Collins Junior Illustrated Thesaurus. Collins Dictionaries

film they’d ever seen.

      dreary

      I spent a dreary morning being dragged round the shops.

      tedious

      John found his cousin’s story tedious.

      dull (2) ADJECTIVE

      Something that is dull is not bright or clear.

      cloudy

      The day was so cloudy we thought it might rain at any moment.

      dismal

      A most surprising thing happened on that dismal wintry afternoon.

      drab

      She wore a drab grey dress and grimy brown shoes.

      gloomy

      It was difficult to see the ogre in the gloomy light of the cave.

      grey

      The clouds in the sky were a dark grey colour when the thunder storm started.

      miserable

      I like playing board games on miserable, rainy days.

      ANTONYM: bright

Ee

      eager ADJECTIVE

      If you are eager, you very much want to do or have something.

      enthusiastic

      There were plenty of enthusiastic volunteers to help plan the school garden.

      impatient

      Mark was impatient to get back to school after the holidays.

      keen

      Brownie was keen to enter the competition at the dog show.

      longing

      Rachel was longing to see her newborn baby brother.

      easy ADJECTIVE

      Something that is easy can be done without difficulty.

      clear

      The way the teacher showed us made everything clear.

      obvious

      The answer to the problem was obvious. I gave Tom some of my ice cream and he stopped crying.

      plain

      It was plain to see he didn’t like spiders.

      simple

      “Shelling the peas shouldn’t take you long,” said Mum. “It’s a simple job.”

      ANTONYM: difficult

      eat VERB

      When you eat, you chew and swallow food.

      bite

      “Bite the jammy bit of the doughnut first,” said Isaac.

      chew

      Cows chew the grass thoughtfully.

      devour

      They devour the sandwiches as fast as she makes them.

      gnaw

      Boggart happily lay down in the garden and gnawed his bone.

      gobble

      Mum told them to stop gobbling sweets.

      graze

      Sheep graze in the meadow until the farmer brings them in for the night.

      have a meal

      “We have a meal together every evening,” said Mum.

      munch

      The horse likes to munch apples, carrots and oats.

      nibble

      Kylie nibbles her food like a mouse.

      peck

      Pigeons peck seeds and breadcrumbs thrown by the tourists.

      swallow

      Arthur was too busy talking to swallow his food properly.

      edge NOUN

      An edge is the end or side of something.

      border

      Her wallpaper had a border with animals on it.

      boundary

      The farmer planted a hedge along the boundary of his land.

      brim

      He filled his glass up to the brim.

      margin

      There were holes in the margin of the paper to fit the folder.

      rim

      They stood at the rim of the crater and gazed down into the depths.

      effort NOUN

      Effort is the energy needed to do something.

      energy

      It took a huge amount of energy to climb to the top of the hill.

      force

      With great force, the giant pushed a boulder from the mouth of the cave.

      struggle

      The boys found it a struggle to drag the heavy sack.

      work

      “They have put a lot of work into this project,” said the teacher.

      empty (1) ADJECTIVE

      Something that is empty has no people or things in it.

      bare

      John’s room was bare apart from a few packing cases.

      blank

      Hasan stared at the blank pages of his old diary.

      clear

      The road was clear and we arrived in record time.

      deserted

      We knocked on the door, but the place was completely deserted.

      unoccupied

      The house had been unoccupied for years.

      vacant

      We had a job to find a vacant field for our picnic.

      ANTONYM: full

      empty (2) VERB

      If you empty a container, you pour or take everything out of it.

      clear out

      Dad started to clear out the shed today.

      drain

      There was a hole in his bucket and the water drained out.

      unload

      The children helped unload the car when they got home.

      ANTONYM: fill

      encourage (1) VERB