A Grow Synonym Guide: Definition, Antonyms, and Examples

Are you looking to explore grow synonym examples in your writing?

The English language contains several word pairings that differ only slightly. Finding the appropriate phrases to communicate one’s thoughts can be difficult for any novice or an experienced writer.

Here’s a handy reference for finding and utilizing “grow” synonyms and antonyms.

What Does Grow Mean?

The term ‘grow‘ is the process by which a live creature or part gains weight and size through food intake. It can also be described as an increase in size or substance increase.

Examples of sentences of grow

• It’s your turn to sprout, blossom, and grow.
• Charles is not ready to mature or grow up.
• If you nurture your garden, it will germinate and grow.
• We will flourish and grow together.
• Growing potatoes is a lucrative venture.

Grow Synonym: Exploring Words with Similar Meanings

There are various synonyms for ‘grow.’ The three words that stand out as synonyms for ‘grow’ are expand, enlarge and widen. Let’s look at what these words in relation to grow.

Expand

Expand is a great substitute for grow. It is the process of causing anything to grow in size, number, or prominence.

To expand one’s mind can mean something as literal as blowing air into a balloon to cause it to increase. It can also mean something more abstract like studying to improve one’s cognitive abilities. 

Middle English has had the word since 1422 (as expanden or expaunden). It comes from the Anglo-Norman word espaundre, which is derived from the Latin phrase expandere. That’s the present active infinitive of the word expand, which means “to spread out.” 

Examples of sentences of expand

• Are you ready to expand your business? You will need to develop and build a big heart.
• To change means, you are ready to grow and expand your imagination.

Enlarge

Enlarge as a substitute for grow means to get bigger or spread wider. People’s imaginations, a business, or an artwork, the geographical frontiers of countries, or a solid can be enlarged.

It first appeared in mid 14th century to mean “grow fat, increase.” In c. 1400, enlarge meant to “make larger,” and from Old French in the 1650s, the term enlargier meant “to widen, increase, make larger.

Examples of sentences of enlarge

• The gallery is seeking to enlarge its holdings of Danish art.
•  I want to enlarge the lawn.
• The glands in the neck may enlarge.

3. Widen

The term ‘widen’ is the process of making something broader or more accessible. Be sure it correlates well with grow before applying it in your writing.

It stems from old English wid which means “vast, broad, long.” Its first appearance is also deemed to come from a Proto-Germanic word, widaz which means “distended, expanded, spread apart.”

Examples of sentences with widen

• They decided to develop and widen out the roads to avoid accidents.
• We develop new strategies each year to help widen our spread in undeveloped areas.
• The doctor said they will need to widen her arteries.

Grow Antonym: Exploring Words with Opposite Meanings

The three words which stand out as antonyms of grow are decrease, compress and diminish. Let’s look at what these words mean.

1. Decrease

The term ‘decrease’ is an antonym of growth and means reducing something in size, number, quantity, intensity, or degree.

Formes in the early 15c., from Latin decrescere meaning “to grow less, shrink.” Where de denotes “away from” and crescere means “to grow.” From the late 15th century, “grow less” was equated to “lessen.” 

Sentence examples of decrease

• People should learn to decrease the number of carbonated drinks they take in.
• The use of insecticide should decrease mosquitoes in the area.
• Kindly relate the indexed figures to the decrease in the growth rate of accidents.

2. Diminish

The term ‘diminish’ means to shrink in size, worth, significance, or importance. The origin stems from Late Middle English and is a mix of the archaic word minish, which means “to lessen.” Minish comes from two Latin words, minutia, which means “smallness,” and the now-obsolete word diminue, which means “to talk badly.”

Sentence examples of diminish

• He loves to diminish my worth; related my skills to that of an amateur. 
• I wouldn’t like to diminish her contributions to the group.
• The use of a dictionary or thesaurus does not diminish your intellectual prowess.

3. Compress

When we say compress, we mean that something is pressed together or squeezed into a smaller space. It means to shorten, condense, or simplify something.

It originated from Middle French compresse, which means (“to compress”), and from Late Latin compressare (“to press hard/together”).

Sentence examples of compress

• A warm compress can ease your pain. 
• Try not to compress or squash the cake.
• Please compress the file.

To Wrap Up

We hope you understand what grow synonym implies and how to apply it in various contexts. Many terms might be substituted for the keyword in your essay to make it more engaging. The more you use them, the more intriguing your writing becomes.