synonym of / for

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What is the correct preposition for synonym? for or of?
Or both of them?
 
Synonym is "another word for", so the word "synonym" takes "for".
(e.g. pretty is a synonym for beautiful)
 
What is the correct preposition for synonym? for or of?
Or both of them?


NOT A TEACHER


(1) Great question.

(2) According to most dictionaries, both are "correct" when you mean that a word has

the same meaning as another word:

"Small" is a synonym of/for "little."

(3) BUT -- as the Learner's Dictionary (on the Web) says -- there is one time when you

must use "for."

(a) When a word suggests a particular idea or quality:

(i) He is a tyrant whose name has been a synonym for oppression.
 
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