Collins Dictionaries - Collins Primary Thesaurus

spectators

In the past, the spectators cheered as people were publicly executed.

cruel ADJECTIVE

Cruel people deliberately cause pain or distress to other people or to animals.

callous

The callous emperor made his slaves work their fingers to the bone.

hard-hearted

Hard-hearted Scrooge begrudged giving Cratchit a day off at Christmas.

heartless

The heartless landlord threw the poor widow into the street.

merciless

The merciless sniper picked off his victims one by one with precision.

ruthless

Anyone who disagreed with the ruthless dictator disappeared.

vicious

The vicious crocodile clamped its jaws on the unfortunate swimmer.

crumble VERB

When something crumbles, or you crumble it, it breaks into small pieces.

collapse

Weak foundations caused the apartment block to collapse.

decay

The beam had decayed, bringing the floor above it crashing down.

decompose

Plants, animals and humans begin to decompose when they die.

disintegrate

The agent disintegrated as Morpheus fired his phaser weapon.

cry (1) VERB

When you cry, tears come from your eyes because you are unhappy or hurt.

WORD POWER: This word tends to be used a lot. To make your writing more varied, try to use some of the alternative words suggested here instead.

bawl

The moment the baby’s bottle was put in its mouth it stopped bawling.

blubber

After being refused an ice cream, the toddler blubbered for the next half hour.

shed tears

Dad’s advice is not to shed tears over something that is in the past.

snivel

“Stop snivelling and you might get a lolly,” the girl’s mother snapped.

sob

Milly sobbed her heart out to think that her dog was dead.

weep

After her sisters had left for the ball, Cinderella wept silently as she swept.

cry (2) VERB

If you cry something, you shout it or say it loudly.

WORD POWER: This word tends to be used a lot. To make your writing more varied, try to use some of the alternative words suggested here instead.

bawl

Everyone came running when the camp cook bawled “Dinner’s ready!”

bellow

“Time to go to school,” Dad bellowed up the stairs to us.

boom

“Attention!” boomed the sergeant major to the new recruits.

call

When I saw my friend on the other side of the street I called out her name.

shout

Ben shouted for help when he saw the child fall into the pond.

yell

“Watch out!” yelled Yanni as he saw the cricket ball flying in Aidan’s direction.

cry (3) NOUN

A cry is a shout or other sound made with your voice.

bellow

A loud bellow came from the bull at the end of the field.

howl

The wolf let out a howl as he prowled through the moonlit night.

shout

The crowd gave a shout of joy as another goal hit the back of the net.

shriek

My silly brother gave a shriek when he saw the spider in the bath.

yell

With a yell, Aidan jumped out of the way of the speeding cricket ball.

cupboard NOUN

A cupboard is a piece of furniture with doors and shelves.

Some types of cupboard:

cabinet

larder

locker

safe

sideboard

wardrobe

cure NOUN

A cure is something that heals or helps someone to get better.

antidote

There is no known antidote to the bite of that particular snake.

medicine

Dad took some medicine for his stomach ache.

remedy

The remedy for boredom is simple. You need to get out more!

treatment

Fortunately, the treatment helped and my ankle soon felt better.

curious ADJECTIVE

Someone who is curious wants to know more about something.

inquiring

“Dad, it said on my report that I’ve an inquiring mind. What does that mean?”

inquisitive

Inquisitive about anything mechanical, Fiona dismantled the cuckoo clock.

interested

If it’s anything about trains, then my brother is interested.

nosy

Our nosy neighbour was anxious to hear any gossip she could.

curl VERB

If something curls, it moves in a curve or spiral.

coil

The boa constrictor coiled its body slowly round the hapless victim.

entwine

Climbing clematis plants entwined themselves with the telephone wire.

spiral

Smoke spiralled up from the cottage chimney.

twist

The string from the kite twisted as it came tumbling down.

wind

The country road wound round in a series of bends.

curly ADJECTIVE

Curly hair has many curls in it.

curled

My sister’s hair was all curled when she came out of the hairdresser’s.

frizzy

In the Afro look of the 1970s, people had a mop of bushy, frizzy hair.

kinky

If your hair is naturally straight, you can make it kinky by having it permed.

wavy

I would love to have wavy hair, but mine’s dead straight.

cut (1) NOUN

A cut is a mark made with a knife or other sharp tool.

gash

The nasty gash in Billy’s knee needed to have several stitches.

groove

Uncle Ken chiselled a groove in the shelf for plates to stand up in.

nick

I was clumsy with the knife and made a nick in the desk.

slit

To make the pocket, Mum cut a slit in the fabric.

cut (2) VERB

If you cut something, you use a pair of scissors, a knife or another sharp tool to mark it or remove parts of it.

WORD POWER: This word tends to be used a lot. To make your writing more varied, try to use some of the alternative words suggested here instead.

cut a little:

chip

When she fell, Vanessa chipped her tooth.

chisel

I tried to chisel out a hole for the lock, but I split the wood.

clip

Ross clipped the hedge for his auntie.

prune

When you prune roses in winter, you cut them right back near the base.

shave

Kay shaved a little off the shelf to make it fit.

snip

For a practical joke, I snipped a bit off Dad’s tie, but he didn’t find it funny.

trim

Grandad has his hair trimmed each month – what’s left of it, that is.

cut hard at something:

chop

The karate expert chopped the brick in half with a single blow.

hack

Hacking her way through the jungle, the botanist searched for the rare plant.

slash

Bluebeard slashed downward with his cutlass, through the rope.

cut something down:

chop

Dad had to chop the old tree down after it was damaged in the storm.

fell

The stupid lumberjack proceeded to fell the wrong tree.

mow

It’s useless to mow the lawn in wet weather.

cut something in two:

bisect

With one swing of the axe the man bisected the thick log.

divide

Using a sharp knife, Mum divided the last piece of pie for my brother and me.

halve

“If I halve this apple, will you share it with me?” I asked Helen.

Tools you can use to cut things:

axe

carving knife

chisel

cleaver

clippers

guillotine

knife

mower

razor

saw

scalpel

scissors

secateurs

shears

Dd

damage (1) VERB

If you damage something, you harm or spoil it.

deface

The teacher turned purple when she saw Craig had defaced his language book.

harm

Fortunately, no one was harmed in the crash.

spoil

My painting was spoilt when I spilt water on it.

vandalize

It’s very sad when people vandalize buildings.

➔ See destroy

Someone who damages something useful or beautiful on purpose and for no good reason is a vandal.