What is a synonym?

• A. A word with the opposite meaning.
• B. A word that rhymes.
• C. A word borrowed from another language.
• D. A word with the same or similar meaning.

Answer: (D)

A synonym is a word that shares the same or a very similar meaning with another word. This lets you swap one word for another in many sentences without changing the main idea, though there can be slight differences in nuance, tone, or formality. For example, quick and fast convey the same basic idea in many contexts. The other options describe different concepts: an opposite meaning is an antonym, a word that rhymes is about sound similarity, and a word borrowed from another language is a loanword. So the idea being tested is recognizing words that have the same or similar meaning.