite meaning. For example, hot - cold, morning - evening, slow - fast, etc. When studying the Russian language in school curriculum antonyms are allocated some time.
The English language also has antonyms, that is, words with the opposite meaning. As a rule, when studying a language at school or institute, attention is not always paid to antonyms. This is easily explained, because a person who studies Russian at school and knows the definition of the word "antonyms" can independently find such pairs of words.
However, in our opinion, the most popular and frequently used antonyms can be divided into a separate group for . After all, we all know that words are best taught in groups. That is, when the words are somehow related to each other.
Of course, the following collection of English antonyms does not claim to be complete. In addition to these examples, hundreds of other antonyms can be cited. But we tried to collect a small English dictionary antonyms. For the convenience of studying the words, antonyms are not only written, but also made in the form of tablets that you can print out and take with you.
empty-full
empty - full
difficult, hard-easy
difficult - easy
different - the same, similar
different - the same, similar
fast, quick-slow
fast - slow
clever - foolish, stupid
quick-witted / smart - stupid, stupid
correct - incorrect, wrong
correct - incorrect
deep - shallow
deep - shallow
crazy - reasonable, sensible
crazy - reasonable, sane
exact, precise - inaccurate, inexact
accurate - inaccurate
dry-wet
dry - wet
frequent - rare
frequent - rare
first-last
first - last
funny, amusing-serious
funny, amusing / entertaining - serious
accurate - inaccurate
correct / accurate - incorrect / inaccurate
busy, occupied - free
busy - free
calm, quiet - noisy, excited
calm, quiet - noisy, agitated
cold, cool - hot, warm
cold, cool - hot, warm
early - late
early - late
dead–alive
dead - alive
front - back, rear
front - rear
active, energetic - inactive, passive
active, energetic - inactive, passive
big, large - little, small
big small
bright, colorful - dull, colorless
bright, colorful - dull, colorless
bold, confident – timid, shy
bold, confident - timid, shy
clean, neat - dirty
clean, tidy - dirty
attentive - inattentive
attentive - inattentive
brave, bold - afraid, frightened
brave, courageous - fearful, frightened
awful, terrible - great, excellent, wonderful
terrible - excellent, wonderful
comfortable, cozy - uncomfortable
convenient / comfortable, cozy - uncomfortable
best-worst
best - worst
delicious, tasty - tasteless, inedible
tasty - tasteless, inedible
educated - uneducated, ignorant
educated - uneducated, ignorant
careful, careful - careless
prudent, cautious - careless
cruel, merciless - kind, humane
cruel, ruthless - kind, humane
dangerous - safe
dangerous - safe / safe
beautiful, attractive, good-looking, pretty-ugly
handsome, attractive, good-looking, pretty - ugly
cheerful-gloomy
joyful - gloomy
fresh - stale
fresh - stale
friendly - unfriendly, hostile
friendly - unfriendly, hostile
firm, stable - shaky, unstable
firm, stable - shaky, unstable
far, distant - near, close
distant, distant, close
even, smooth – rough, uneven
even, smooth - uneven, uneven
confident, sure - not sure
sure - not sure
foreign - domestic, local
foreign - domestic, local
decent-indecent, obscene
decent / decent - indecent, obscene
fair, just - unfair, unjust
fair - unfair
faithful, loyal - unfaithful, disloyal
faithful / devoted - unfaithful
Once again we want to say that this is not a complete dictionary of English antonyms. But, gradually , you can independently select pairs of such words. In English, as in Russian, there are a lot of antonyms.
Antonyms are words that have the opposite meaning. For example, hot - cold, morning - evening, slow - fast, etc. When studying the Russian language in the school curriculum, antonyms are given some time.
The English language also has antonyms, that is, words with the opposite meaning. As a rule, when studying a language at school or institute, attention is not always paid to antonyms. This is easily explained, because a person who studies Russian at school and knows the definition of the word "antonyms" can independently find such pairs of words.
However, in our opinion, the most popular and frequently used antonyms can be divided into a separate group for. After all, we all know that words are best taught in groups. That is, when the words are somehow related to each other.
Of course, the following collection of English antonyms does not claim to be complete. In addition to these examples, hundreds of other antonyms can be cited. But we tried to collect a small English dictionary of antonyms. For the convenience of studying the words, antonyms are not only written, but also made in the form of tablets that you can print out and take with you.
empty-full
empty - full
difficult, hard-easy
difficult - easy
different - the same, similar
different - the same, similar
fast, quick-slow
fast - slow
clever - foolish, stupid
quick-witted / smart - stupid, stupid
correct - incorrect, wrong
correct - incorrect
deep - shallow
deep - shallow
crazy - reasonable, sensible
crazy - reasonable, sane
exact, precise - inaccurate, inexact
accurate - inaccurate
dry-wet
dry - wet
frequent - rare
frequent - rare
first-last
first - last
funny, amusing-serious
funny, amusing / entertaining - serious
accurate - inaccurate
correct / accurate - incorrect / inaccurate
busy, occupied - free
busy - free
calm, quiet - noisy, excited
calm, quiet - noisy, agitated
cold, cool - hot, warm
cold, cool - hot, warm
early - late
early - late
dead–alive
dead - alive
front - back, rear
front - rear
active, energetic - inactive, passive
active, energetic - inactive, passive
big, large - little, small
big small
bright, colorful - dull, colorless
bright, colorful - dull, colorless
bold, confident – timid, shy
bold, confident - timid, shy
clean, neat - dirty
clean, tidy - dirty
attentive - inattentive
attentive - inattentive
brave, bold - afraid, frightened
brave, courageous - fearful, frightened
awful, terrible - great, excellent, wonderful
terrible - excellent, wonderful
comfortable, cozy - uncomfortable
convenient / comfortable, cozy - uncomfortable
best-worst
best - worst
delicious, tasty - tasteless, inedible
tasty - tasteless, inedible
educated - uneducated, ignorant
educated - uneducated, ignorant
careful, careful - careless
prudent, cautious - careless
cruel, merciless - kind, humane
cruel, ruthless - kind, humane
dangerous - safe
dangerous - safe / safe
beautiful, attractive, good-looking, pretty-ugly
handsome, attractive, good-looking, pretty - ugly
cheerful-gloomy
joyful - gloomy
fresh - stale
fresh - stale
friendly - unfriendly, hostile
friendly - unfriendly, hostile
firm, stable - shaky, unstable
firm, stable - shaky, unstable
far, distant - near, close
distant, distant, close
even, smooth – rough, uneven
even, smooth - uneven, uneven
confident, sure - not sure
sure - not sure
foreign - domestic, local
foreign - domestic, local
decent-indecent, obscene
decent / decent - indecent, obscene
fair, just - unfair, unjust
fair - unfair
faithful, loyal - unfaithful, disloyal
faithful / devoted - unfaithful
Once again we want to say that this is not a complete dictionary of English antonyms. But, gradually, you will be able to independently select pairs of such words. In English, as in Russian, there are a lot of antonyms.
Friends, today we will learn something new and difficult. I have always been interested in studying lexicology. True, not all aspects, but only some. So, it has always been informative to learn about neologisms or archaisms, synonyms and antonyms. I hope you know what it is and it makes no sense to give an exact definition.
You need to improve your level, and there is nothing better than to study words, starting not from translation, but from the same words, but only in the opposite sense. The sentence turned out to be “butter, oily”, but I think it’s pretty understandable. The dictionary turned out in the format "English - English", and there are few such props, which is not good. It will fill this niche with various useful things. Forward to study.
List of studied antonyms with translation:
absent - present
accurate - inaccurate
active, energetic, lively - inactive, passive, apathetic
attentive, considerate, thoughtful - inattentive, inconsiderate
awful, terrible, horrible, dreadful - great, excellent, wonderful
awkward, clumsy - skillful, dexterous, adroit, deft
basic, fundamental - secondary, additional
beautiful, attractive, good-looking, pretty-ugly, repulsive
best-worst
big, large - little, small
bold, confident – timid, shy
brave, bold, courageous, fearless - afraid, frightened, scared, timid, cowardly
bright, clear, vivid, colorful - dull, dim, colorless
busy, occupied - free
calm, quiet, peaceful - noisy, agitated, excited, nervous
careful, careful - careless
cheerful, joyful - cheerless, gloomy
clean, neat, tidy - dirty, untidy
clever, smart - foolish, silly, stupid
cold, chilly, cool - hot, warm
comfortable, cozy - uncomfortable
confident, sure, certain, positive - doubtful, uncertain
constructive-destructive
convenient - inconvenient
correct - incorrect, wrong
crazy, insane - reasonable, sensible, rational
cruel, merciless, ruthless, brutal, inhuman - kind, merciful, humane
dead–alive
deep, profound - shallow, superficial
definite, clear - vague, indefinite
delicious, tasty - tasteless, unpalatable, inedible
different - the same, similar
difficult, hard-easy
dry-wet
eager, willing - reluctant, unwilling
early - late
economic (situation), economical (car)
educated, literate - uneducated, ignorant, illiterate
empty-full
essential, indispensable, requisite, necessary, required – unnecessary, optional, dispensable
even, smooth – rough, uneven
even - odd, uneven
evident, obvious, clear, plain - vague, obscure
evil, malicious - kind, nice, good
exact, precise - inaccurate, inexact
expensive, costly, valuable - inexpensive, cheap
experienced, skilled, competent, qualified
fair, just, objective, unbiased, impartial - unfair, unjust, biased, prejudiced
faithful, loyal, devoted - unfaithful, disloyal, treacherous
famous, renowned, celebrated, distinguished, well-known – unknown, obscure
far, distant, remote - near, close
fast, quick, rapid, speedy, swift - slow
favorable, beneficial, beneficial - harmful
fine, refined, delicate, exquisite - common, coarse, gross, vulgar
firm, steady, stable, strong - shaky, unstable, weak
first-last
flexible - rigid, inflexible, rigid
foreign, alien - domestic, local, native
fragile, delicate - strong, sturdy
frequent - rare, infrequent
fresh - stale
friendly - unfriendly, hostile
front - back, rear
funny, amusing, humorous, comic, comical, laughable, ridiculous – serious, grave
general - special, particular, specific
gentle, mild, soft - coarse, rough, harsh, severe
good, nice, pleasant - bad, unpleasant, disgusting
happy, glad, pleased - unhappy, sad, miserable
hard-soft
heavy-light
high-low
historic (moment), historical (fact)
honest, truthful, trustworthy, sincere - dishonest, insincere
huge, enormous, colossal, giant, gigantic – small, tiny
important, significant - unimportant, insignificant, petty
incredible, unbelievable, fantastic
independent, free - dependent, not free
intelligent, wise - dull, stupid
interested, curious - uninterested / disinterested, indifferent, bored
interesting - dull, boring
kind, good-natured - strict, unkind, ill-natured
lazy, idle - hard-working
light-dark
long-short, brief, concise
loud, noisy - quiet, soft
loving, fond, affectionate, tender - unloving, indifferent, harsh
lucky, fortunate - unlucky, unfortunate
magnificent, grand, majestic - shabby, miserable
main, chief, principal - subordinate, subsidiary, secondary, auxiliary, additional
moral, ethical, decent - immoral, unethical, indecent, obscene
narrow - wide
natural - unnatural, affected
necessary, required - unnecessary
new, modern, up-to-date – old, old-fashioned, outdated, ancient
noble, honorable - mean
normal, usual, standard, regular - strange, peculiar, odd, unusual
original - ordinary, banal, trite
outstanding, prominent, eminent, remarkable - ordinary, mediocre
patient-impatient
polite, civilized, well-mannered - impolite, rude, ill-mannered
positive-negative
possible, probable, likely - impossible, improbable, unlikely
previous, preceding, former - next, following
primary-secondary
proper, appropriate, suitable, fitting - improper, inappropriate, unsuitable
proud, arrogant, haughty - modest, humble
real, genuine, authentic - artificial, fake, fictitious
reasonable, sensible, logical - unreasonable, illogical, absurd, crazy, foolish, ridiculous
reliable, dependable - unreliable
respectable, reputable - notorious, infamous
rich, wealthy, well-to-do - poor
right-left
right, correct, true – wrong, incorrect, not true, false, erroneous
round - square, triangular
safe, secure - unsafe, insecure, dangerous
sharp, keen, acute - dull, blunt
shy, timid - confident, self-confident
sick, ill - healthy
simple - complex, complicated
strong, tough, sturdy - weak, delicate, fragile
stubborn, obstinate - compliant, docile, obedient
sufficient, adequate, enough
suitable, fitting, appropriate - unsuitable, inappropriate
surprising, amazing - ordinary
sweet-sour, bitter, salty
tall-short
tense – relaxed
thick, fat - thin, slim, slender
tight-loose
true-false, deceptive, misleading
understandable, clear, intelligible, comprehensible - unclear, not clear, unintelligible, incomprehensible
useful, helpful - useless
whole, entire, complete, full, total - incomplete, limited, partial
young - middle-aged, old, elderly
P.S. If you don't like something in the dictionary itself, you can always edit it instead of writing a "outrage" comment. I give you a start, and you yourself decide what to do with this start.
Compilation in format for Lingvo Tutor 12
Selection in Excel format with transcription
