We may think synonyms are two words that have the same meaning and can use them interchangeably, which explains why novice writers may use a thesaurus to avoid frequent repeating of a word. Actually, synonyms are words of similar meaning. They are different, and we need to understand the small distinctions so we can choose the word that most accurately describes what we mean.
Here are a few words that might interest you. For a more extensive list, Click Here
- Anxious or Eager — Anxious is associated with anxiety, referring to apprehension, a negative emotion, which is often confused with someone who is eager, a positive emotion of anticipation. To avoid confusion when the context doesn’t make the meaning clear, use fearful or apprehensive instead of anxious. Fred was anxious about sky jumping for the first time but afterward was eager to go again.
- Farther or Further — Farther refers to physical distance, which is easy to remember if you notice that the word contains “far.” Further applies to distance in the metaphorical or figurative sense. If we need to drive farther down the road, we’ll need further instruction.
- Lie or Lay — Confusion comes in the way the verbs are used in different tenses. (1) The verb lie means to tell something that isn’t true. Jack is lying. He lies now, lied yesterday, and has lied more times than one can count. (2) Or lie means to be at rest. Jack lies now, lay yesterday, and has lain when tired. (3) Lay means to put or place something. If a chicken yields an egg, it lays now, laid yesterday, and has laid an egg almost every day. When the grammatically correct verb form doesn’t match what is common in everyday speech, find a different word so readers won’t mistakenly think you wrote incorrectly.
- Naked or Nude — Nude refers to a person wearing no clothes, and only rarely might be used as a metaphor, such as nude furniture, referring to unfinished wood. The meaning of naked can go much further than being unclothed, meaning stripped down, vulnerable, unprotected. Artists learn to paint nudes, and that’s the naked truth.
- Think or Believe — Think refers to an idea or concept, our rational and objective evaluation of something that is possibly or probably true. Believe refers to what we hold as absolutely true. We might think we can use these words interchangeably, but believing we can shows a deep conviction.
