Childrens Illustrated Thesaurus

80

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

examination

E examination^2

noun a check carried out on

someone by a doctor » The

doctor made an examination

of the patient’s chest.

check, checkup, medical

examine^1

verb to look at something

very carefully » Experts

examined the frozen remains

of a woolly mammoth.

analyse, go over,

go through, inspect,

look over, study,

peruse, scrutinize

examine^2

verb to give someone a medical

examination » The patient was

examined by several specialists.

check, inspect, look at, test

example^1

noun something that represents

a group of things

» The museum held several

examples of Roman swords.

illustration, sample,

specimen

example^2

noun something that people

can imitate » The respect

that Gran showed people

is an example to us all.

ideal, model, paragon,

prototype, archetype,

exemplar, paradigm

excellent

adjective extremely good

» It’s an excellent book,

one of my favourites.

beaut (Australia and New

Zealand; informal), brilliant,

cracking (Britain, Australia,

and New Zealand; informal),

fine, first-class, great,

outstanding, superb

antonym: terrible

except

preposition apart from

» Chris always gets the

8.10 train, except when

he’s running late.

apart from, but,

other than, save (formal),

with the exception of

exceptional^1

adjective unusually excellent,

talented, or clever » Lee’s

piano playing is exceptional,

he should be on the stage.

excellent, extraordinary,

outstanding, phenomenal,

remarkable, talented

antonym: mediocre

exceptional^2

adjective unusual and likely

to happen very rarely

» Having two people win first

place was an exceptional event

in sport history and had never

happened before.

isolated, out of the

ordinary, rare, special,

unheard-of, unusual,

unprecedented (formal)

antonym: common

excess^1

noun behaviour that goes

beyond what is acceptable

» Stacey shopped to excess

and regretted her purchases.

extravagance, indulgence,

intemperance,

overindulgence

excess^2

noun a larger amount than

necessary » An excess of

houseplants made the room

look like a jungle.

glut, overdose, surfeit,

surplus, overabundance,

plethora, superfluity

antonym: shortage

excess^3

adjective more than is needed

» The airline charged us

an additional fee for our

excess baggage.

extra, superfluous, surplus

excessive

adjective too great » We never

travel first class because the

cost is excessive.

enormous, exaggerated,

needless, undue,

unreasonable,

disproportionate,

exorbitant, immoderate,

inordinate, profligate

exchange^1

verb to give something in

return for something else

» We exchanged

phone numbers.

barter, change, swap,

switch, trade

exchange^2

noun the act of giving

something for something else

» There was a useful exchange

of ideas in the classroom.

interchange, swap,

switch, trade

excite^1

verb to make someone feel

enthusiastic or nervous

» Zara was extremely excited

about her upcoming holiday.

agitate, animate,

thrill, titillate

excite^2

verb to cause a particular

feeling or reaction

» The dull film failed to

excite anyone.

arouse, elicit, evoke, incite,

inspire, provoke, stir up,

fire, foment, inflame,

kindle, rouse

excited

adjective happy and

enthusiastic » The children

were very excited to get a dog.

agitated, enthusiastic,

feverish, high (informal),

thrilled

antonym: bored

excitement

noun interest and enthusiasm

» The release of his latest

song has caused great

excitement.

activity, adventure,

agitation, commotion,

enthusiasm, thrill,

animation, elation,

furore, tumult

exciting

adjective making you feel

happy and enthusiastic

» It was the most exciting race

I’ve ever seen, no one could

predict who would win.

dramatic, electrifying,

exhilarating, rousing,

stimulating, thrilling,

intoxicating, sensational,

stirring

antonym: boring

exclude^1

verb to decide not to include

something » The teacher

excluded the easy words

from the spelling test.

eliminate, ignore, leave out,

omit, rule out

antonym: include

exclude^2

verb to stop someone going

somewhere or doing something

» The cat was excluded

from the lounge to stop it

scratching the furniture.

ban, bar, forbid, keep out,

blackball, debar

The doctor made an examination

of the patient’s chest.

Stacey shopped to excess

and regretted her purchases.

We exchanged phone numbers.

The children were very excited

to get a dog.

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