Theme

Animals: synonyms worth the distinction

Most of this shelf is describing texture and size rather than species: bristly, furry, hairy, gigantic. Animal vocabulary in English leaks into descriptions of people almost immediately.

8 words · 8 audited pairs · 5 of 5 tiers represented

Start hereOne per tier, easiest first

worldadjective, nounglobalinvolving the entire earthFoothills2 senses cattlenouncowsdomesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or ageTreelineHas a reason line hairyadjectivehairedhaving or covered with hairRidgelineHas a reason line

The whole shelfGrouped by difficulty tier

FoothillsTier 1 · everyday words · 1 words

Words you already use, paired with a synonym you probably also know.

worldadjectiveglobal

Every word at Foothills, across all themes

TreelineTier 2 · one step up · 1 words

Familiar words, with a synonym that sits slightly outside daily speech.

cattlenouncows

Every word at Treeline, across all themes

RidgelineTier 3 · solid vocabulary · 2 words

The middle of the bank, where the near misses start to bite.

Every word at Ridgeline, across all themes

High CampTier 4 · testing · 3 words

Words that turn up in serious reading rather than in conversation.

Every word at High Camp, across all themes

SummitTier 5 · rare and formal · 1 words

The rare register: literary, legal and technical English.

furryadjectivefurred

Every word at Summit, across all themes

Animals is one shelf of many

Synonym Stack plays from this whole library, five rungs a day, with the meaning and the reason shown after every tap. The reference is here; the practice is on your phone.

Get Synonym Stack freeFree with ads on iPhone. Synonym Stack Plus removes them: $2.99 a week, $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7 day free trial on the monthly and annual plans.