Mini-Lesson: Using the Thesaurus to Find Synonyms
Mrs. Tracy: English 8
Using Synonyms:
Many words in the English language are synonyms –words with similar meanings. For
example, the words small and tiny are synonyms. When an author is writing a story it is
often helpful to use synonyms because they enable the writer to avoid writing the same
word over and over.
When you are reviewing your draft it is often helpful to circle words you have used
more than once and then use the thesaurus to find words with similar meanings.
1. Check to make sure the synonym you are replacing your word with is the same
part of speech and functions in the same way in the sentence.
2. While some words may have similar meanings (denotations), they may have
different connotations and contexts (situations, people, places or things the word
is commonly associated with). For example prehistoric, ancient, obsolete and
antique are synonyms for something that is “very old” but have different
connotations. Using precise language and context helps the reader picture the
“movie of your story.”
Example:
Before: Carlos walked through the ancient Roman streets to the market. In one shop
he found an ancient shark’s tooth, ancient equipment like a typewriter and ancient
furniture from 1900.
After: Carlos walked through the ancient Roman streets to the market. In one shop he
found a prehistoric shark’s tooth, obsolete equipment like a typewriter and antique
furniture from 1900.
In the second sentence, the writer is also describing a variety of very old things. Can you
picture the different time periods the writer is speaking of in the different synonyms used
in the second sentence?
Prehistoric is often associated with the time before recorded history while something that
is antique may be from fifty to thousands of years old. When someone speaks of
equipment or an idea, or a way of doing something as being ancient, they may also be
implying the equipment, idea, or method is outdated or obsolete.
In each of the sentences below the novelist has used the same underlined word several
times. Use the directions below for “Using the Thesaurus in Microsoft Word” to replace
two of the underlined examples of the same word with two different synonyms.
Using the Thesaurus in Microsoft Word 2003
Use the mouse to highlight the word you want to find a synonym for
1) Click Tools
2) Click Language from the pull down menu
3) Click Thesaurus
4) Click Look Up -This will provide a list of words with similar meanings.
5) Scroll through the choices. Following each word there will be an abbreviation for the
part of speech: n. -noun, v. -verb, adv. -adverb, adj. -adjective.
6) Click on the word within the list you want to use.
7) Click the word Replace to replace the highlighted word with a synonym.
Exercise 1:
Open a new Word document. Copy and Paste the following sentences into this word
document and then use the instructions above for “Using the Thesaurus in Microsoft
Word 2003”, to replace two of the three words in each example with synonyms. Insert
your name and the date in the header of the document. Save it to the filter as Thesaurus
Assignment. Email the document to tracysl@wmlcps.org.
1. The detective faced their most difficult problem yet, in solving this new case.
Stating that it was difficult to walk in the knee-high grass, Holmes shouted to
Watson, “It is difficult to find traces of footprints.”
2. Mr. Banks was a charitable man and gave away hundreds of dollars to help those
less fortunate. Many charitable institutions wrote to thank him for his charitable
help.
Exercise 2:
Open a new Word document. Copy and paste your current writing project. Save as, the
title of the project draft 1. For example: I Poem draft 2.
Using the skills you have practiced, scan your writing and highlight words you have used
more than once. Use the Thesaurus to choose synonyms for some of these words to
provide more sentence variety as well more precise meaning in your writing. Save your
document to your online Writing Folder and print a copy to insert in your writing folder.
English 8 SOLs: Reading 8.6, Writing 8.7 including using appropriate technology, and
Writing 8.8.