Use synonyms to make your writing vivid

Introduction

A synonym is a word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word in the same language. For example, a synonym for "dark" is "dim." Words often have many synonyms. For example, "drab," "ebony," and "murky" are all synonyms for "dark." You can make your writing a lot more vivid by finding lively synonyms for the words in your sentences. For example, instead of saying, "His hair was dark," you can say "His hair was inky." Which sentence sounds more interesting and is more descriptive?

A thesaurus is a book that lists synonyms for words. You can use these lists to find appropriate synonyms for your writing. One thing to remember when you use a thesaurus is that some words have different meanings or usages, so not all synonyms listed for a word have the same meaning. For example, one of the synonyms for "dark" is "gloomy." If you substitute "gloomy" for "dark" in the sentence "Her book bag was gloomy," you will make everyone laugh. Another synonym for "dark" is "hidden," as in "That is a dark secret." If you try to substitute "hidden" for "dark" in the following sentence, however, you end up making a mistake: "The afternoon was very hidden."

So when you use a thesaurus, don't just grab any word from the list of synonyms. Make sure the synonym you choose matches your intended meaning.

In this activity we are going to practice finding synonyms in a digital thesaurus, identify correct synonyms that will make our writing more vivid, and compose sentences that use incorrect synonyms.