Collins Dictionaries - Collins Junior Illustrated Thesaurus

sob

Tommy sobbed when he dropped his ice cream.

wail

“I wanted to go to the pantomime!” wailed Roly.

weep

Lara wept as she waved goodbye.

whimper

The puppy whimpered when Abdul went off to school.

cut (1) VERB

If you cut something, you use a knife or scissors to remove parts of it.

carve

Nicholas carved the wood into the shape of a cat.

chop

The cook chopped an onion and carrot into small pieces.

clip

Katherine clipped out an advertisement from the newspaper.

mow

Grandpa loves mowing his lawn to keep it neat and tidy.

prune

Rose bushes need pruning in spring.

saw

The gardener sawed up some wood to make a nesting box.

slice

Mrs Cratchit always sliced the bread too thinly.

snip

The hairdresser snipped off my long hair.

trim

The barber carefully trimmed the wizard’s long beard.

cut (2) VERB

To cut can mean to reduce something.

lower

The supermarket is lowering a lot of its prices this week.

reduce

The government is trying to reduce the amount of traffic on the roads.

Dd

damage VERB

To damage something means to harm or spoil it.

break

My little sister has broken her doll already.

chip

Melanie was furious when she chipped her nail varnish.

dent

A gatepost got in the way and dented Dad’s bumper.

destroy

An unexpected storm destroyed their beach hut.

ruin

“You’ve ruined my painting!” David screamed angrily.

scratch

Natalie’s bike was scratched when it fell in the holly bush.

spoil

The baby knocked over a cup and spoiled my homework.

vandalize

Someone has vandalized the phone box on the corner of our street.

wreck

Rocks often wreck boats that come too close to shore.

dance VERB

When you dance, you move your body in time to music.

SOME KINDS OF DANCING:

ballet dancing

ballroom dancing:

foxtrot

quickstep

tango

waltz

break dancing

disco dancing

folk dancing

Highland dancing

Irish dancing

line dancing

salsa

square dancing

tap dancing

dangerous ADJECTIVE

If something is dangerous, it is likely to harm you.

alarming

Rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate.

deadly

The bite of some snakes can be deadly.

harmful

Medicines can be harmful if taken by the wrong person.

menacing

The captain waved his hook at Peter in a menacing fashion.

risky

They decided the adventure was getting too risky.

treacherous

Road conditions were treacherous in the thick fog.

unsafe

The bridge was rotten and unsafe to cross.

ANTONYM: safe

dark ADJECTIVE

When it is dark, there is not enough light to see properly.

black

The night was black and stormy.

dim

They could hardly see in the dim hallway.

gloomy

Rooms in the old castle were damp and gloomy.

murky

The submarine moved slowly in the murky depths of the ocean.

shadowy

A shadowy figure emerged from the misty woods.

unlit

It looked as if no one was home as all the rooms were unlit.

delicious ADJECTIVE

Food that is delicious tastes or smells very nice.

mouthwatering

At the village fair, the smell of frying onions was mouthwatering.

scrumptious INFORMAL

When we got home from school, Mum made us a scrumptious apple pie.

tasty

Andrew enjoyed a tasty snack on his way home from football training.

ANTONYM: horrible

demonstrate (1) VERB

If someone demonstrates something, they show you how to do it.

explain

Jamie explained how to separate the yolks and whites of eggs.

illustrate

Our music teacher illustrated how to play the violin.

demonstrate (2) VERB

If people demonstrate, they hold a public meeting or march to show they are strongly for or against something.

march

Sometimes thousands of people march in the capital to make their feelings known to the government.

protest

When people protest, they often meet to carry banners and shout slogans.

deserted ADJECTIVE

If a place is deserted, there are no people there.

abandoned

In the middle of the wood, the boys came upon an abandoned cottage.

empty

They saw a farmhouse and ran towards it to ask for water, but it was empty.

destroy VERB

To destroy something means to damage it so much it cannot be mended.

crush

The cottages were crushed under the feet of the angry giant.

damage

A tree fell in the storm and damaged our garden shed.

demolish

Builders demolished an empty house to make space for a new theatre.

ruin

People complained that the new building ruined their view.

smash

The jetty was smashed when a motorboat went out of control.

wreck

Many ships used to be wrecked on rocks around the coast before lighthouses were built to signal warnings.

different (1) ADJECTIVE

Something that is different from something else is not like it in one or more ways.

assorted

I like boxes of assorted biscuits best.

changed

He seemed changed somehow. Perhaps it was the short hair.

mixed

Alex had mixed feelings about going up a grade at school.

opposite

Mum’s quite opposite to me. She likes my room to be tidy and I like it to be a mess.

various

He had various excuses for being late.

different (2) ADJECTIVE

Something different is unusual and out of the ordinary.

bizarre

Have you seen Polly’s new hairstyle? It’s really bizarre!

extraordinary

The magician at the party performed some extraordinary tricks.

peculiar

There was something peculiar about the expression on his face.

special

I wanted to do something special for my seventh birthday.

unusual

The baby had an unusual cry.

➔ something else

dig VERB

When people or animals dig, they break up a surface.

burrow

Rabbits keep burrowing holes in the vegetable patch.

excavate

Archeologists are excavating at an ancient burial site.

hollow

Hollow out the centre of the pumpkin and cut teeth and eyeholes in the skin.

quarry

Marble has been quarried in Italy for many centuries.

scoop

Libby scooped out some ice cream from the tub.

tunnel

Some prisoners of war tunnelled their way out of the camp.

dirty ADJECTIVE

Something that is dirty is marked or covered with mud or stains.

filthy

“Your hands are filthy,” said Dad. “Go and wash them.”

foul

The pigsty was foul with droppings, old straw and mud.