Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between

Home / Language / Grammar / Difference Between Antonyms and Synonyms

Difference Between Antonyms and Synonyms

March 30, 2012 Posted by Admin

Antonyms vs Synonyms
 

English language is full of sets of different words that have same or similar meaning, and it also has scores of sets of different words that have opposite or almost opposite meanings. For those who are natives of English speaking countries, there is no problem in appreciating the difference between a synonym and an antonym but for people belonging to other cultures and languages, it is difficult to differentiate between synonyms and antonyms. Let us take a closer look.

Synonyms

If someone is sick, it is right to say that he is ill. Here, it can be seen that sick and ill are two words that have similar meanings. Different words having similar meanings are called synonyms and help people to express their feelings in a better way. Some words have different meanings, and only one meaning coincides with another word. There are experts who claim that no two words have identical meanings in all contexts or usage. Despite this, synonyms can be used interchangeably. If the connotation of a sentence remains the same with two different words, the two words can be referred to as synonyms. Take a look at the following example.

• George took out his car to go to the police station.

• George took out his automobile to get to the police station.

One can easily see that car and automobile mean the same and can be easily interchanged.

Though to die and to expire remain the same and one can use either of the two to refer to a person who has passed away (third synonym), you cannot say that your passport has died (it has obviously expired).

Antonyms

Antonyms are sets of different words that have opposite or nearly opposite meaning. Day and night, black and white, bright and dark, long and short etc are examples of antonyms. Antonyms also tell us that one of the pairs is not like the other. For example if we say that subjects in an experiment were all males, we are in effect saying that they were not females. If someone has long hair, she does not have short hair is what comes first to our mind.

Yes, you can have antonyms of male as female and, in a species, as lion and lioness, but there are no antonyms for a species. It is a cat means it is not a dog, but that doesn’t make a cat and a dog as antonyms. If fat and thin are antonyms, thin is antonym to obese and overweight also because obese and overweight are synonyms.

 

What is the difference between Antonyms and Synonyms?

• Similar meaning words are called synonyms while apposite meaning words are called antonyms.

• All synonyms of a word are antonyms to the antonym of that word.

• Some words have different meanings, and not all meanings are synonyms of another word.

• Antonyms tell us that one word in the pair is not the same as another word in the pair. For example, if one is tall, he is certainly not short.

 

Related posts:

Difference Between Then and Than in English GrammarDifference Between Then and Than in English Grammar Difference Between Used to and WouldDifference Between Used to and Would Difference Between May and Must Difference Between Nor and Or Difference Between Direct Objects and Indirect ObjectsDifference Between Direct Objects and Indirect Objects

Filed Under: Grammar Tagged With: antonym, synonym

About the Author: Admin

Coming from Engineering cum Human Resource Development background, has over 10 years experience in content developmet and management.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request Article

Featured Posts

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

You May Like

Difference Between SNMP v2 and v3

Difference Between Honey Bees and Bumble Bees

Difference Between Surplus and Profit

Difference Between Homofermentative and Heterofermentative Bacteria

Difference Between Homofermentative and Heterofermentative Bacteria

Difference Between Astronaut and Cosmonaut

Difference Between Astronaut and Cosmonaut

Latest Posts

  • What is the Difference Between Declarative and Procedural Memory
  • What is the Difference Between Pancytopenia and Thrombocytopenia
  • What is the Difference Between Sandwich Elisa and Competitive Elisa
  • What is the Difference Between Mayor and Governor
  • What is the Difference Between ABI and TBI
  • What is the Difference Between Primary and Secondary Addison’s Disease
  • Home
  • Vacancies
  • About
  • Request Article
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal.