✅ Answer refers to a reply, often one that continues a conversation or gives requested information (He gave a very informative answer to her inquiry).

✅ Retort refers to a sharper, wittier reply, usually one made in retaliation for a cruel or aggressive comment (The audience laughed at her retort).

✅ Answer often implies some kind of information is being conveyed, though it can be used more generally to mean a comment in return (Silence was her only answer).

✅ Retort suggests quickness, especially in defense when feeling attacked by a previous comment. Retort especially refers to turning a person’s previous comment against them (He was proud of his quick retort because the bully finally backed off).

Try writing a witty retort with the help of our writing tool Grammar Coach.

✅ Achievement refers to a noteworthy or important accomplishment (The high grade was a real achievement).

✅ Feat refers to a particularly difficult accomplishment, often a physical one, that requires a lot of skill or strength (The climb up the mountain was a feat of endurance).

✅ Achievement emphasizes the hard work that has gone into the accomplishment (The award recognized her enormous achievement).

✅ Feat emphasizes the difficulty of what’s been done, often suggesting that it had a small chance of success, or that it may not be reproducible (Getting the cat calmly into the carrier was a feat).

✅ An achievement isn’t usually surprising, but a feat often is.

Try describing a feat you’d like to achieve, with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Abnormal describes something strange, almost always implying that that strangeness is bad (an abnormal light in the sky).

✅ Irregular describes something that is different from what is usual, and because of that, it’s worthy of note (A visitor this late at night is very irregular).

✅ Abnormal is almost always negative, except when it’s being used in a redemptive way (I like to seem strange and abnormal).

✅ Irregular can be used negatively, but is often used to suggest that the strange thing is just strange, not that the strangeness is bad or should be stopped (His request was irregular). Irregular used in this way can often sound old-fashioned.

You’ll find a lot of strange things in these irregular synonyms.