Thinking and knowing

Synonyms for matter

The synonym for matter recorded in this bank is issue, in the sense "some situation or event that is thought about". Below it sits the sentence that fixes that meaning, the same sentence with the swap made, and the words that only look close.

1 synonym · Tier 1, Foothills · 1 sense · noun · 1 reason line · a wrong tile in 4 puzzles

The synonym for matter

issuenoun, in the sense "some situation or event that is thought about"

One pair, read and signed off by a human before it shipped. The bank records a synonym per sense, so a second one appears here the day matter is audited in a second meaning.

The sensenounTier 1, FoothillsThinking and knowing

some situation or event that is thought about

It is a matter for the police.

The context the game gives you. The gloss above is for readers here, not for players there.

The true synonym

issue

Same sentence, swapped: It is a issue for the police.

Close but different

The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot matter is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.

idea
food
run

Where matter turns up in the game

matter is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 1, Foothills. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in four other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzles where matter is the trap

affairnoun, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is occasion, in the sense "a formal or official social gathering or ceremony of people", and matter is one of the three tiles that lose.
ideanoun, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is thought, in the sense "the content of cognition", and matter is on the board beside it.
worryverb, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is care, in the sense "be concerned with", and matter is on the board beside it.
scoreverb, Tier 4, High Camp. The answer there is nock, in the sense "make small marks into the surface of", so matter is there to be ruled out.

Play matter

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so matter reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. No sentence here is generated at deploy time.

Read nextThe whole library →

Closest first: other thinking and knowing words at Foothills, then the same tier across the rest of the library.

formnoun, verbkinda category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or qualityFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line frameverbborderenclose in or as if in a frameFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line geniusnounwondersomeone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originalityFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line ghostnountoucha suggestion of some qualityFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line exclusiveadjectivesolenot divided or shared with othersTreeline existentialadjectiveexperientialderived from experience or the experience of existenceHigh Camp expectancynounanticipationsomething expected (as on the basis of a norm)RidgelineHas a reason line novicenounbeginnera person new to and inexperienced in a particular activityFoothillsHas a reason line

The wrong tile gets explained too

Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. matter carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.

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