Learn English – Were to find synonymous for very + adjective

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As an exercise, I am going thorough I paper I wrote and trying to replace all (or most) adjectives in the form of "very + adjective" with a word. I feel that if done good this would greatly improve my writing.

For example "very small " -> "negligible" . Of course the correct substitution depends on the context.

My point is, where can I find a list of appropriate words?

Searching for "synonimous small" for example does not work, because I want the "very" to be emphasized.

Thank you!

Best Answer

You want to use a thesaurus, and you've made an erroneous assumption in the body of your question:

For example "very small" → "negligible". Of course the correct substitution depends on the context.

My point is, where can I find a list of appropriate words?

Searching for "synonimous [sic] small" for example does not work, because I want the "very" to be emphasized.

Actually, looking at a thesaurus will work, because many synonyms listed for "bland" words will often emphasize the "very" part.

For example Collins has a thesaurus; looking under small shows quite a few words that connote "very small," including the one you list:

little, minute, tiny, slight, mini, miniature, minuscule, diminutive, petite, teeny, puny

unimportant, minor, trivial, insignificant, little, lesser, petty, trifling, negligible

The same goes for the synonyms of big; many of these mean "very big" – either in size, or in importance:

large, great, huge, giant, massive, vast, enormous, considerable, substantial, extensive, immense, spacious, gigantic, monumental, mammoth, bulky, burly, colossal

important, serious, significant, grave, urgent, paramount

and most of the synonyms for cold seem to mean "very cold":

chilly, biting, freezing, bitter, raw, harsh, bleak, arctic, icy, frosty, wintry, frigid

So, open up that thesaurus! I'm sure you'll find that very big book to be very helpful enormous tome to be beneficial.

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