Things — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

noun noun phrase phrase /ˈthiŋ/

Meaning & Definition of Things

Things (noun)

  1. an object or entity not precisely designated or capable of being designated
  2. an inanimate object distinguished from a living being
  3. a separate and distinct individual quality, fact, idea, or usually entity

Things (noun phrase)

  1. the networking capability that allows information to be sent to and received from objects and devices (such as fixtures and kitchen appliances) using the Internet —abbreviation IoT
  2. a person or thing that makes all people happy by giving them what they want or need

Things (phrase)

  1. hallucinate
  2. —used to say what should happen or be true if two situations, products, etc., are different in a specified way but not in other ways
  3. when all the good and bad parts of something are thought of
  4. in addition to things that are not specifically mentioned
  5. closely involved in things that are happening
  6. to hear sounds that are not real
  7. —used to say that one should do the things that are most important before doing other things

Things (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. transportable items that one owns

    "gather your things and get out"

    similar: belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear, goods, holdings, movables, paraphernalia, personal effects, personal property, personalty, plunder (chiefly dialect), possession, stuff
    related: treasures, valuables, appointments, fixtures, furnishings, estate, property, tangibles, collateral
    near: immovables, real estate

Related Entry: Thing (noun)

Thing is a different word from Things. The synonyms below are for thing, not for things.

  1. something material that can be perceived by the senses

    "can you hand me that thing over there?"

    similar: object
    related: article, item, piece, being, entity, substance, commodity, good, ware, dingus, doohickey, thingamabob, thingamajig, thingummy, whatchamacallit, whatnot, accessory, accompaniment, bauble, curio, gaud, gewgaw, knickknack, novelty, ornamental, spangle, token, trinket

  2. something produced by physical or intellectual effort

    "just the latest thing from her fertile imagination"

    similar: affair, fruit, handiwork, labor, output, produce, product, production, work, yield
    related: article, commodity, entry, object, goods, line, merchandise, wares, handcraft, handicraft, aftereffect, aftermath, conclusion, consequence, corollary, development, effect, issue, outcome, result, resultant, sequel, sequence, upshot, by-product, derivative, offshoot, offspring, outgrowth, residual, side effect, spin-off

  3. one that has a real and independent existence

    "the thing to which the subject of the sentence refers"

    similar: being, commodity, entity, existent, individual, individuality, integer, object, reality, something, substance
    related: body, subject, material, matter, quantity, stuff
    near: nonentity

  4. something done by someone

    "one of the things you can do is to help me clean up"

    similar: act, action, deed, doing, exploit, feat
    related: accomplishment, achievement, attainment, adventure, experience, emprise, enterprise, initiative, undertaking, handiwork, performance, work, stunt, trick, activity, dealing, maneuver, measure, move, operation, procedure, proceeding, step, tactic, coaction

  5. something that happens

    "the accident was just one of those things that can happen anywhere"

    similar: affair, circumstance, episode, event, hap, happening, incident, occasion, occurrence
    related: coincidence, co-occurrence, fluke, freak, landmark, milepost, milestone, page, phenomenon, turning point, adventure, experience, time, happenchance, happenstance, accident, crisis, emergency, juncture, achievement, deed, exploit, feat, news, tidings

  6. something that one hopes or intends to accomplish

    "the important thing is that we get the project back on schedule"

    similar: aim, ambition, aspiration, bourne, design, dream, end, goal, idea, ideal, intent, intention, mark, meaning, object, objective, plan, point, pretension, purpose, target, name of the game
    related: grail, holy grail, plot, project, scheme, desire, hope, mind, wish, nirvana, destination, terminus
    near: means, method, way

  7. something to be dealt with

    "I have lots of things to do this afternoon"

    similar: affair, business, matter, ball of wax
    related: consideration, issue, problem, crisis, crossroad(s), crunch, emergency, exigency, flash point, head, juncture, strait, zero hour, concern, trouble, worry, care, lookout, responsibility, deadlock, halt, impasse, stalemate, standstill, corner, fix, hole, hot water, jam, pickle, pinch, predicament, scrape, spot

  8. transportable items that one owns

    "gather your things and get out"

    similar: belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear, goods, holdings, movables, paraphernalia, personal effects, personal property, personalty, plunder (chiefly dialect), possession, stuff
    related: treasures, valuables, appointments, fixtures, furnishings, estate, property, tangibles, collateral
    near: immovables, real estate

  9. something for which a person shows a special talent

    "math just isn't my thing"

    similar: forte, long suit, métier, speciality, specialty, strong suit
    related: area, arena, bailiwick, business, circle, demesne, department, discipline, domain, fief, fiefdom, field, line, precinct, province, realm, sphere, terrain, element, aptitude, aptness, bent, faculty, flair, genius, gift, knack, talent, pursuit, racket, vocation, inclination, leaning, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency

  10. a member of the human race

    "you poor thing, you must be exhausted"

    similar: baby, being, bird, bod (British), body, character, cookie, creature, customer, devil, duck, egg, face, fish, guy, head, human, human being, individual, life, man, mortal, party, person, personage, scout, slob, sort, soul, specimen, stiff, wight, son of man
    related: hominid, homo, humanoid, brother, fellow, fellowman, neighbor, celebrity, personality, self, somebody
    near: animal, beast, beastie, brute, critter

Related Entry: Sure things (noun)

Sure things is a different word from Things. The synonyms below are for sure things, not for things.

  1. one that is certain to succeed

    "he's a sure thing for the promotion: he's the most qualified candidate by far"

    similar: cinches, locks, shoo-ins, slam dunks, lead-pipe cinches
    related: certainties, inevitabilities, eventualities, foregone conclusions
    near: dark horses, long shots

Related Entry: See (verb)

See is a different word from Things. The synonyms below are for see, not for things.

  1. to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes

    "out of the corner of my eye I saw the deer run into the woods"

    similar: behold, catch, descry, discern, distinguish, espy, eye, look (at), note, notice, observe, perceive, regard, remark, sight, spot, spy, view, witness, get a load of (slang), lay eyes on, set eyes on
    related: identify, make out, pick out, pick up, attend (to), consider, heed, mark, mind, study, watch, examine, inspect, scan, scrutinize, survey, glance (at), glimpse, peer (at)
    near: disregard, ignore, neglect, overpass, pass over, miss, overlook

  2. to come to a knowledge of (something) by living through it

    "a writer who saw World War II through the eyes of a common soldier"

    similar: endure, experience, feel, have, know, pass, suffer, sustain, taste, undergo, witness, go through
    related: encounter, meet, accept, receive, assimilate, digest

  3. to come to an awareness of

    "I bought the best seller just to see what all the fuss was about"

    similar: ascertain, catch on (to), discover, find out, get on (to), hear, learn, realize, wise (up), get wind of
    related: hit (on or upon), tumble (to), descry, detect, encounter, espy, spot, calculate, dope (out), figure out, find, puzzle (out), discern, mind, note, observe, perceive, divine
    near: miss, overlook, disregard, ignore, forget, unlearn, blanket, blot out, cloak, conceal, cover, curtain, enshroud, hide, mask, occult, screen, shroud, veil

  4. to have a vague awareness of

    "I see a certain sadness in his letters to his relatives back home"

    similar: feel, perceive, scent, sense, smell, taste
    related: behold, descry, discern, distinguish, espy, eye, look (at), note, notice, observe, regard, remark, sight, spy, view, witness, ascertain, catch on (to), discover, find out, hear, learn, realize, anticipate, divine, expect, foreknow, foresee, assume, conjecture, guess, presume, speculate, suppose, surmise, suspect

  5. to make a social call upon

    "you should go and see Father at the hospital this afternoon"

    similar: call (on or upon), drop in (on), visit
    related: look up, seek (out), drop by
    near: brush (aside or off), cold-shoulder, ignore, snub

  6. to have a clear idea of

    "I see your point"

    similar: appreciate, apprehend, assimilate, behold, catch, catch on (to), cognize, compass, comprehend, conceive, cotton (to or on to), decipher, decode, dig, discern, get, grasp, grok, intuit, know, make, make out, perceive, recognize, register, savvy, seize, sense, tumble (to), twig, understand, pick up on
    related: absorb, digest, take in, realize, fathom, penetrate, pierce
    opposite: miss
    near: misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret, misperceive, misread, mistake, misunderstand

  7. to go along with in order to provide assistance, protection, or companionship

    "thanks for coming, and I'll see you to the door"

    similar: accompany, attend, chaperone, companion, company, convoy, escort, squire
    related: walk, associate, consort, pal (around), team (up), defend, guard, protect, bring, conduct, guide, lead, pilot, steer, usher, follow, shadow, tag, tag along, tail, hang (around), hover (over)
    near: abandon, desert, ditch, dump, forsake

  8. to form a mental picture of

    "I can't see that spoiled brat as a soldier at all"

    similar: conceit (chiefly dialect), conceive, conjure (up), dream, envisage, envision, fancy, fantasize, fantasy, feature, ideate, image, imagine, picture, vision, visualize
    related: daydream, stargaze, hallucinate, re-create, reflect, relive, reminisce, contemplate, meditate, muse, ponder, ruminate, concoct, fabricate, invent, make up, manufacture, plan, project, foresee, prefigure

Related Entry: Seeable (adjective)

Seeable is a different word from Things. The synonyms below are for seeable, not for things.

  1. capable of being seen

    "a seeable flaw in the windowpane"

    similar: apparent, observable, visible, visual
    related: viewable, detectable, discernible, noticeable, perceptible, clear, conspicuous, evident, eye-catching, manifest, obvious, overt, patent, perceivable, plain, prominent, striking, exposed, external, outer, outward, superficial
    opposite: invisible, sightless, viewless
    near: disappeared, dissolved, evanesced, evaporated, melted, vanished, vaporized, imperceptible, indiscernible, indistinct, unnoticeable, unobservable, faint, inconspicuous, insignificant, slight, unobtrusive, vague, buried, concealed, covert, disguised, hidden, latent, obscure, shrouded

Related Entry: Sure thing (noun)

Sure thing is a different word from Things. The synonyms below are for sure thing, not for things.

  1. one that is certain to succeed

    "he's a sure thing for the promotion: he's the most qualified candidate by far"

    similar: cinch, lock, shoo-in, slam dunk, lead-pipe cinch
    related: certainty, inevitability, eventuality, foregone conclusion
    near: dark horse, long shot

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Things

The most common words with a similar meaning to Things:

Chiefly dialect: plunder
belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear, goods, holdings, movables, paraphernalia, personal effects, personal property, personalty, possession, stuff

Related Words for Things

treasures, valuables, appointments, fixtures, furnishings, estate, property, tangibles, collateral

Near Antonyms of Things

immovables, real estate

Origin & Etymology of Things

Middle English, from Old English, thing, assembly; akin to Old High German ding thing, assembly, Goth theihs time

First known use: before 12th century

Words & Phrases Containing Things

Internet of Things, see things, all/other things being equal, all things considered, all things to all people/men, among other things, at the center of things, be hearing things, first things first

Frequently Asked Questions about Things

What does "Things" mean?

"Things" means an object or entity not precisely designated or capable of being designated. As an a noun, a noun phrase and a phrase, it is defined as: an object or entity not precisely designated or capable of being designated.

What is another word for "Things"?

Other words for "Things" include belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear, goods, holdings and movables. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Things" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Things"?

There are 24 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Things". Common alternatives include belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear, goods, holdings, movables, paraphernalia and personal effects.

How do you use "Things" in a sentence?

Examples of "Things" in a sentence: "gather your things and get out".

Is "Things" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Things" can be used as a noun, a noun phrase and a phrase, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Things"?

"Things" is pronounced /ˈthiŋ/.

What is the origin of the word "Things"?

"Things" comes from Middle English, from Old English, thing, assembly; akin to Old High German ding thing, assembly, Goth theihs time. First known use: before 12th century.

What is another word for "Things" meaning "transportable items that one owns"?

When "Things" (noun) means transportable items that one owns, synonyms include belongings, chattels, duds, effects, gear and goods.