A synonym finder and thesaurus that sorts words by meaning
Looking for another word for “happy”, “big” or “said”? This synonym finder gives you two views. First, the word’s meanings from WordNet 3.1, each with the words that share exactly that meaning — so you can see that glad fits “happy to help” while blissful fits “a happy smile”. Second, the full list from the public-domain Moby Thesaurus II: more than 2.5 million synonyms and related terms for 30,195 headwords, grouped here by part of speech.
Filters cut a long list down to what you need: only adjectives, words starting with a particular letter, short words for a headline or crossword, or single words without phrases. A click copies a word. The Replace a word in your text helper lets you paste a sentence, click the word you want to change and swap in a synonym, with capital letters kept and an undo button.
Everything runs in your browser. If you want a second opinion on which synonym suits your sentence, an optional AI ranking uses your browser’s built-in AI or a small open model on your device — never a server.
How to find a synonym
- Type a word in Word and press Find synonyms. Plurals and verb forms are traced back to the base word.
- Read By meaning to find the sense you mean; the words under it are the safest swaps.
- Use the filters on All related words: tick parts of speech, choose a first letter, set minimum or maximum letters, or keep single words only.
- Click a word to copy it — or switch “Click a word to” to look it up to explore further.
- To change a word in your own writing, paste the text under Replace a word in your text, click the word, then click a synonym. Tick Replace every occurrence to change them all.
Synonym Finder features
Grouped by meaning
WordNet’s senses show which synonyms belong to which meaning, plus “similar” words for adjectives.
Huge public-domain thesaurus
Moby Thesaurus II adds hundreds of related words and phrases per headword — 219 for “happy”.
Part-of-speech groups
Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are separated using Moby Part-of-Speech II.
Filters and sorting
First letter, minimum and maximum length, single words only, and four sort orders including closest first.
Swap words in your text
Click a word in your passage, pick a synonym, and the capitalisation (Happy, HAPPY) is kept; undo any change.
Optional AI ranking
Asks an on-device model which candidates fit your sentence, best first; it can only pick from the real synonym list.
Why the closest synonyms come first
A big thesaurus mixes close synonyms with loosely related terms: Moby’s list for happy includes glad and blissful but also apropos, tipsy and fortunate, because “happy” can mean pleased, lucky, well-chosen or slightly drunk. The default order puts words that WordNet also lists for this word first and highlights them, then single words, then phrases.
Swap only after checking the meaning: blessed and happy are close in “a happy event” but not in “happy to help”. When in doubt, look the word up in the Word Definition Tool.
Worked example: filtering “happy”
| Filter | Result |
|---|---|
| No filters | 219 related words: 166 adjectives, 4 nouns, 49 phrases not in the part-of-speech list |
| Adjectives, starting with G, at most 5 letters | glad, gay, giddy, good (glad first: WordNet lists it too) |
| Shortest first | nouns: fit, content, suiting …; adjectives: apt, fou, gay, pat … |
| Single words only | removes phrases such as “at ease” and “in high spirits” |
Tips for choosing the right word
- Match the part of speech: “happily” needs an adverb, not glad.
- Keep the tone: chipper is informal, felicitous formal.
- Watch dated words: Moby’s lists date from the 1990s and include some old-fashioned or regional terms (fou is Scots for drunk).
- For the opposite instead, use the Antonym Finder; to reword a whole sentence, the Paraphrasing Tool.
Synonym Finder FAQ
How do I find another word for a word?
Type the word into the synonym finder. Start with the words under the meaning you intend, then browse the full list and narrow it with the filters.
Is this thesaurus free?
Yes. Moby Thesaurus II is in the public domain and WordNet is free to use under its licence; the page runs in your browser without sign-up.
Why are some synonyms odd?
A thesaurus collects related words for every meaning at once. “Happy” can mean lucky or tipsy, so words for those meanings appear too. Use the WordNet meanings or the AI ranking to pick the right one.
Are offensive words removed?
A short list of slurs that appear in the 1990s thesaurus data is hidden by default; a checkbox shows how many were hidden and can show them.
Does the AI ranking send my text anywhere?
No. It runs in your browser with Chrome’s built-in AI or an open Granite model downloaded to your device after you agree.
Can I replace a word everywhere in my text?
Yes — tick Replace every occurrence before clicking the synonym. Each change can be undone.