Choose Your Words Wisely: Using the Synonyms Feature in MS Word By James Morris
Introduction We’ve all been there: you’re writing a document, and you want to use the same word over and over. But, instead of having to type that same word again and again, why not just use synonyms? It’s easy! The synonyms feature in Microsoft Word is a wonderful thing that makes it easier for wordsmiths like us to get our ideas across without a lot of extra work.
Read your document out loud and look for common words that are used too often. •
Read it out loud.
How does your document sound? Does the rhythm of the sentences feel right, or does it sound stilted and awkward? If you’re reading a brief email or message to someone else, chances are good that if something sounds awkward when you read it aloud, they’ll think so too. •
Listen for repetition.
If you notice yourself repeating a word or phrase more than once, consider whether there might be another way to say the same thing without using that word or phrase again—and make sure the new version says what needs saying in fewer words than what was already written. Also, look at how often you use certain words throughout your document; if they don’t do much work in terms of meaning (for example: “that,” “this,” “which”), try replacing them with synonyms
that add more flavor to your text without distracting from its main point (like “the aforementioned” instead of “that”).
Find a word’s synonyms. To find a word’s synonyms, do the following: • • •
Click the Thesaurus icon in the Reference tab group on your ribbon to open the Thesaurus pane. In the pane, type your keyword into the search box and then press ENTER. A list of related terms appears below it. To see more synonyms for your keyword, click any word in this list to display it in another area of the pane.
Replace a word with one of its synonyms from the list. When you’re done selecting your synonyms and have clicked the Replace button, Word will display a list of words that it thinks are suitable substitutes for the original word. If this is not correct, click on the More Results button to see more options. The first thing to consider when replacing text with synonyms is whether they mean the same thing as what you want to say. For example: • •
I’m going to go now and return soon. I’ll just be right back. Don’t come looking for me.
Here, both sentences communicate essentially similar ideas but use different terms to convey them effectively (or perhaps just because we have different preferences). To replace one sentence with another using similar words would be pointless—we wouldn’t gain much from saying “I’ll be right back” instead of “I’m going.” However, if we wanted one sentence instead of another because its meaning differed slightly from what we had before (“I’m going” implies leaving; “I’ll be right back” does not), then replacing one phrase with another based on similarity might work out well for us.
Variety is the spice of life—so use different words! Using synonyms is a great way to improve your writing, your vocabulary, and even your style. It can also help you learn words that are unfamiliar to you. So why not do it? You can use synonyms to replace words, but it’s important not to get too carried away with this feature. For example, if you’re writing a document on the history of ancient Egypt, using the word “ancient” too much might make your writing sound repetitive and boring. While some
repetition in the text is natural and necessary (after all, who wants their readers’ eyes glazing over?), don’t go overboard with it!