‘said’ is one of the most inexpressive words in the English language.
“That is right,” he said.
The problem with ‘said’ is that all it does is report the words that someone speaks. It doesn’t say anything about the way that the words were actually spoken, not to mention any meaning, emotion or feeling that was behind the words. So, here is a list of synonyms that could be much better to use, depending on the context.
announced, agreed, whispered, shouted, reported, conceded
Although these words all communicate slightly different interpretations of the way in which the man said the words, every single one of them communicates more. More accurately. More insightfully. It’s simply better communication.
Why learning synonyms improves your writing
As the example with ‘said’ reveals, finding the correct word to express yourself is an essential part of clear and accurate communication.
Most people will lean on their favorite words to say what they mean, but often there is a much better word to do the job. In the English language there are over a million words, while most people rely on a narrow vocabulary group of about 20,000 words to get by. That is a very small percentage of the words that can be accessed, and immediately reveals that there is probably a much more suitable option for the word that you have chosen. Statistically speaking, that is almost certain.
And it’s not about being over-complicated either. It’s simply about finding the word that conveys, concisely and accurately, exactly what you wanted to say.
Here is an example.
““That is right,” he conceded.
‘conceded’ means that the man was somewhat reluctant in his admission that the other person was right. But he did agree in the end. That conveys so much more meaning that ‘said’, which gives none of those insights.
As long as that is the context of the words, then you have successfully chosen the word that can sum up the situation perfectly. That’s what the right synonym can do.
How you can learn synonyms to improve your writing
The impractical way to learn synonyms to improve your writing would be to have a dictionary by your side, or to copy and paste every given word into a thesaurus or dictionary to get the given synonyms. But then you would need to cross-reference those words to get the true meaning of the synonym. You want to be correct, of course.
There is a much better way.
The Linguix writing and look-up assistant, free to download for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, allows you to highlight and click on words wherever you find them on the web and get an instant list of synonyms, as well as all important definitions for each category of synonyms.
For example, if you highlight the word ‘shifted’.
It’s that easy!
Get definitions depending on context, and then the synonyms which can correctly communicate the concept you are looking for.
So, boost your vocabulary, your writing and your communication ability today with Linguix.
