radical

Questions about radical

What is another word for radical?

It depends which radical you mean. In the sense “(chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule”, the synonyms are group, chemical group. Across all 11 senses there are 12 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 radical?

The recorded antonym is cauline. Opposites are sense-specific too: this page shows which meaning each one is the opposite of, because a word rarely has a single opposite that holds for all of its senses.

Why are the synonyms for radical split into groups?

Because radical carries 11 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.

Does this page cover every sense of radical?

It covers the 9 senses that carry a synonym, antonym, broader or narrower term. The remaining 2 senses have none recorded, so they are left off a thesaurus page and shown in full on the word page instead.

Where do the synonyms for radical 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 radical

• Full entry for radicalAll 11 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for radicalWords matching from the last stressed vowel onward, grouped by syllable count.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.