Closest matches in this entry: leech, sponger, adherent, algae, appendage.
Sentence evidence is available for parasite, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.

Synonym selection checklist

Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "parasite".
Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "parasite"

Keep "parasite" 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.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "parasite" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

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.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "parasite", 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 "parasite" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

6 relation types

More general

6 entries

being follower individualliving thingorganism person

More specific

7 entries

ectoparasite endoparasite helminth mooch protozoan scrounger sponger

Collocations

6 entries

host parasite interactionparasite infectionparasite loadparasite reservoirparasitic diseaseparasitic organism

Inflections

1 entries

parasites

Derivations

9 entries

parasitic parasitically parasitism parasitize parasitized parasitizes parasitizing parasitologist parasitology

Antonyms

1 entries

host

Translations

97 translations across 72 languages.

Afrikaans

1 entries

parasiet noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Albanian

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Arabic

1 entries

طُفِيل noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Armenian

1 entries

մակաբույծ noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Asturian

1 entries

parásitu noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Azerbaijani

3 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
tüfeyl noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
tüfeyli noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Belarusian

2 entries

паразы́т noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
паразі́т noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Bengali

1 entries

পরজীবী noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Bulgarian

1 entries

парази́т noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Burmese

1 entries

ကပ်ပါး noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Catalan

1 entries

paràsit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Central Kurdish

1 entries

چڵکاوخۆر noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Chinese Mandarin

2 entries

寄生物 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
寄生蟲 /寄生虫 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Czech

2 entries

cizopasník noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Danish

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Dutch

1 entries

parasiet noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Esperanto

1 entries

parazito noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Estonian

1 entries

parasiit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Finnish

1 entries

loinen noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

French

1 entries

parasite noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Friulian

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Galician

1 entries

parásito noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Georgian

1 entries

პარაზიტი noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

German

2 entries

Parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
Schmarotzer noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Greek

1 entries

παράσιτο noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Hebrew

2 entries

טַפִּיל noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
פָּרָזִיט noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Hindi

1 entries

परजीवी noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Hungarian

2 entries

parazita noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
élősködő noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Icelandic

2 entries

sníkill noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
sníkjudýr noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Ido

1 entries

parazito noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Indonesian

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Iranian Persian

1 entries

اَنْگَل noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Irish

1 entries

seadán noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Italian

1 entries

parassita noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Japanese

2 entries

寄生物 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
寄生虫 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Kazakh

1 entries

паразит noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Khmer

2 entries

បញ្ញើក្អែក noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
បរាសិត noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Korean

3 entries

기생물 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
기생식물 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
기생충 noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Kyrgyz

1 entries

паразит noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Latin

1 entries

parasītus noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Latvian

1 entries

parazīts noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Lithuanian

1 entries

parazitas noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Macedonian

1 entries

паразит noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Malay

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Māori

1 entries

pirinoa noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Norwegian Bokmål

1 entries

parasitt noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Norwegian Nynorsk

1 entries

parasitt noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Ottoman Turkish

2 entries

طفیل noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
طفیلی noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Piedmontese

1 entries

parassit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Polish

1 entries

pasożyt noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Portuguese

2 entries

parasita noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
verme noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Romanian

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Russian

1 entries

парази́т noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Serbo-Croatian

4 entries

námetnīk noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
paràzīt noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
на́метнӣк noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
пара̀зӣт noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Slovak

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Slovene

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Spanish

1 entries

parásito noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Swahili

1 entries

kimelea noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Swedish

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Tagalog

2 entries

parasito noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
sasandig noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Tajik

2 entries

ангал noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
паразит noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Tamil

1 entries

ஒட்டுண்ணி noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Telugu

1 entries

పరాన్నజీవి noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Thai

1 entries

ปรสิต noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Turkish

2 entries

asalak noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Turkmen

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Ukrainian

1 entries

парази́т noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Urdu

3 entries

آکاش بیل noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
اَمَر بیل noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
طُفَیلی noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Uzbek

1 entries

parazit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Vietnamese

2 entries

kí sinh trùng noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
vật ký sinh noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Volapük

1 entries

parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Welsh

2 entries

arfilyn noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)
parasit noun ((biology) organism that exists by stealing resources from another organism)

Sample sentences

25 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

The brain may be regarded as a kind of parasite of the organism, a pensioner, as it were, who dwells with the body.

Source: tatoeba (678623)

You're nothing more than a social parasite!

Source: tatoeba (1331956)

The alien is a small intelligent multidimensional parasite that attaches to the host's nervous system.

Source: tatoeba (4006459)

Hookworm is a worm, a parasite of man, that sticks to the small intestine.

Source: tatoeba (4435309)

Showing 4 of 25 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "parasite"?

Closest matches include leech, sponger, adherent, algae, appendage.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "parasite"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "parasite"

Meaning

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