Synonyms and antonyms of Types of word in American Thesaurus

antonym (noun)

a word that means the opposite of another word

argot (noun)

words that are used by a particular group of people

back formation (noun)

a new word that is formed by removing a part of another word. In English, “burgle” is a back formation from “burglar.”

buzzword (noun)

a word that has become very popular, especially a word relating to a particular activity or subject

catchword (noun)

a word used for representing a particular idea, usually one that is popular for a short time

cognate (noun)

a word in a language that has the same origin as a word in a different language

collocate (noun)

a word that is often used with another word

conjunct (noun)

a word or phrase such as "however" or "what's more" that links what has already been said or written to what follows. Conjuncts are also called linkers.

conjunctive (adjective)

linguistics relating to or acting as a conjunction

connective (noun)

a word that is used to join other words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, for example "and," "because," and "but"

content word (noun)

a word that carries meaning in speech and writing

contraction (noun)

linguistics a word made by leaving out a letter or letters of a word or words. For example “can’t” is a contraction of the word “cannot.”

demonym (noun)

a name used for a person who lives in or comes from a particular place, such as Parisian for a person from Paris

derivation (noun)

a word that comes from another language

diminutive (noun)

a word formed by adding a diminutive suffix

discourse marker (noun)

a word or phrase that is used to indicate that one stage or topic in a conversation has finished and a new one is beginning. For example, ‘OK’ , ‘so’, ‘right’, and ‘anyway’ are often used as discourse markers. In the sentence ‘Anyway, let’s think about the cost of all this’, ‘anyway’ signals that one stage of the conversation is over. Discourse markers often indicate a change of speaker.

false cognate (noun)

a word in one language that has a different meaning from a similar-sounding word in another language, for example the English ‘actual’ and the German ‘aktuell’. These similarities can confuse language learners and often cause errors.

function word (noun)

a word used mainly for expressing relationships between other words in a sentence, for example a conjunction like “but” or a preposition like “with”

homograph (noun)

a word that is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning and sometimes a different pronunciation

homonym (noun)

a word that is spelled the same or sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning

homophone (noun)

a word that sounds the same as another word but has its own spelling, meaning, and origin

hypernym (noun)

a superordinate

hyponym (noun)

a word with a more specific meaning than another more general word of which it is an example. For example, “potato” is a hyponym of “vegetable.”

keyword (noun)

a word that represents the main feature or idea of something

legalism (noun)

a word or phrase used in law

linker (noun)

a word or phrase such as "however" or "what's more" that links what has already been said or written to what follows. Linkers are also called conjuncts.

loanword (noun)

a word from one language that is used in another language without being changed

malapropism (noun)

a word that is used wrongly but sounds like the word that you should have used, especially one that creates a funny change of meaning

metonym (noun)

a word or phrase used to refer to something else that it is closely related to. For example, "Washington" is often used as a metonym for the U.S. government.

monosyllable (noun)

a word with only one syllable. The words “yes” and “no” are monosyllables.

nonce word (noun)

a word that someone invents for a particular purpose or occasion

the operative word ()

used for referring to the most important word in a sentence

part of speech (noun)

one of the main grammatical groups that a particular word belongs to according to the way it is used in a sentence, for example noun, verb, adjective, or adverb

polysyllable (noun)

a word that has more than two syllables

portmanteau word (noun)

a word that combines the sound and meaning of two words, for example “smog,” a combination of “smoke” and “fog”

postmodifier (noun)

the part of a noun group, adjective group, or verb group that comes after the most important word (the head) and adds information about it. For example in the noun group ‘the rules of the game’, the prepositional phrase ‘of the game’ is a postmodifier.

premodifier (noun)

the part of a noun group, adjective group, or verb group that comes before the most important word (the head), and adds information about it. For example in the noun group ‘the best people’, ‘the’ and ‘best’ are premodifiers.

pro-form (noun)

British a substitute

rhyme (noun)

a word that ends with the same sound as another word

substitute (noun)

linguisticsAmerican a word, usually a pronoun, that is used in place of another word to avoid repeating it

superordinate (noun)

a word that includes the meaning of more specific words. For example, “vehicle” is the superordinate of words such as “car” and “truck.”

synonym (noun)

a word that has the same meaning as another word. For example “scared” is a synonym for “afraid.”

synonymy (noun)

similar meaning in different words

variant (noun)

linguistics a different form, spelling, or pronunciation of a word

weasel word (noun)

informal a word that someone uses to avoid saying what they really mean

wordoid (noun)

a word that has been invented to describe a new idea or product