Importance of Synonyms

Anyone who can speak will just utter the words, but the maturity in one’s speech is understood only through their proper use of synonyms.

When I was in school, in competitive exams like ‘Scholarship’ and ‘Navodaya’ here in India, there used to be a question, “Tell the synonyms.” We had to memorize multiple words that had the same meaning for a single word. It used to get tiring.

Some words had seven or eight synonyms, and it was quite exhausting to memorize them all. However, as I grew older, I began to understand the importance of synonyms.

In one’s native language, there is not much need to be explicitly taught about these synonyms, but when writing or speaking in another language, they prove to be particularly helpful.

Synonyms are what set apart a writer or a poet from an ordinary person.

For example, if we say, “He came and suddenly stopped,” a writer would convey the same with just, “He halted.” 

Poets are the ones who are main beneficiaries of synonyms, especially when trying to rhyme the words. Again for example, take a song which says, — My heart is beating, and it’s happening again and again, a lyricist or poet, put it as — “My heart is beating, keeps on repeating…” fits perfectly.

For conveying precision, intensity, subtlety, or a specific emotion in a sentence, synonyms come to the rescue. 

Take English, a language most of us are somewhat familiar with. Instead of saying, “Why are you talking in a loud voice?” saying, “Why are you yelling?” is much more impactful.

When language was first developing, evolving, our ancestors must have been confused. 

For instance, if there is loud voice with grand hand gestures between two persons or a group, they could have been discussing something funny or even fighting. Observing the aggressive tone and expressions, perhaps they took out the word ‘argument’ or ‘debate’ or ‘discussion’ [this is my own assumption or guess or reasoning  : ) ].

After all, anyone who can speak will just utter the words, but the maturity in one’s speech is understood only through their proper use of synonyms.