Enter a word, phrase, description, or pattern above to find synonyms, related words, and more.
Concept clusters in the subject Tools (Top)
Access and Control Adhesion or attaching Agricultural processing Alloys or types of metal Amphibian life and habitat Ancient Greece Animal Traits Animalistic traits Antique farming tools Antiquities Architectural decor Architectural details Architecture (2) Architecture (3) Artificial lighting Asbestos characteristics Australian slang or culture Balcony Bamboo and its uses Barb Bathroom or toilet Beams or Supporting Structures Beauty and skincare Bedbound Conditions Bedroom furniture Beds and bedding furniture Bees and beekeeping Bell towers Bespoke tailoring Bird's beak Blacksmithing Bladed weapons in particular Bladed weapons or knives Blocking or sealing Blonde hair variations Blushing or turning red Board or Panel Construction Bow making and usage Box Branching Brickmaking or ceramics Brown and grey shades Brown color or brown hair Brushes and brooms Budding and germination Bushido Calcium compounds Cane or sugarcane Carpentry and masonry tools Carrying or transporting items Castle design and construction Castle or fortification Ceramics and pottery Chalks Christian Crosses Classical architecture Classicism Clay or clay materials Cleaning dishes Cleaning or hygiene Cleaning or wiping materials Cleansing Products Cling film or plastic wrap Closets and wardrobes Coatings Color and Light Reflection Color hues or tints Color variation and perception Color-coded alerts Coloring or adding color Combat Commercial fishing Compression or fastening Concrete and cement materials Construction Construction glues Construction or manufacturing Conveyor systems Cooking and heating appliances Cooking appliances Corn or maize Cough and throat medications Craftsmanship and artisan work Craftsmanship or Artisanship Craftsmanship or handicraft Creating art with paint Cross or crossing Curtains or drapes Cuts or indentations Cutting or slicing Cutting or slicing (3) Cutting or trimming Decoration or Ornamentation Decorative art and design Defensive Structures Defensive walls Diamond cutting Different types of knots Different types of soap Digging or moving materials Digging tools Diminutives Disassembly and reassembly Dishes and serving utensils Display or communication Dog-earing a page Doing laundry Door hardware Dot patterns or designs Drafting or drawing plans Drawing and engraving Drilling or making holes Drilling tools and equipment Dust (2) Ear and audio equipment Ecclesiastical architecture Edges or points Edges or types of edges Embodying safeguard Encircling or surrounding Enclosing or containing Envelopes Excavation or burial practices Fabric and wood crafting Farming and agriculture Fashion accessories Fastening Fastening or securing Fastening or securing (2) Fastening or tools Feminine hygiene products Fencing Fencing or barriers Fiber Fireplace or fire-making Fish Traps Fishing Fishing gear or equipment Fishing gear/equipment Fishing industry Fishing industry (2) Fitting or securing with a peg Flag terminology Flasks Flat surfaces or structures Folding Food preparation tools Forests and forestry Fortification Architecture Fossil fuels Fruit bearing and maturation Fullness or overflowing Funeral rites and ceremonies Garbage and recycling Gardening and landscaping Gardening or farming tools Gates or Doors Gemology Gemstone cutting and setting Glass and glassmaking Glassmaking or glassblowing Glazing pottery Gold or Gold Plating Gothic Architecture Gothic architecture Gray or beige color tones Green or greenness Grinding or pulverizing Grinding/Milling Operations Gun terminology and types Hair color Hammering and chiseling tools Hand tools used in woodworking Handicraft Harvesting or agriculture Hay and haymaking process Heraldry (2) Hippo or horse Hitch knots Hives and bee colonies Hoes and similar tools Holding tightly or securing Home or shelter Honey Hook or fastening devices Hooks or hooked tools Hopping Human nails Identification or marking Indoor Gardening Indoor farming Insectoid or marine likeness Joinery and wood connections Knob Knob or nub Land measurement or ownership Landscapes and habitats Lawn and garden maintenance Lead-based compounds Leaving a mark or trace Length measurement Length or distance measurement Light or energy projection Livestock Facilities Locking mechanisms Locking or securing Locks and lock picking Locksmithing and door locks Machining and manufacturing Marble and its various forms Marking or imprinting Martial arts Masonry construction methods Mechanical force or rotation Metal smelting and processing Metallurgy Metallurgy and Metalworking Metallurgy and iron production Metals and alloys Metalworking and Blacksmithing Military base or outpost Mining or construction Musical composition (2) Nails and nail tools Nature or Outdoors Neck Niche or used goods stores Nose or nose shapes Objects that spin or rotate Obstruction or barrier Orb Ordnance Packaging Painting and drawing styles Paper and wood-based products Paper crafting or paper art Parts of tools or machinery Parts or pieces Pearl or pearl-like Peatlands Pencils and drawing tools Pendulum Pens Pharmacological similarity Pills and capsules Pinch in various contexts Plant growth or germination Plant propagation and growth Plant reproduction and growth Planting and propagation Plastering or wall finishing Plowing or farming Plowing or tilling the soil Pocket Pole Prick or prickling Projectile weapons Pulp and paper industry Rainbow Recycling and waste management Red or reddish color Reflective or polished surface Relief Sculpture Religious and symbolic crosses Removing the husk from corn Restraint or confinement Retail stores or shops Rock and mineral types Rodent control Roof and Beam Construction Roofing materials Roofing types and parts Roots or Rooting Rotation or spinning Rubber Materials Sabotaging Sand Saws and accessories Scissors and shears Scissors or cutting tools Screen Sculpture creation Secluded or hidden space Securing Securing objects together Securing or fastening Securing or fastening (2) Sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks (2) Seed propagation Seeding Sewing or tailoring Sharp tools or instruments Sharp tools or weapons Sharpness or pointedness Shelter or hiding places Shelter or places to sleep Shooting a gun or firearm Shooting or firing a gun Shooting or marksmanship Shooting sports or activities Shooting techniques or styles Similarity or Resemblance Similarity or comparison Similarity or likeness Similarity or likeness (2) Similarity or likeness (4) Similarity or resemblance Similes Slender objects/items Small or Simple Dwellings Smallness or diminutiveness Snap Soil cultivation Spear Spears or spear fighting Special-purpose rooms Specialized storage units Specialty Paper Spider-Man Spinning or revolving Splitting or breaking off Spraying Spur Stadium or theater seating Stage and backstage Stairs or ladders Stickers Stones used for grinding Stonework and masonry Stoves or burners Sugarcane production Sugarcane production (2) Support or reinforcement Support structures Suspended or hanging Sword fighting or fencing Table Tailoring and fashion design Tall structures or buildings Texture or consistency Theater Curtains Throwing or striking Tiles and tiling Toilet or restroom Tools Tools or Hardware Tools or utensils with prongs Topical natural remedies Torn or worn out fabric Trap devices or methods Traps Travel luggage or baggage Treasure or valuable items Tree and Plant Shaping Tree and Woodworking Twisted or Tangled Twisting or contorting Tying Types of ceramics and pottery UFOs and Extraterrestrial Life Uses of sodium chloride Using a rope to catch Utensils Various knives Vegetable-like or fruit-like Vegetation or plant life (2) Video editing Wall Wall construction and design Wardrobe essentials Waste management Waterproof covering Wax Weapon or tool Weapons and armaments Wilderness survival Window treatments Window varieties Wire fencing Wood carving or cutting Wood harvesting and processing Wood shaping and joining tools Woodworking Woodworking and Metalworking Workshop Wrapping or packaging Wrenches Yellow or yellowish color


This subject index is an experimental OneLook feature. We've grouped words and phrases into thousands of clusters based on a statistical analysis of how they are used in writing. Some of the words and concepts may be vulgar or offensive. The names of the clusters were written automatically and may not precisely describe every word within them.

How do I use OneLook's thesaurus / reverse dictionary?

OneLook helps you find words for any type of writing. Similar to a traditional thesaurus, it find synonyms and antonyms, but it offers much greater depth and flexibility. Simply enter a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence to describe what you need. Press Enter or choose from the autocomplete suggestions to explore related words. You can sort, filter, and explore the words that come back in a variety of creative ways. Here's a video which goes over some of the basics.

What are some examples?

Task
Example searches
🔆 Find a word by describing it barrel maker
before the flood
museum guide
search for food
urge to travel
what a milliner makes
tried twice for the same crime
when cancer spreads through the body
🔆 Explore synonyms and related concepts fancy
baseball
clouds
twisty
push
industrial revolution
🔆 Get a list of words in some category ("type of...") type of bird of prey
type of soft cheese
type of light bulb
🔆 Find more words similar to some examples (comma-separated list) squishy,spongy,gooey
bicycle,motorcycle,scooter
ice cream,pie,cookies
🔆 Answer basic identification questions capital of Vietnam
longest river in the world
original host of Jeopardy
🔆 Solve crossword puzzle clues, or find words if you only know some of the letters.
(Use pattern:description syntax) 		??lon:synthetic fabric
s?nt?:christmas
l*ch*:fruit
??????:hit
c*:board game

Exploring the results

Click on any result to see definitions and usage examples tailored to your search, as well as links to follow-up searches and additional usage information when available. OneLook knows about more than 2 million different words and expressions covering every topic under the sun. Try exploring a favorite topic for a while and you'll be surprised how much new stuff there is to learn!

Ordering the results

Your results will initially appear with the most closely related word shown first, the second-most closely shown second, and so on. You can re-order the results in a variety of different ways, including alphabetically, by length, by popularity, by modernness, by formality, and by other aspects of style. Click the box that says "Closest meaning first..." to see them all. (Here's a short video about sorting and filtering with OneLook Thesaurus.)

Filtering the results

You can refine your search by clicking on the "Advanced filters" button on the results page. This lets you narrow down your results to match a certain starting letter, number of letters, number of syllables, related concept, meter, vowel sound, or number of syllables. Read more details on filters if you're interested in how they work.

I'm only looking for synonyms! What's with all of these weird results?

For some kinds of searches only the first result or the first few results are truly synonyms or good substitutions for your search word. We highlight these results in yellow. Beyond that, the results are meant to inspire you to consider similar words and adjacent concepts. Not all of the results will make sense at first, but they're all connected with your search in some way. We'd rather give you too many options than too few. If you're unsure of a word, we urge you to click on it to check its definitions and usage examples before using it in your Oscars acceptance speech or honors thesis.

What are letter patterns?

If you know some letters in the word you're looking for, you can enter a pattern instead of, or in addition to, a description. Here are how patterns work:
  • The asterisk (*) matches any number of letters. That means that you can use it as a placeholder for any part of a word or phrase. For example, if you enter blueb* you'll get all the terms that start with "blueb"; if you enter *bird you'll get all the terms that end with "bird"; if you enter *lueb* you'll get all the terms that contain the sequence "lueb", and so forth. An asterisk can match zero letters, too.

  • The question mark (?) matches exactly one letter. That means that you can use it as a placeholder for a single letter or symbol. The query l?b?n?n,  for example, will find the word "Lebanon".

  • The number-sign (#) matches any English consonant. For example, the query tra#t finds the word "tract" but not "trait".

  • The at-sign (@) matches any English vowel (including "y"). For example, the query abo@t finds the word "about" but not "abort".

  • NEW! The comma (,) lets you combine multiple patterns into one. For example, the query ?????,*y* finds 5-letter words that contain a "y" somewhere, such as "happy" and "rhyme".

  • NEW! Use double-slashes (//) before a group of letters to unscramble them (that is, find anagrams.) For example, the query //soulbeat will find "absolute" and "bales out", and re//teeprsn will find "represent" and "repenters". You can use another double-slash to end the group and put letters you're sure of to the right of it. For example, the query //blabrcs//e will find "scrabble". Question marks can signify unknown letters as usual; for example, //we??? returns 5-letter words that contain a W and an E, such as "water" and "awake".

  • NEW! A minus sign (-) followed by some letters at the end of a pattern means "exclude these letters". For example, the query sp???-ei finds 5-letter words that start with "sp" but do not contain an "e"or an "i", such as "spoon" and "spray".

  • NEW! A plus sign (+) followed by some letters at the end of a pattern means "restrict to these letters". For example, the query *+ban finds "banana".

  • On OneLook's main search or directly on OneLook Thesaurus, you can combine patterns and thesaurus lookups by putting a colon (:) after a pattern and then typing a description of the word, as in ??lon:synthetic fabric and the other examples above.

Other ways to access this service:

Is this available in any language other than English?

The same interface is now available in Spanish at OneLook Tesauro as a beta version. More languages are coming!

How does it work?

We use a souped-up version of our own Datamuse API, which in turn uses several lingustic resources described in the "Data sources" section on that page. The definitions come from Wiktionary, Wikipedia, and WordNet. Here are some known problems with the current system.
Much gratitude to Gultchin et al for the algorithm behind the "Most funny-sounding" sort order.

Profanity and problematic word associations

If you're using this site with children, be forewarned you'll occasionally find profanity and other vulgar expressions. (The site aims to show you how words have been used in the language, including good ones and bad ones. Removing hurtful words would be a disservice to everyone!)

Some of the thesaurus results come from a statistical analysis of the words in a large collection of books written in the past two centuries. A handful of times we've found that this analysis can lead us to suggest word associations that reflect racist or harmful stereotypes present in this source material. If you see one of these, please know that we do not endorse what the word association might imply. In egregious cases we will remove it from the site if you report it to us via the feedback link below.

Privacy

No personally identifying information is ever collected on this site or by any add-ons or apps associated with OneLook. OneLook Thesaurus sends your search query securely to the Datamuse API, which keeps a log file of the queries made to the service in the last 24 hours. The log file is deleted after 24 hours and we do not retain any long-term information about your IP address or invididual queries.

Who's behind this site and where can I send my comments and complaints feedback?

OneLook is a service of Datamuse. You can send us feedback here.

The sunburst logo (🔆) is the emoji symbol for "high brightness", which we aspire to create with OneLook. (The graphic came from the open-source Twemoji project.)



Our daily word games Threepeat and Compound Your Joy are going strong. Bookmark and enjoy!

Try the Bridging Dictionary.