Meaning & use
semantically
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Meanings
adverbnot comparabletechnical
With regard to meaning, especially the meaning of words and sentences rather than their grammar or sound.
Grammar: Often placed before an adjective or at the start of a clause: semantically odd, semantically the two terms differ.
Patterns
- semantically related
- semantically different
The sentence is grammatically perfect but semantically strange, since it says colorless ideas sleep.
The words 'big' and 'large' are semantically close, though not always interchangeable.
Semantically, calling someone slim and calling them skinny say different things.
adverbnot comparableinformal
Used when you want to point out that a disagreement is only about the choice of words and not about the real issue.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase 'semantically speaking' to begin a clarification or to dismiss a quibble.
Patterns
- semantically speaking
Semantically speaking, a tomato is a fruit, but nobody puts it in a fruit salad.
We are arguing semantically; we both want the same outcome.
Semantically, the report calls it a delay rather than a cancellation, but the trip is still off.
Common combinations
- semantically equivalent
- The two commands are semantically equivalent even though they look different.
- semantically related
- Words like doctor and nurse are semantically related.
- semantically empty
- In the phrase 'there is', the word 'there' is semantically empty.
- semantically ambiguous
- The headline was semantically ambiguous and could be read two ways.
- semantically speaking
- Semantically speaking, a bargain and a cheap item are not the same thing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in meaning
- In meaning is a plain phrase that works in everyday speech, whereas semantically sounds more technical or academic.
- lexically
- Lexically concerns vocabulary and individual words, while semantically concerns meaning more broadly, including whole sentences.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: semantically or syntactically?
semantically vs syntactically
Syntactically refers to how words are arranged into correct sentences, not what they mean. A sentence can be syntactically correct yet semantically nonsensical.
Practice
The sentence 'The table drank quietly' follows the rules of word order but makes no sense. It is correct ___ but wrong semantically.
Choose one answer.
Syntactically concerns structure and word order, which the sentence gets right, while semantically concerns meaning, which it gets wrong. Phonetically concerns sounds, which is not the contrast here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “semantically”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.