A person who is only a pawn in the game often talks big in company.
Source: tatoeba (33062)
Pawn
/pɔn/
Synonyms for "pawn" (143 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (29)
Noun(3 words)
Adjective(1 words)
black pawn
Strong matches (43)
Related words (71)
leverlightweightlower classlower ordersmainprisemanmassesmechanismmediatormediummidwifeminionmortgagenegotiate a loanorganpiecepignusplaythingpledgeplight
Show 42 more words
poppostpromisepuppetput in hockput in pawnput upqueenraise moneyrecognizancereplevinreplevyriskrookrun into debtsecond fiddlesecondarysecurityservantslavespoutstakestoogesubalternsubordinatesuretythird stringertokentoken paymenttooltouchtoyunderlingunderstrapperundertakingvadimoniumvadiumvehicleventurewarrantyes manyes-man
Verb(1 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: instrument, agent, ancilla, appliance, assurance.
- Sentence evidence is available for pawn, 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 "pawn".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "pawn"
Keep "pawn" 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 "pawn" 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 "pawn", 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 "pawn" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
16 entriesMore specific
8 entriesCollocations
11 entrieschess pawncollateral itemcollateral loanpawn brokerpawn loanpawn shoppawn ticketpawn transactionpawnbrokerpawned itempledged item
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
5 entriesTranslations
126 translations across 81 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- pion noun (chess piece)
Albanian
1 entries- ushtar noun (chess piece)
Arabic
2 entries- بَيْدَق noun (chess piece)
- جُنْدِيّ noun (chess piece)
Armenian
1 entries- զինվոր noun (chess piece)
Asturian
1 entries- peón noun (chess piece)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- piyada noun (chess piece)
Belarusian
3 entries- ла́тнік noun (chess piece)
- ні́жнік noun (chess piece)
- пе́шка noun (chess piece)
Bengali
1 entries- বোড়ে noun (chess piece)
Breton
1 entries- pezh gwerin noun (chess piece)
Bulgarian
2 entries- зало́г noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- пе́шка noun (chess piece)
Burmese
1 entries- နယ် noun (chess piece)
Catalan
1 entries- peó noun (chess piece)
Chinese
2 entries- 兵 noun (chess piece)
- 士兵 noun (chess piece)
Chinese Cantonese
3 entries- 兵 noun (chess piece)
- 卒 noun (chess piece)
- 士兵 noun (chess piece)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 兵 noun (chess piece)
Czech
1 entries- pěšec noun (chess piece)
Danish
2 entries- bonde noun (chess piece)
- pant noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
Dutch
2 entries- pand noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- pion noun (chess piece)
Esperanto
1 entries- peono noun (chess piece)
Estonian
1 entries- ettur noun (chess piece)
Faroese
1 entries- finna noun (chess piece)
Finnish
2 entries- pantti noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- sotilas noun (chess piece)
French
2 entries- gage noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- pion noun (chess piece)
Galician
1 entries- peón noun (chess piece)
Georgian
1 entries- პაიკი noun (chess piece)
German
3 entries- Bauer noun (chess piece)
- Pfand noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- Versatzstück noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
Greek
3 entries- ενέχυρο noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- πιόνι noun (chess piece)
- στρατιώτης noun (chess piece)
Hebrew
3 entries- חייל noun (chess piece)
- עבוט noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
- רגלי noun (chess piece)
Hindi
3 entries- पियादा noun (chess piece)
- प्यादा noun (chess piece)
- सिपाही noun (chess piece)
Hungarian
2 entries- gyalog noun (chess piece)
- paraszt noun (chess piece)
Icelandic
1 entries- peð noun (chess piece)
Ido
1 entries- piono noun (chess piece)
Indonesian
2 entries- bidak noun (chess piece)
- pion noun (chess piece)
Irish
2 entries- ceithearnach noun (chess piece)
- fichillín noun (chess piece)
Italian
2 entries- pedina noun (chess piece)
- pedone noun (chess piece)
Japanese
1 entries- ポーン noun (chess piece)
Javanese
1 entries- bidhag noun (chess piece)
Kazakh
2 entries- пешка noun (chess piece)
- сарбаз noun (chess piece)
Khmer
1 entries- ត្រី noun (chess piece)
Korean
2 entries- 졸 noun (chess piece)
- 폰 noun (chess piece)
Kyrgyz
1 entries- пешка noun (chess piece)
Lao
1 entries- ເບ້ຍ noun (chess piece)
Latin
1 entries- latro noun (chess piece)
Latvian
1 entries- bandinieks noun (chess piece)
Lithuanian
1 entries- pėstininkas noun (chess piece)
Macedonian
2 entries- пешак noun (chess piece)
- пион noun (chess piece)
Malay
3 entries- bidak noun (chess piece)
- piadah noun (chess piece)
- pion noun (chess piece)
Middle English
1 entries- pown noun (chess piece)
Middle Persian
1 entries- 𐭯𐭣𐭠𐭲𐭪 noun (chess piece)
Mongolian
1 entries- хүү noun (chess piece)
Māori
2 entries- kaihāpai-ō noun (chess piece)
- kurumetometo noun (chess piece)
Navajo
1 entries- naaʼnil noun (chess piece)
Nepali
1 entries- सिपाही noun (chess piece)
Norwegian
2 entries- bonde noun (chess piece)
- pant noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
Occitan
1 entries- peon noun (chess piece)
Ojibwe
1 entries- ganoodiye noun (chess piece)
Persian
2 entries- سرباز noun (chess piece)
- پیاده noun (chess piece)
Plautdietsch
1 entries- Büa noun (chess piece)
Polish
2 entries- pion noun (chess piece)
- pionek noun (chess piece)
Portuguese
1 entries- peão noun (chess piece)
Romanian
1 entries- pion noun (chess piece)
Russian
1 entries- пе́шка noun (chess piece)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- pàn noun (chess piece)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- pešak noun (chess piece)
- pion noun (chess piece)
- pješak noun (chess piece)
- пешак noun (chess piece)
Slovak
1 entries- pešiak noun (chess piece)
Slovene
1 entries- kmet noun (chess piece)
Spanish
1 entries- peón noun (chess piece)
Swahili
1 entries- kitunda noun (chess piece)
Swedish
2 entries- bonde noun (chess piece)
- pant noun (item sold to a pawn shop)
Tagalog
1 entries- piyon noun (chess piece)
Tajik
2 entries- пиёда noun (chess piece)
- сарбоз noun (chess piece)
Tamil
2 entries- காலாள் noun (chess piece)
- சிப்பாய் noun (chess piece)
Thai
1 entries- เบี้ย noun (chess piece)
Turkish
1 entries- piyon noun (chess piece)
Turkmen
2 entries- peşka noun (chess piece)
- pyýada noun (chess piece)
Ukrainian
1 entries- піша́к noun (chess piece)
Urdu
1 entries- پیاده noun (chess piece)
Uyghur
2 entries- پىيادە noun (chess piece)
- پېشكا noun (chess piece)
Uzbek
3 entries- peshka noun (chess piece)
- piyoda noun (chess piece)
- sarboz noun (chess piece)
Vietnamese
2 entries- chốt noun (chess piece)
- tốt noun (chess piece)
Yiddish
1 entries- פּיאָן noun (chess piece)
Sample sentences
24 total sentences available.
A clerk in the office is only a pawn in the game of big business.
Source: tatoeba (263801)
The infantry soldier is only a pawn in the game of war.
Source: tatoeba (273288)
I tilt my head. Not the pawn, but the knight?
Source: tatoeba (328684)
Showing 4 of 24 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "pawn"?
Closest matches include instrument, agent, ancilla, appliance, assurance.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "pawn"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.