UNIT 6: SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS

I. Choose the correct option A, B, C or D

1. ……………… are words belong to the same part of speech and possessing one or more identical
or nearly identical denotational meanings, interchangeable in some contexts.
A. Synonyms B. Antonyms C. Homonyms D. Connotations
2. …………… synonyms are two different terms that are used to denote precisely the same thing;
there is no variation in the meaning between the two.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. Contextual D. Dominant
3. Identical - indistinguishable; drink - beverage; insect - bug are example of …………..synonyms.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. Contextual D. Dominant
4. ………………..synonyms are words conveying the same notion but differing in shades of
meaning.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. Ideographic D. Contextual
5. Glance, look and glimpse are examples of ……………..synonyms.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. contextual D. Ideographic
6. Examination – exam; laboratory – lab are examples of ……………..synonyms.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. contextual D. Ideographic
7. ……………..synonyms are words that have similar meaning only under some specific
distribution conditions.
A. Stylistic B. Absolute C. Contextual D. Dominant
8. The verb look at is the synonymic ……………… in the group to stare, to glance, to peep.
A. stylistic B. absolute C. contextual D. dominant
9. To surprise - to astonish - to amaze - to astound; to satisfy - to please - to content - to gratify - to
delight - to exalt are examples of ……………………...
A. connotation of degree of intensity B. connotation of duration
C. connotation of manner D. connotation of attendant circumstance
10. ………………… indicates how strongly or how intensely an action takes place or is performed.
A. Connotation of degree of intensity B. Connotation of duration
C. Connotation of manner D. Connotation of attendant circumstance
11. ………………..indicates how long an action takes place or is performed.
A. Connotation of manner B. Emotive connotation
C. Evaluation connotation D. Connotation of duration
12. The group of synonyms to stare - to glare - to gaze - to glance - to peep - to peer may be said
to have a …………………… in their semantic structure.
A. connotation of degree of intensity B. connotation of duration
C. connotation of manner D. connotation of attendant circumstance
13. In the group to tremble - to shiver - to shudder - to shake, the verb to shudder is frequently
associated with the emotion of fear, horror or disgust, and therefore can be said to have an
…………………..
A. connotation of manner B. emotive connotation
C. evaluation connotation D. connotation of duration
14. The …………………… conveys the speaker's attitude towards the referent, labelling it
as good or bad.
A. connotation of manner B. emotive connotation
C. evaluation connotation D. connotation of duration
15. The verbs to like - to admire - to love - to adore - to worship are examples of the
……………………..
A. connotation of manner B. emotive connotation
C. evaluation connotation D. connotation of duration
16. We use the term ……………… to indicate words of the same category of parts of speech
which have contrasting meanings, such as hot – cold, light – dark, to accept – to reject, up – down.
A. homonymy B. synonym C. antonym D. connotation
17. Young - elderly; hard - easy; happy - wistful; wise - foolish; fat – slim are examples of
synonyms of ……………..
A. nouns B. adjectives C. adverbs D. prepositions
18. Now - then, here - there, ever – never are examples of synonyms of ……………..
A. nouns B. adjectives C. adverbs D. prepositions
19. Find the antonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
In remote communities, it's important to replenish stocks before the winter sets in.
A. remake B. empty C. refill D. repeat
20. Find the antonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
He was so insubordinate that he lost his job within a week.
A. fresh B. disobedient C. obedient D. understanding
21. Find the antonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
There is growing concern about the way man has destroyed the environment.
A. ease B. attraction C. consideration D. speculation
22. Find the antonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
Fruit and vegetables grew in abundance on the island. The islanders even exported the surplus.
A. large quantity B. small quantity C. excess D. sufficiency
23. Find the synonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
A lack of qualifications can be a major obstacle to finding a job.
A. impediment B. encouragement C. impetus D. assistance
24. Find the synonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
In astronomy, a scale of magnitude from one to six denotes the brightness of a star.
A. signifies B. predicts C. contrasts D. examines
25. Find the synonym of the words in bold in the following sentence:
Don’t you ever mention that matter again. I will not hear anything of it.
A. touch on B. put off C. take in D. go on
II. Match the words to their definitions
A B
1. Absolute synonyms i a. is an appropriate expression used in the place
of a phrase or words that may be found
inappropriate or offensive. They are commonly
 used in daily language and literature to replace
language that some may find displeasing.
2. Connotation of attendant circumstances g b. denote one and the same subject as viewed
from different points of view (e.g. family and
social relations, space and time relations, etc)
3. Dialect j c. are words which are formed by derivation
from the same root.
4. Euphemism a d. a feeling or idea that is suggested by a
particular word although it need not be a part
of the word's meaning, or something suggested
by an object or situation
5. Antonyms h e. are those words which are completely
different in sound and form.
6. Derivational antonyms c f. mean the denial of one member means the
assertion of the other.
7. Complimentary antonyms f g. indicates the related context or environment
where an action is performed.
8. Relational antonyms b h. is a term that has the inverse meaning of that
other word.
9. Rootword antonyms e i. words that coincide in all their shades of
meaning and in all their stylistic characteristics.
10. Connotation d j. is a variety of English which is associated
with a particular region and/or social class.
III. Fill in the blank with a suitable word or phrase:
1.Connotation. is something suggested or implied by a word or thing, rather than being explicitly
named or described.
2. Synonym is a word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or
phrase in the same language.
3. Synonyms can be any part of speech (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions).
4. Some linguists claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social
levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities ambiguous meanings, usage,
etc. make them unique.
5. Among stylistic synonyms we can point to a special group of words which are called euphemisms
6. The occurrence of absolute synonyms not only depends on the lexical meaning but also on the
…
distributional characteristics of the words.
7. Two lexical units can be absolute synonyms if and only if they are interchangeable for one another in
all contexts without the slightest change in their meaning.
8. The synonyms pretty, handsome, beautiful are the ones which are more or less interchangeable. Yet,
each of them describes a special type of human beauty.
9. Borrowings, shift of meaning, dialectical words, word formation and euphemisms are the main
sources of synonyms.
10. Most antonyms are adjectives which is only natural because qualitative characteristics are
easily compared and contrasted.
IV. Decide whether the following sentences are True (T) or False (F)
1. So that – in order that, however - nevertheless are examples of synonyms of adverbs.F
2. Synonyms are words which agree in expressing one or more characteristic ideas in common.T
3. If two words have identity in all their semantic features they are called stylistic synonyms.F
4. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word. It’s the definition you would find in the dictionary.T
5. Connotation refers to the emotions or ideas that you think of when you read or hear a word.T
6. The connotation of words: home, house, shelter refer to a place where people live.F
7. Connotation of manner indicates the related context or environment where an action is
performed.F
8. Stylistic connotations are subject to further classification namely: colloquial, slang, dialect,
learned, poetic, terminological, archaic. T
9. Antonyms can be distributed according to parts of speech. T
10. Decisive –indecisive; code – decode; know – known are derivational antonyms.
V.TDo as the following directions:
1. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are NOUNS
student - pupil, lady – woman, plate – dish, sea – ocean, ship - boat

2. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are VERBS

help-assist, obtain – achieve, start – begin, sleep – nap, save - keep

3. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are ADJECTIVES

quiet – silent, old – ancient, new – modern, near – close, glad - happy

4. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are ADVERBS

quickly - speedily, profoundly – deeply, firmly – tightly,perfectly-wonderfully, extremely -very

5. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are PREPOSITIONS

on - upon, regarding – concerning, above-over, ahead of -in front of,underneath- below

6. Give 5 pairs of SYNONYMS which are CONJUNCTIONS

so that - in order that, however – nevertheless, because- due to , although- even though, for- since- as

7. Give 5 pairs of ANTONYMS which are VERBS

Love-hate, open-close, sit-stand, live-die, push-pull

8. Give 5 pairs of ANTONYMS which are ADJECTIVES
Cold-hot, dark-light, small-big, short-tall, good-bad

9. Give 5 pairs of ANTONYMS which are NOUNS

Friend-enemy, joy-grief, good-evil, heaven-earth, baggage-luggage

10. Give 5 pairs of ANTONYMS which are ADVERBS

merrily - sadly, loudly – softly, slowly-quicky, badly- well, wrongly-rightly

11. Give 5 pairs of ANTONYMS which are PREPOSITIONS

Up-down, into - out of, under - over, from – to, in-out