Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
1. Able (it is a general term and does not mention any special quality or merit): Pandit Jawaharlal was an able politician.
Capable (it denotes proficiency in doing a particular thing): Hari is capable of riding a horse.
2. About (more or less than): Radha is about thirty-one.
Nearly (a little less than): He is nearly fifty.
Almost (very nearly but not quite): Kabin Phukan is almost to win the race.
3. Aid (to help a person by adding our effort to his own): We aided Rama to set up the business.
Help (to give somebody something that he requires): We helped Rakesh to accomplish the feat.
4. Admit (to acknowledge an ordinary thing or mistake): We should admit our fault.
Confess (to admit guilt or crime): Radha confessed that he had stolen the bicycle.
5. Alone (by oneself, without taking any assistance from others): Ram alone solved the problem.
Only (solely): Srimati Geeta Devi was the only child of her parents who stood first in the field of fine arts.
6.Ancient (not modern, belonging to long past): ancient India was full of glory.
Old (not new or young): That was an old car.
7. Artist (one who is skilled in arts like music, painting, drawing etc.): Pabita is a good artist.
Artiste (a professional singer, dancer etc.): Dr Bhupen Hazarika was a reputed artiste of India.
Artisan (one who is skilled in handy work like carpentry, weaving etc.): Rubul is a good artisan.
8. Avenge (to pay back a wrong done to the others): Rajesh avenged his father’s murderer.
Revenge (to pay back a wrong done to oneself ): Tara Prashad revenged his opponent by sending him to prison.
9. Authentic (true or trustworthy): It is an authentic biography.
Genuine (correctness of the source): His demand was genuine.
10. Absurd (unreasonable): Your demand for a kilo of gold is absurd.
Impossible (what is against natural law): It is impossible to make a sea of milk.
Impracticable (what is impossible to practise): His plans to turn the desert into a fertile land is impracticable.
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
11. Amazed (struck with overwhelming wonder): We are amazed at Radha’s successful debut as a singer.
Astonished (that which is great and striking): We were astonished to see him do the work of a mason.
Surprised (that which is new or unexpected ): His sudden appearance surprised us.
12. Among (referring to more than two): Distribute the marbles among the girls.
Between (referring to two): Babul entered between the two boys and worsened the matter.
13. Answer (to response in speech or writing to a question ): The boys answered all the questions.
Reply (to reply to a formal enquiry): She replied why she was absent from the class.
Retort (a short and pointed reply): Geetali retorted his parents face to face that she would not do the work.
14. Allude (to touch indirectly): The book alluded the folk-tale of ancient India.
Refer to (to mention distinctly ): Rana referred to Sonnet no. 52 by William Shakespeare.
15. Avarice (excessive desire for wealth): The politicians have avarice for money.
Greed (excessive desire for food): Ram’s greed for sweet-meats made him sick.
(Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms)
16. Aware (of) (conscious to one’s surrounding): We should be aware of the degradation of our environment.
Conscious (of) (alive to one’s thoughts and feelings): I am conscious of my ability.
17. Ambiguous (having a double meaning): Geeta made an ambiguous comment on the case.
Equivocal (having a double meaning made often to cheat the person involved): At last it became clear that his comment on the theme was equivocal.
18. Assent (it is a general term and it implies understanding): He gave his assent and we did it without any hesitation.
Consent (refers to the will or feeling of a person): He consented that he is ever ready to help us.
19. Banish (the term is used when a person – a native or a foreigner is forced by the government to leave the country): The English ambassador was banished from Iraq.
Exile (it is used when a person leaves his country): The Pancha Pandavas were exiled from their land for thirteen years.
20. Beautiful (it is used to mean pretty, the term is feminine in sense): Geetika was a beautiful girl.
Handsome (it is used to refer to fair look, the term is masculine in sense.): Raman is a handsome boy.
21. Bring (to come with): Raja brought a new coat.
Fetch (to go and come back with): Ganesh went to the fair and fetched a pretty leather bag.
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
22. Bill (draft of a proposed Act): The Loka Sabha passed a Bill pertaining the Juvenile crime.
Act (A Bill which is passed by the legislature): The Act pertaining to the rights to vote came into force in most countries in the twentieth century.
23.Beat (to strike again and again with something): The boy was beating the drum.
Strike (to make a blow): He boy struck his friend on the head.
24. Compulsion (refers to physical force): We are under the compulsion to attend the meeting.
Obligation (refers to moral consideration): We have an obligation to help the poor.
25. Command (it is a stronger term and refers to the order from a superior authority like King, Queen, General to an inferior officer): The King commanded his ministers to wage a war against the infidels.
Order (it is a mild term and more informal): The Principal ordered the students to maintain strict discipline.
26. Compare (to show both likeness and difference): Compare Saddam with Muammar Gaddafi.
Contrast (to show differences only): Contrast Akbar with Aurangzeb.
27. Cool (it is a general term and implies less cold): I do not take cool tea.
Cold (chilly): We went there on a cold evening.
28. Corpse (the dead body of a man): The corpse of the missing soldier was found there.
Carcass (dead body f a beast): The vulture is very fond of carcasses.
29. Contagious (a disease spread through physical contact): Small-pox is a contagious disease.
Infectious (a disease spread through air and water): Cholera is an infectious disease.
30. Continuous (that goes on without any break): It had been continuously raining for four hours.
Continual (that goes on with occasional break): There was continual hail storm last month.
(Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms)
31. Courageous (it denotes a spirit that is inward and above fear): Our students are courageous enough to face any competition.
Brave (it indicates the lack of fear in a difficult situation): Rina is a brave girl to overcome the adverse situation.
32. Contented (a man is said to be contented when he does not hanker after more): I live a contented life.
Satisfied (a man is said to be satisfied when he meets all of his desires): A man can hardly be satisfied.
33. Canal (it implies an artificial or man-made passage of water): In ancient India, some monarchs made some canals to supply water to corn-field.
Channel (natural passage for water): It is not easy to swim across the Pak Channel.
34. Crime (it is used with reference to the breaking of the law of a country): Exploitation is a crime in India.
Vice (it is used to refer to breaking a moral law): Telling lies is a vice.
Sin (breaking the command of religion): Adultery is a sin.
35. Custom (a traditional act of doing things): To bury the dead is an Islamic custom.
Habit (an individual action formed after practice): Having a cool bath in the morning is my habit.
36. Cheat (to defraud a person of a thing): They cheated the labourers of their wages.
Deceive (to give one false information, to make a person believe what is not true): Raja often deceives his friends.
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
37. Caution (to put a person on guard against doing something): He cautioned us not to do things in haste.
Warn (make aware of something coming): The Government warned us to take safe shelter in the flood.
38. Certainly (surely, without a doubt): It seems that the boy will certainly shine in life.
Of course (naturally, admittedly): Of course Rama is capable of doing this.
39. Cause (what produces an effect): Every action has a cause behind it.
Reason (that which justifies a result): Explain the reason for your negligence in doing it.
40. Common (which is shared alike by all): Feeling of love is common to all.
Mutual (done something by each to the other): We help mutually during our hard times.
Reciprocal (common to each other): Kindness is generally reciprocal
41. Cure (to remedy): There is a cure for all diseases.
Heal (to restore something to soundness): This balm may heal you of your back pain.
42. Conquer (to conquer a territory, an enemy): Ashoka conquered Kalinga.
Subdue (it refers to curbing down one’s passion): We should subdue our passions.
43. Deny (to deny a statement): He denied that he did the work.
Refuse (to refuse to do things): Rekha refused to go there.
44. Drown (refers to animate objects): The baby drowned in the pond.
Sink (refers to inanimate things): The ship sank in the sea.
45. Delusion (a false belief): He works here under the delusion that he will be upgraded to a higher post.
Illusion (a false appearance): Water in the desert is an illusion.
(Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms)
46. Eternal (that which has neither a beginning nor an end): The existence of God is eternal.
Everlasting (that which has a beginning but no end): Gold is an everlasting metal.
47. Epidemic (that suddenly and rapidly spreads in a particular area): Cholera is an epidemic disease.
Endemic (that which is regularly found among a specified people or area): Plague was an endemic disease in France during the middle ages.
48. Famous (noted — used in good sense): Rabindranath Tagore is a famous Bengali Poet.
Notorious (noted–used in a bad sense): Charles Shuvaraj was a notorious robber.
49. Freedom (it refers to the absence of restraint to the present moment,): India got freedom in 1947.
Liberty (it refers to natural right): We are at liberty to take up any job.
50. Forgive (forgive a wrong done to ourselves): I am in the wrong; please forgive me.
Excuse (excuse a fault that is not grave): Please excuse me for my absence.
Pardon (the term refers to great fault or crime): The murderer of the leader begged pardon of his family.
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
51. Fancy (a mental faculty of forming images of things not present at the moment): It is his fancy to see a bird here.
Imagination (it refers to the creative power of the mind): Every great art is the product of fertile imagination.
52. Incident (a minor event): Let the incident of losing Raja’s pen be passed.Â
Event (an important occurrence or happening): The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi is a big event in the history of Free India.
53. Illusive (deceptive): Your promise is illusive.
Illusory (unreal): Our dreams are illusory.
54. Oral (spoken, by way of the mouth): We have to face an oral test tomorrow.
Verbal (of words): He made a verbal promise that he would not pursue the task.
55. Part (it is a general term referring to some whole of things): The first and last part of the wood is donated to the temple.
Portion (it refers to the detached part of a thing): Let us have our portions and use them as we like.
(Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms)
56. Protect (it refers to the evil of danger in future): We should protect our freedom ourselves.
Defend (it refers to the evil of danger at the present time.): We must defend our property from being theft.
57. Replace (to take the place of ): Replace the chair with a new one.
Substitute (to fill a place instead of another): Substitute the proper noun with a common noun in the sentence.
58. Pride (a high opinion about oneself ): Rani takes pride in her beauty.
Vanity (the desire of being admired by others): We do not like Diana because of her vanity for beauty.
59. Scarce (not available at a particular place or time): Pure water is scarce to find in the city.
Rare (fewer to find): The Royal Bengal tiger is rare to find in West Bengal nowadays.
60. Snow (it implies to natural freezing of water): In winter huge snowfalls in Kashmir.
Ice (it implies artificial freezing of water): We use a refrigerator to turn water into ice.
61. Truth (being true to fact): Always speak the truth.
Veracity (being truthful in doing a thing): The veracity of the minister in matters of doing the welfare job is beyond doubt.
62. Financial (it relates to money in general): We are financially weak.
Monetary (pertaining to money directly): Wahid-Ullah works in Dubai for monetary benefit.
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
63. Kidnap (to take away a person for demanding a ransom): The son of the Home Minister was kidnapped by the terrorists who demanded some lakhs of money as his ransom.
Abduct (to take away a person unlawfully through fraud): Hiren abducted her uncle’s daughter.
64. Hear (it perceives a sound with the ear): I heard him say so.
Listen (to hear with attention): Listen to what the teacher says.
65. Lovely (beautiful): Lalita is a lovely girl.
Loveable (worthy of love): Geetika is a girl of loveable nature.
66. Need (it refers to the general feeling of lacking something ): I need better-bound copy of the book.
Necessity ( feeling of lacking a thing which is indispensable or urgent to have): Here we feel the necessity of having hot water. 0 0 0
Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
N.B. Â The article ‘Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms’ originally belongs to the book ‘School English Grammar Part- II‘ by Menonim Menonimus. Distinction Between Groups of Synonyms
Books of Composition by M. Menonimus:
- Advertisement Writing
- Amplification Writing
- Note Making
- Paragraph Writing
- Notice Writing
- Passage Comprehension
- The Art of Poster Writing
- The Art of Letter Writing
- Report Writing
- Story Writing
- Substance Writing
- School Essays Part-I
- School Essays Part-II
- School English Grammar Part-I
- School English Grammar Part-II..
Books on Linguistics by M. Menonimus:
- A Brief History of the English Language
- Essays on Linguistics
- My Imageries
- Felicitous Expression: Some Examples
- Learners’ English Dictionary
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- Synonyms and Antonyms for Distinction
