Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Are there two words that mean completely and absolutely the same thing, including connotation, etc?

I was wondering about adjectival ones, and not just a noun that has multiple names (bobcat/mountain lion, etc.)

And if such a pair (or group) exists, why do we have superfluous words?

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

dearth := lack

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

The problem with those is that "dearth" does not replace all the uses of "lack" (lack can be a verb) and also, "dearth" can also mean specifically a shortage of food or famine.

I was wondering if two words exist that are always completely interchangeable.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

i would say no, including nouns like bobcat/mountain lion. a mountain lion sounds scarier, even to someone who knows they are identical.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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bobcat/mountain lion. a mountain lion sounds scarier, even to someone who knows they are identical.

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Clearly you have no idea what you're talking about.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Inflammable means flammable?...WHAT A COUNTRY!!

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

regardless and irregardless

Vince and Smoothcall

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

gigantic - humongous

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Yes, er, affirmative.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

enormous - massive

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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enormous - massive

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Nope.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

this thread = waste of time

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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enormous - massive

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I was thinking that one too, but massive can mean "a body that has mass" when referring to objects in the Universe.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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Yes, er, affirmative.

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Not quite.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

If you listen to the postmodernists, words don't even mean the same things as themselves.

Chew on that!

NT

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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Yes, er, affirmative.

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Not quite.

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Come on, it's a affirmative or no question.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Mountain lion is a general term that can include bobcats, but really, they're not the same. Bobcats have short, stubby tails and ear tuffs, mountainn lions have long tails, shorter hair and are much bigger.

That, and a Bobcat can also mean construction equipment.

Regardless and irregardless do mean exactly the same thing, but have different connotations - people who say irregardless sound stupid.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

affirmative - roger that - 10-4

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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gigantic - humongous

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Very close, I think. Gigantic can also be used particularly in reference to a giant, so they don't quite match.

Humongous and enormous, perhaps?

EDIT: I checked and there's an archaic definition of enormous as "Very wicked; heinous." Not sure if that really eliminates it or not.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Maybe if we looked up the latin roots to these wors. Humong and Enor.

I checked and humungous is actually slang. Enormous is dervied from Middle english enormious.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Wicked sweet = freakin' awesome

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Mountain lion is a general term that can include bobcats, but really, they're not the same. Bobcats have short, stubby tails and ear tuffs, mountainn lions have long tails, shorter hair and are much bigger.

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I've never heard anyone say mountain lion when he means bobcat. They don't look anything alike. They're not even remotely close. Maybe some jackass somewhere came up with some goofy category called mountain lions that includes bobcats. But anyone that knows what the hell they are would never say they're the same, and would never call a bobcat a kind of mountain lion.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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gigantic - humongous

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Very close, I think. Gigantic can also be used particularly in reference to a giant, so they don't quite match.


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I'm not sure I understand. Give me a sentence where gigantic refers to a giant, where humongous can't be perfectly substituted.

This one seems a little less likely, but tiny - miniscule.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Mountain lion is a general term that can include bobcats, but really, they're not the same. Bobcats have short, stubby tails and ear tuffs, mountainn lions have long tails, shorter hair and are much bigger.

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I've never heard anyone say mountain lion when he means bobcat. They don't look anything alike. They're not even remotely close. Maybe some jackass somewhere came up with some goofy category called mountain lions that includes bobcats. But anyone that knows what the hell they are would never say they're the same, and would never call a bobcat a kind of mountain lion.

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Mountain Lion = Cougar not Bobcat

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

Definition 1

It looks like tiny-miniscule works though

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

How about Jam and Marmalade?

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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Humongous and enormous, perhaps?

EDIT: I checked and there's an archaic definition of enormous as "Very wicked; heinous." Not sure if that really eliminates it or not.

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I feel there's a slight connotation difference. You wouldn't say, "Of course, the ethical issues this raises are humongous" or, "the flight suffered humongous complications."

Flammable and inflammable are the best example given here, in that you can always replace one with the other.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

I also think enormous can be used to describe quantity whilst humungous can't.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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whilst

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while?

I know he meant to type whilst, but are these perfect synonyms?

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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gigantic - humongous

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Very close, I think. Gigantic can also be used particularly in reference to a giant, so they don't quite match.


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I'm not sure I understand. Give me a sentence where gigantic refers to a giant, where humongous can't be perfectly substituted.

This one seems a little less likely, but tiny - miniscule.

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It can mean "relating to a giant", so I assume it can be used in some other way... I'm kind of hung over right now so I'm not much help.It would be a really awkward usage, anyways- something along the lines of relating some noun to a giant without a specific reference to size. It's kind of a nitpick and assuming this is correct, it's nothing that would come up in any everyday conversation.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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How about Jam and Marmalade?

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Hey Scoob, looks like we got ourselves in a bit of a marmalade...

also, jam is made with sugar.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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I also think enormous can be used to describe quantity whilst humungous can't.

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I would use them interchangeably, but my grammar is [censored]. You're probably right.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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regardless and irregardless

Vince and Smoothcall

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"irregardless" is not a word, "irrespective" is the word that you were thinking of.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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Definition 1

It looks like tiny-miniscule works though

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Definition 1 says:

"Relating to or suggesting of a giant"

The second entry for the word gigantic has this defintion:

adj : so exceedingly large or extensive as to suggest a giant or mammoth; "a gigantic redwood"; "gigantic disappointment";


These appear to be the same definition, and humongous can be substituted in these cases. By giant, I don't think they were referring to a giant human. They were merely referring to it as an adjective (or noun - ex: that tree is a giant) meaning large. I still think humongous - gigantic works.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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Flammable and inflammable are the best example given here, in that you can always replace one with the other.

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From my understanding, flammable is not actually a word.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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This one seems a little less likely, but tiny - miniscule.

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I might be wrong, but i feel there is an oh-so-slight difference between, "Have you met Ted's new girlfriend? She's tiny!" and, "Have you met Ted's new girlfriend? She's minuscule!"

Also a minor (tiny? minuscule?) quibble, but dictionary.com lists "minuscule" as a noun meaning a small cursive script used between the 7th and 9th century. But of course, we all already knew that.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

couch - sofa

True I've never heard the phrase "sofa potato" but I don't think cliches should disqualify a word.

Edit - I guess this would just be a noun with multiple names.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

"literally" and "figuratively" [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

They literally mean the same thing nowadays.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Are there two words that mean completely and absolutely the same thing, including connotation, etc?

I was wondering about adjectival ones, and not just a noun that has multiple names (bobcat/mountain lion, etc.)

And if such a pair (or group) exists, why do we have superfluous words?

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There are a lot of them, particularly in anything that reeks of a legal proclamation. Take for example "cease and desist."

The reason is that the English legal system (which we adpoted, naturally) were in French until the mid 14th century -- even though the rest of the country spoke English. So, in order to communicate things accurately, they had to be said twice.

Re: Are there any truly perfect synonyms?
 

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From my understanding, flammable is not actually a word.

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dictionary.com, which has become my reference of convenience for this thread, lists flammable and inflammable as coming from the latin flammare, so i think they're both legit.