Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "billows" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "billows" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "billows", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "billows" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Showing 16 of 17 words.
9 total sentences available.
East, West and squally South-west, with a roar, / swoop down on Ocean, and the surf and sand / mix in dark eddies, and the watery floor / heave from its depths, and roll huge billows to the shore. / Then come the creak of cables and the cries / of seamen.
Source: tatoeba (6779594)
The shattered oars start forth; / round swings the prow, and lets the waters sweep / the broadside. Onward comes a mountain heap / of billows, gaunt, abrupt.
Source: tatoeba (6780109)
"Beware... / Yet first 'twere best these billows to allay. / Far other coin hereafter ye shall pay / for crimes like these."
Source: tatoeba (6783253)
In a far retreat / there lies a haven; towards the deep doth stand / an island, on whose jutting headlands beat / the broken billows, shivered into sleet.
Source: tatoeba (6783724)
Showing 4 of 9 available sentences.
Closest matches include bulge, cloud, expand, flood, fold.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.