design has 15 distinct synonyms spread across 8 of its 14 senses. Each sense below keeps its own list, because a synonym belongs to a meaning and not to a word: swapping one sense's substitute into another sense's sentence is how a thesaurus makes writing worse. WordNet records no antonym for it — antonymy is a relation between word forms rather than concepts, so it is deliberately sparse.
Counts are distinct word forms across every sense. A synonym that appears under three senses is counted once here and shown three times below, under each sense it belongs to.
the act of working out the form of something (as by making a sketch or outline or plan)
“he contributed to the design of a new instrument”
an arrangement scheme
“the awkward design of the keyboard made operation difficult”
a preliminary sketch indicating the plan for something
“the design of a building”
the creation of something in the mind
plan something for a specific role or purpose or effect
“This room is not designed for work”
make a design of; plan out in systematic, often graphic form
“design a better mousetrap”
create designs
“Dupont designs for the house of Chanel”
conceive or fashion in the mind; invent
“She designed a good excuse for not attending classes that day”
intend or have as a purpose
“She designed to go far in the world of business”
Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for design come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.