What are synonyms and antonyms?

Synonyms are words with the same or similar meaning:

• Words such as happy, cheerful and merry.
• Words such as sad, miserable and heartbroken.

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings:

• Words such as angry and peaceful.
• Words such as funny and serious.

You can use a thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms for words.

Using the same words over and over in our writing can be a little boring.

Complete the table below, filling in the synonyms and antonyms, for some common words that you could use in your writing in the future to make it more interesting.

Try and find * at least* three synonyms for each word.

Synonyms can really help to improve your vocabulary.

They can make sure you use a variety of words in your writing, not just repeating the same thing over and over.

For example: Instead of saying 'said' over and over, you can use synonyms like 'whispered' or 'shouted'. This paints a better picture for your reader about how the character is speaking.

Write each sentence out but change the word in bold for a synonym to make it more interesting.

1. Douglas said “Oi, get out of my garden!”

2. “I think I hear something upstairs,” said Jenny.

3. It is such a nice day today.

4. Poppy was such a nice girl as she always had such nice manners.

5. Bill and Kate crept quietly down the stairs.

6. An old pot was discovered buried in the garden.