Thesaurus usage

Your friend said the new superhero movie was thrilling. If you look up 'thrilling' in a thesaurus to retell the story, which synonym best keeps the original meaning of excitement?

• calm

• long

• exciting

• funny

Answer explanation

In a thesaurus, 'exciting' is a direct synonym for 'thrilling', capturing the sense of high energy and suspense. The other words change the meaning entirely.

When you use a thesaurus, you find lists of synonyms. Match each word below to its correct synonym.

• huge

• calm

• peaceful

• brave

• courageous

• enormous

• intelligent

• smart

Answer explanation

Each word is paired with a synonym found in a thesaurus: enormous means huge, brave means courageous, calm means peaceful, and smart means intelligent.

A thesaurus gives you many synonyms for 'look'. Sort these words based on the type of looking they describe: a quick action or a long, steady one.

Groups:

(a) Quick Look

,

(b) Long, Steady Look

• glance

• stare

• peek

• gaze

Answer explanation

A thesaurus helps distinguish between similar words. 'Glance' and 'peek' are quick looks, while 'stare' and 'gaze' describe looking for a longer time.

A thesaurus can also list antonyms (opposites). Which of the following words is an antonym for generous?

• kind

• giving

• selfish

• happy

Answer explanation

An antonym is a word with the opposite meaning. 'Selfish' is the opposite of 'generous', while 'kind' and 'giving' are synonyms.

In the sentence 'That was a fast race,' the word 'fast' is an adjective. If you look it up in a thesaurus, which synonym is also an adjective?

• quickly

• speed

• swift

• rush

Answer explanation

A thesaurus entry often notes the part of speech. 'Swift' is an adjective, just like 'fast'. 'Quickly' is an adverb, 'speed' is a noun, and 'rush' is a verb.

Using a thesaurus can help you find antonyms (opposites). Match each word to its correct antonym.

• complex

• arrive

• rude

• polite

• modern

• ancient

• depart

• simple

Answer explanation

Each word is correctly matched with its opposite: arrive/depart, simple/complex, ancient/modern, and polite/rude. A thesaurus provides these relationships.

Read the sentence below: The old, abandoned house looked **scary** in the dim moonlight. If you used a thesaurus to find a more precise word for **scary**, which synonym would best fit the context of the sentence?

• startling

• eerie

• terrifying

• unpleasant

Answer explanation

A thesaurus provides synonyms. While all the options are related to 'scary,' 'eerie' best describes something that is strange, mysterious, and frightening in a way that makes you feel uneasy. This perfectly fits the atmosphere of an old, abandoned house in the moonlight. 'Startling' suggests a sudden shock, 'terrifying' is much more intense, and 'unpleasant' is too general.

A thesaurus entry for the word difficult would list both synonyms and antonyms. Sort the following words into the correct category.

Groups:

(a) Synonyms for 'difficult'

,

(b) Antonyms for 'difficult'

• challenging

• simple

• effortless

• easy

• hard

• tough

Answer explanation

'Challenging', 'tough', and 'hard' are synonyms for 'difficult'. 'Easy', 'simple', and 'effortless' are antonyms, meaning the opposite.

If you were writing a report and wanted to find another word for important, which synonym would you find in a thesaurus?

• unimportant

• significant

• boring

• regular

Answer explanation

'Significant' is a direct synonym for 'important'. 'Unimportant' is an antonym, and the other options have different meanings.

When replacing a word using a thesaurus, you must match its part of speech. Match each word to a synonym that is the same part of speech.

• make

• brave (adjective)

• leisurely

• anger (noun)

• courageous

• create (verb)

• fury

• slowly (adverb)

Answer explanation

Each word is matched to a synonym with the same function: 'brave' and 'courageous' are adjectives, 'create' and 'make' are verbs, 'anger' and 'fury' are nouns, and 'slowly' and 'leisurely' are adverbs.