Collins Primary Thesaurus. Collins Dictionaries

      sum

      The house was sold for an undisclosed sum of money.

      total

      Our little sideshow raised quite a total at our school fête.

      volume

      A huge volume of water cascades over the waterfall every minute.

      amphibian NOUN

      An amphibian is one of a group of animals that live both on land and in water.

      Some amphibians:

      frog

      newt

      salamander

      toad

      anger NOUN

      Anger is the strong feeling you get about something unfair or cruel.

      annoyance

      You could see the annoyance on the little boy’s face when he couldn’t have any sweets.

      fury

      Her face purple with fury, the duchess stormed from the room.

      indignation

      Our dog, Jim, stared in indignation as I ate the last biscuit.

      irritation

      Sissy stormed out in irritation.

      rage

      The wizard flew into a rage and instantly turned the king and queen into toads.

      temper

      In a fit of temper, I flung my sister’s hairbrush into the garden.

      wrath Said “roth”

      The player incurred the wrath of the referee for committing a foul.

      angry ADJECTIVE

      Someone who is angry is very annoyed.

      annoyed

      Mr Danesh was annoyed that Anna hadn’t handed in her homework.

      apoplectic

      The team manager was apoplectic, dancing with rage when the referee disallowed the goal.

      beside yourself with anger

      The head teacher was beside herself with anger when the money was stolen.

      cross

      You could tell Mum was cross. Her forehead had turned red and wrinkly.

      displeased

      “Smithers, I’m displeased with the poor spelling in this report,” Sir Hector boomed.

      enraged

      The bull, enraged, came charging, head down, towards the matador.

      fuming

      Mrs Stevenson was fuming when she realized Peter was absent yet again.

      furious

      Furious at such a messy piece of work, Mr Ross flung my book back on my desk.

      hot under the collar INFORMAL

      Many motorists were getting hot under the collar as the traffic jam built up.

      indignant

      You could see by her face that our terrier, Tess, was indignant that we had left her behind.

      infuriated

      The stressed commuter was infuriated to find that the train had left seconds earlier.

      irate

      It made Mrs Mawdsley irate to find the staffroom key missing.

      irritated

      I was irritated to find that Alex had borrowed my pencil.

      livid

      Father was livid that I had broken his favourite fishing rod.

      outraged

      Many townsfolk were outraged that the lovely old cinema was to be torn down.

      seething

      I knew from his gritted teeth that the boss was seething.

      animal NOUN

      An animal is any living being that is not a plant.

      beast

      The thoroughbred horse was a beautiful but temperamental beast.

      creature

      The platypus is a strange-looking creature.

       General names for animals are fauna and wildlife.

      Types of animal:

      amphibian

      bird

      fish

      insect

      mammal

      reptile

      annoy VERB

      If someone or something annoys you, they make you angry or impatient.

      aggravate

      My gran is often aggravated by noisy motorbikes late at night.

      bother

      “Please don’t bother me now. I’m really very busy,” said Dad.

      drive someone up the wall INFORMAL

      “Some of these stupid TV adverts drive me up the wall!” said Grandad.

      get on someone’s nerves INFORMAL

      Mitchi’s whiny voice really gets on my nerves.

      harass

      Many famous people are harassed by reporters and photographers.

      irritate

      My mum was irritated by the constant dripping of the tap in the night.

      needle INFORMAL

      The soccer player tried to needle his opponent by muttering insults.

      provoke

      My sister provoked me into an argument by saying I was no good at singing.

      answer (1) VERB

      If you answer someone, you reply to them in speech or writing.

      answer back

      When spoken to by the judge, the defendant was foolish enough to answer back rudely.

      reply

      If you receive an invitation, it’s polite to reply promptly.

      respond

      The captain asked for volunteers, and two crewmen responded.

      retort

      “I’d love to go to the ball,” said Cinderella. “No chance!” retorted her ugly sister.

      return

      “Yes, I’d love to come to the theatre,” Genevieve returned.

      answer (2) NOUN

      An answer is the reply you give when you answer someone.

      acknowledgment

      The palace sent a brief letter as an acknowledgment to my request.

      reaction

      The mayor received an angry reaction to his scheme to sell off the sports field.

      reply

      The salesman rang the door bell, but there was no reply.

      response

      There was a terrific response to the famine appeal.

      retort