"Good morning", said Tom with a smile.
Source: tatoeba (1780)
Tom
/tɑm/
Synonyms for "tom" (113 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: gobbler, tomcat, alley cat, bantam, banty.
- Sentence evidence is available for tom, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, wiktionary, moby, 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 "tom".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "tom"
Keep "tom" 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 "tom" 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 "tom", 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 "tom" 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 entriesAfrican-AmericanBlackBlack personFelis catusFelis domesticusMeleagris gallopavoNegroNegroidanimalbirdblackamoordomestic catgiven namehouse catpersonal nameturkey
More specific
3 entriesCollocations
6 entriesadult tombearded tomdomestic tom turkeyfamous Tomthe name Tomwild tom turkey
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
2 entriesTranslations
91 translations across 63 languages.
Arabic
3 entries- عتوي noun (male cat)
- قطو noun (male cat)
- قِطّ noun (male cat)
Assamese
1 entries- বোন্দা noun (male cat)
Asturian
1 entries- gatu noun (male cat)
Belarusian
1 entries- кот noun (male cat)
Breton
1 entries- targazh noun (male cat)
Bulgarian
1 entries- котара́к noun (male cat)
Burmese
1 entries- ကြောင်ထီး noun (male cat)
Catalan
1 entries- gat noun (male cat)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 郎貓 /郎猫 noun (male cat)
Crimean Tatar
1 entries- pardoş noun (male cat)
Czech
1 entries- kocour noun (male cat)
Danish
1 entries- hankat noun (male cat)
Dutch
2 entries- kater noun (male cat)
- mannetjeskat noun (male cat)
Esperanto
2 entries- katiĉo noun (male cat)
- virkato noun (male cat)
Fijian
1 entries- pusi noun (male cat)
Finnish
4 entries- kolli noun (male cat)
- tom noun (drum type)
- tomi noun (drum type)
- uroskissa noun (male cat)
French
2 entries- chat noun (male cat)
- matou noun (male cat)
German
4 entries- Kater noun (male cat)
- Katzenmännchen noun (male cat)
- Kätzerich noun (male cat)
- männliche Katze noun (male cat)
Greek
3 entries- αλητόγατος noun (male cat)
- γάτος noun (male cat)
- κεραμιδόγατος noun (male cat)
Hausa
1 entries- mùzūrū noun (male cat)
Hindi
1 entries- बिल्ला noun (male cat)
Hungarian
1 entries- kandúr noun (male cat)
Icelandic
1 entries- högni noun (male cat)
Ido
1 entries- katulo noun (male cat)
Ingrian
1 entries- kullikasi noun (male cat)
Interlingua
1 entries- catto noun (male cat)
Irish
1 entries- fearchat noun (male cat)
Italian
1 entries- gatto noun (male cat)
Jamaican Creole
2 entries- man puss noun (male cat)
- ram puss noun (male cat)
Japanese
1 entries- 雄猫 noun (male cat)
Kashmiri
2 entries- برٛور noun (male cat)
- بیٛور noun (male cat)
Khmer
2 entries- ឆ្មាបា noun (male cat)
- សត្វឆ្មាបា noun (male cat)
Korean
1 entries- 수고양이 noun (male cat)
Lao
1 entries- ແມວຜູ້ noun (male cat)
Latvian
1 entries- runcis noun (male cat)
Lower Sorbian
1 entries- kócor noun (male cat)
Macedonian
1 entries- мачор noun (male cat)
Malay
1 entries- kucing jantan noun (male cat)
Malayalam
1 entries- കണ്ടൻപൂച്ച noun (male cat)
Māori
1 entries- tame noun (male cat)
Navajo
2 entries- gídíkąʼ noun (male cat)
- mósíkąʼ noun (male cat)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- hannkatt noun (male cat)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- fross noun (male cat)
- hannkatt noun (male cat)
Polish
2 entries- kocur noun (male cat)
- kot noun (male cat)
Portuguese
1 entries- gato noun (male cat)
Romanian
2 entries- cotoi noun (male cat)
- motan noun (male cat)
Russian
1 entries- кот noun (male cat)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- mačak noun (male cat)
- mačor noun (male cat)
- мачак noun (male cat)
- мачор noun (male cat)
Sindhi
1 entries- ٽامڪ noun (male cat)
Slovak
1 entries- kocúr noun (male cat)
Spanish
2 entries- gato noun (male cat)
- tamtan noun (drum type)
Swedish
3 entries- hankatt noun (male cat)
- hängpuka noun (drum type)
- tom noun (drum type)
Tatar
1 entries- ата мәче noun (male cat)
Telugu
1 entries- పోతుపిల్లి noun (male cat)
Turkish
1 entries- kotak noun (male cat)
Ukrainian
1 entries- кіт noun (male cat)
Upper Sorbian
1 entries- kocor noun (male cat)
Urdu
1 entries- بلّا noun (male cat)
Volapük
1 entries- hikat noun (male cat)
Walloon
2 entries- marcåd noun (male cat)
- marou noun (male cat)
Welsh
2 entries- cath wryw noun (male cat)
- gwrcath noun (male cat)
West-Frisian
1 entries- boarre noun (male cat)
Yiddish
1 entries- קאָטער noun (male cat)
Sample sentences
33 total sentences available.
You can always count on Tom.
Source: tatoeba (16467)
To our surprise, Tom came to our party with Mary.
Source: tatoeba (18919)
Tom started the engine.
Source: tatoeba (18968)
Showing 4 of 33 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "tom"?
Closest matches include gobbler, tomcat, alley cat, bantam, banty.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "tom"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.