onanism

Questions about onanism

What is another word for onanism?

It depends which onanism you mean. In the sense “manual stimulation of the genital organs (of yourself or another) for sexual pleasure”, the synonyms are masturbation. Across all 2 senses there are 5 distinct synonyms, and they are not interchangeable with each other — this page lists them under the sense each one belongs to.

What is the opposite of onanism?

WordNet records no antonym for onanism. Antonymy in WordNet is a relation between specific word forms rather than between concepts, so it is recorded only where lexicographers judged the pairing direct. An absence here means none was recorded, not that none can be imagined.

Why are the synonyms for onanism split into groups?

Because onanism carries 2 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Where do the synonyms for onanism come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of onanism

• Full entry for onanismAll 2 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for onanismWhether this word can be rhymed at all — it is not in the pronouncing dictionary.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.