{"id":1997,"date":"2014-01-31T12:02:04","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T12:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:40:12","slug":"understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","title":{"rendered":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example, knows the difference between a<em>\u00a0grub<\/em>\u00a0and a<em>\u00a0maggot<\/em>, whereas for the rest, they are simply worms. However, to a software engineer, these words mean something completely different. At times, the only difference between two words is that one is more common in\u00a0Britain\u00a0and the other is more common in the\u00a0United States: a<em>\u00a0lift<\/em>\u00a0and an\u00a0<em>elevator<\/em>, for instance, or a<em>\u00a0queue<\/em>\u00a0and a<em>\u00a0line<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">English has a very large vocabulary. However, to write well, it is not enough to know many words; rather, it is more important to know them well so that you use the right word. A useful volume for this is<em>\u00a0The Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary of Synonyms<\/em>. English dictionaries meant for learners also have a feature that brings out the exact differences between groups of synonyms. <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ldoceonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is a good example. Two other sources are<em>\u00a0The Dictionary of Confusable Words<\/em>\u00a0by Laurence Urdang and<em>\u00a0Room\u2019s Dictionary of Distinguishables<\/em>. Several websites are devoted to explaining such differences;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wisegeek.com\/language.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wiseGEEK<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.differencebetween.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DifferenceBetween.net<\/a>\u00a0are good examples.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Lastly, prepositions. In English, one verb can mean many different things depending on the preposition that comes after the verb;\u00a0<em>to swear at<\/em>, for instance, means something quite different from\u00a0<em>to swear by<\/em>. To swear\u00a0<em>at somebody<\/em>\u00a0is to curse or to verbally abuse somebody,\u00a0whereas to swear\u00a0<em>by something<\/em>\u00a0is to believe in it strongly. To understand such differences, dictionaries of phrasal verbs are particularly useful, for example,<em>\u00a0Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs<\/em>\u00a0and F T Wood\u2019s<em>\u00a0English Prepositional Idioms<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">One of the many online resources you might find helpful is:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.englishpage.com\/prepositions\/phrasaldictionary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.englishpage.com\/prepositions\/phrasaldictionary.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example, knows the difference between a\u00a0grub\u00a0and a\u00a0maggot, whereas for the rest, they are simply worms. However, to a software engineer, these words mean something completely different. At times, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[2567,2457],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar-language","tag-author-tools","tag-non-native-english-authors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources-resized_2_0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"656\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"336\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Yateendra Joshi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Editage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Editage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Yateendra Joshi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Yateendra Joshi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/cddcdcb60c05f8fe00b1e54c1ebf7980\"},\"headline\":\"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\"},\"wordCount\":308,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Author Tools\",\"Non-Native English Authors\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Grammar &amp; Language\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\",\"name\":\"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"width\":656,\"height\":336},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":324,\"caption\":\"Editage Insights\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Editage\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/cddcdcb60c05f8fe00b1e54c1ebf7980\",\"name\":\"Yateendra Joshi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4b1cf3d3ed6f68fa18f3b9f8710f5ec58edfa8472c0f66251c74fbade5ed991?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4b1cf3d3ed6f68fa18f3b9f8710f5ec58edfa8472c0f66251c74fbade5ed991?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Yateendra Joshi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/yateendra-joshi\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights","description":"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights","og_description":"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","og_site_name":"Editage Insights","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","article_published_time":"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":656,"height":336,"url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources-resized_2_0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Yateendra Joshi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Editage","twitter_site":"@Editage","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Yateendra Joshi","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources"},"author":{"name":"Yateendra Joshi","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/cddcdcb60c05f8fe00b1e54c1ebf7980"},"headline":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources","datePublished":"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources"},"wordCount":308,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","keywords":["Author Tools","Non-Native English Authors"],"articleSection":["Grammar &amp; Language"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources","name":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources | Editage Insights","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","datePublished":"2014-01-31T12:02:04+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-05T13:40:12+00:00","description":"Science demands precision, and part of mastering a subject involves learning the exact differences between words that mean more or less the same thing. An entomologist, for example...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","width":656,"height":336},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/understanding-synonyms-some-reference-sources#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Understanding synonyms: some reference sources"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","name":"Editage Insights","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization","name":"Editage Insights","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":324,"caption":"Editage Insights"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","https:\/\/x.com\/Editage"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/cddcdcb60c05f8fe00b1e54c1ebf7980","name":"Yateendra Joshi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4b1cf3d3ed6f68fa18f3b9f8710f5ec58edfa8472c0f66251c74fbade5ed991?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4b1cf3d3ed6f68fa18f3b9f8710f5ec58edfa8472c0f66251c74fbade5ed991?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Yateendra Joshi"},"url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/yateendra-joshi"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"new_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"new_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_tags?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}