Loading page
touch has 46 distinct synonyms spread across 19 of its 27 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.
perceive via the tactile sense
“Helen Keller felt the physical world by touching people and objects around her”
deal with; usually used with a form of negation
“I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole”
comprehend
“He could not touch the meaning of the poem”
the faculty by which external objects or forces are perceived through contact with the body (especially the hands)
“only sight and touch enable us to locate objects in the space around us”
1 of the 27 recorded senses carries no synonym, antonym or related term, so it is not shown above. Every sense, with its definition and examples, is on the full entry for touch.
Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for touch come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.
a distinguishing style
“this room needs a woman's touch”
a communicative interaction
“the pilot made contact with the base”
the act of soliciting money (as a gift or loan)
“he watched the beggar trying to make a touch”
the sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin
“she likes the touch of silk on her skin”
deftness in handling matters
“he has a master's touch”
the feel of mechanical action
“this piano has a wonderful touch”