在学习英语词汇中,有时同义词的辨析是很不容易的,我们一般从三方面进行区分,即:语法、语义和文体。语法主要是词性、搭配、句式等的区分;语义主要是词义的本义、引申义、比喻义和内涵和外延等的区分;文体主要是正式和非正式、褒义和贬义等的区分。下面是笔者整理的50组同义词。
1.路
way:Wherever there is room for an object to proceed,there is a way.
road:A road is a prepared way for traveling with horses or vehicles.
path:A way suitable to be traveled only by foot passengers or by animals.
route:A route is a line of travel,and may be over many roads.
street:A street is in some centre of habitation,as a city town or village,when it passes between houses of dwellings.
avenue:A avenue is a long,broad and imposing(壮严)or principal street.
2.时代(期)(时期)
period:It indicates any passage of time,great or small. /an extent of time of any length.
(时代)
time(s):It refers to a period in history. in ancient times/ in Victoria time(新时代)
epoch:It indicates a long period of time marked by events or development of a particular kind.
The first flight into space marked a new epoch in the history of mankind.
(纪元)
era:It refers to a very long period of time marked by a particular feature in a great new era of world revolution
(时期)
age:It shows a particular /a fairly definite period in history. the Bronze Age,Iron Age
3.战斗(打仗)
fight:It is a bodily struggle(奋斗 斗争)
struggle:An effort of any kind to overcome difficulty.
(战斗)battle:A fight between armed forces.
(战役)campaign:A series of related military operations in a war.
(战争)war:A period of fight between countries or states when
weapons are used and many people are killed.
(对抗)combat:A fight,conflict,controversy.
4.牧师(教士 牧师)
priest:A person,esp. a man specially trained for various religious duties and ceremonies,in the Christian church,esp. in the Roman Catholic church
(牧师)minister:A member of clergy,esp. Protestant churches.
(牧师)clergy(pl):The officially appointed leader of the religious activities of a particular church or temple.
clergyman:clergymen(pl)a member of clergy.
(牧师)pastor:A Christian religious leader in charge of a church and its members,esp. in a Protestant church.
(教区牧师)vicar:A priest in charge of an area(parish)in the church of England.
father:A little of respect for a priest,esp. in the Roman Catholic.
5.服装
clothing(collect):(fml)General term of clothes.
clothes(no single):Coverings of the body such as coats,
dresses,suits,shoes,hats.
garment(fl):A suit of clothes used by actors./a single article of clothing.
costume:1)The fashion of dress peculiar to a people,nation,class,period,etc. 2)A dress worn by actors in a play. uniform:worn by all members of the community.
dress:1)A kind of outer garment worn by women(连衣裙)。2)worn on special occasions(礼服)evening dress/ morning dress
suit:A set of outer clothes to be worn together. evening suit/swimming suit
coat:A garment with sleeves worn on top of other clothes from rain,heat,etc.
overcoat:A warn coat worn in the street.
6.哭
cry:The most general one.
(哭泣)weep:To let flow tears.
(抽泣 抽嗒)sob:To weep or sigh with short quick breaths.
(哭天抹泪 涕泪交流)snivel:To sniffle and cry in a irritating manner.
(哭嚎 又哭又闹)blubber:To cry loudly noisily.
(发出低声报怨声)whine:To make a low complaining cry.
(嚎哭)bawl:To utter loud cries(always in bad sense)。
(痛哭)wail:To cry aloud from pain or sorrow.
(呻吟)moan:To make a low,miserable sound in pain or sorrow.
(呻吟)grown:To make a low sound of pain,unhappiness or disapproval
(哀悼)mourn:To feel or show sadness or sorrow for someone who has died.
(哀悼)lament:To express great sorrow or regret.
7.美丽 漂亮
good-looking:Having an attractive appearance in a strong,healthy way used for men and women not things.
beautiful:(a woman or a thing)Suggesting symmetry of features or perfection of proportion,elegance and mobility. beautiful flowers,a beautiful girl/voice/city/face beautiful weather.
handsome:Of attractive appearance applies to men. a handsome fellow/actor/horse/buildings/young man.
pretty:(a girl,or a small thing)Suggesting liveliness and sweetness,pleasing or nice to look at. a pretty little woman/garden,a pretty girl/ picture/piece of music,
lovely:(something)So beautiful that it makes you feel good to look at it or even to think about it. The garden looks lovely.
fair:Beautiful(of woman in poet)light in color esp.,skin hair.
gorgeous:(persons or things)(inf)Extremely beautiful or handsome.
8.拉 拖
pull:The most general one.
draw:It implies a smoother,steadier motion and generally a lighter force than pull.
drag:It usually refers to horizontal motion or motion up an incline(slope)and it suggests laborious efforts over rough ground or against friction,resistance or gravity.
The escaped prisoner was dragged out of his hiding place.
haul:It implies continuous pulling or dragging of heavy or bulky objects.
The fisherman is hauling a net.
tug:It applies to hard often sudden violent effort to pull.
He tugged at my sleeve to ask directions.
jerk:To pull suddenly.
He jerked out the knife that was stuck in the wound.
tow:To pull by a rope or chain. We towed the car to the nearest garage.
wrench:To pull hard with a twisting or turning movement.
9.旋转
turn:The most general one.
(自转)spin:To turn quickly around a central point.
It emphasizes the continuity of the action,and usually the narrow extent of the circular motion.
The wheel is spinning on its axis.
(急转)whirl:To round very fast.
It implies the lock of conscious control.
The leaves whirl in the wind in the yard.
(转动)rotate:To turn round a fixed point with a circular movement.
The earth rotates once every 24 hours.
(绕转)revolve:To turn or move in a circle around a central point.
It indicates circular or elliptical(椭圆)movement.
The planets revolve around the sun.
10.生气 气愤
anger:The most general one.
(易怒)be cross:Feeling easy to get angry.
(愤慨)indignation:(fml)Anger.
It stresses righteous anger at what one considers unfair,mean or shameful.
We expressed our indignation at the ruthless exploitation.
(愤怒)wrath:Very treat anger.(literary)
It suggests a desire on intent to revenge or punish.
(狂怒)rage:Wild,violent anger.
It suggests loss of self- control from violence of emotion. in a rage /to fall into a rage.
(暴怒)fury:Violent,extreme and destructive anger.
She flew into a fury.
11.错误
(误会)mistake:A wrong thought,act. It implies carelessness Anyone can make a mistake.
(过错 弱点)fault:A bad point,but not of a serious moral kind. It refers to behavior and character. His only fault is that he lacks ambition.
find fault with sb / at fault shortcoming:Weakness,failing
It refers to failures or deficiencies in things as well as people.
In spite of all her shortcomings I still think she's one of the best teachers in the school.
(疏忽)error:A mistake(formal sometimes literary)
It implies deviation from a standard or model
The accident was caused by human error.
(缺点 毛病)defect:sth lacking or imperfect.
It refers to quality.
The radio was returned because of a defect.
(失误 过失)blunder:A very stupid or unnecessary mistake.
It implies ignorance.
This is the fatal blunder of his life.
12.图画
picture:The most general one.
(彩图)painting:pictures with color.
(绘画 图画)drawing:A picture made with a pen,pencil and crayon. Sketch,diagrams and graphs are all drawings.
(草图)sketch:A rough not detailed drawing.
(图解 图表)diagram:A drawing,figure that shows the arrangement of something.
(曲线图)graph:A diagram in which a straight line,curved,or zigzag line shows how two sets of numbers or measurements are related.
(插图)illustration:A picture to go with words of a book.
(图样 草图)draft:The first rough written form of anything.
(平面图)plan:A line drawing of a building as it might been seen from above.
(主视图)elevation:A flat upright side of a building.
(海图)chart:A map esp. a detailed map of a sea area.
13.特别
(专门的,与众不同的)special:Different in some way from what is common,ordinary,or usual.
It stresses having a quality,character,identity,or use of its own.
The tube contains special gases.
(特别的)especial:(fml)To an usually great degree,exceptional
It emphasizes the importance of the things or the persons mentioned
This is a matter of especial importance.
(各别的)particular:Relating or belonging to only one thing or person.
It stresses the distinctness of something as an individual which is worth notice. In that particular case,the rule doesn't hold.(适用)
(特种的)specific:Detailed and exact,clear in meaning and explanation,fixed,determined.(used in scientific articles)
It implies a quality or character distinguishing a kind or a species.
He gave me a very specific instruction. There is a specific tool for each job.
(独特的)peculiar:Strange or perhaps unpleasant.
It implies strangeness. He has a peculiar way of speaking.
14.取消 消灭
(取消 解除)cancel:To give up,to declare something is to be effective.
He has cancelled his leave of absence.(消假)
(废除 废止)abolish:To do away with. It refers to practices,social institutions. Bad customs should be abolished.
(消灭 排除)eliminate:To get rid of.
We should eliminate the false and retain the true.
(撤消 废除)repeal:To bring to an end of the effect of a law or an order. Some laws should be repealed.
(根除 消灭)exterminate:To destroy completely and wholly.
Colonialism must be exterminated.
15.破碎
break:The most general one.
(压碎 压破)crush:To press together violently as to break,to destroy its shape by squeezing it. It suggests the effect of great external pressure.
The tree fell on top of the car and crushed it.
(打碎)smash:To break thoroughly to pieces with a crushing sound.
She dropped the plate and smashed it.
(打裂)crack:To break without separation of parts.
It suggests the breaking out across a surface.
He cracked the window by leaning against it.
(破裂)burst:To break open by pressure from within.
The fireworks burst while they were in the air.
(砸碎 破碎)shatter:To break into pieces.
It suggests the breaking up of a thin surface.
The glass was shattered to pieces.
(撞坏)crash:To refer to the vehicle which hits something and is badly damaged.
16.环境 形势
(环境 形势)conditions:The location and other factors likely to
affect it. It suggests something that has stayed the same for
some time and which affects daily life such as food,work,and houses.
We are now studying the economic conditions in the developing countries.
(形势)situation:A position or state at a particular time,set of conditions,facts,and events having an effect on a person,society,etc.
It suggests more general matters such as government planning and finance.
The political situation in these countries are always changing.
(环境 周围 外界)environment:The circumstances,things and conditions that influence you. It refers to spirit aspect,physical aspect and
material aspect. We must try to beautify our environment.
(形势 情况)circumstance(s):A situation or event around us,a certain kind of atmosphere,the conditions that affect
what happens. in(under)the circumstances
(环境 周围事物)surrounding(s):The area and environment around a place or
person. It indicates a very narrow condition,physically sometimes reflects spiritual aspect.
They lived in hostile surroundings.