Home Synonyms about

Synonyms of about in English:

about


See US English definition of about

See UK English definition of about

See Spanish definition of sobre

preposition

1‘a book about ancient Greece’

SYNONYMS
regarding, concerning, with reference to, referring to, with regard to, with respect to, respecting, relating to, on, touching on, dealing with, relevant to, with relevance to, connected with, in connection with, on the subject of, in the matter of, apropos, re
Scottish anent

2‘two hundred people were milling about the room’

SYNONYMS
around, round, throughout, over, through, all over, in all parts of, on every side of, encircling, surrounding
here and there, everywhere

3‘they aren't seen about here very often’

SYNONYMS
near, nearby, close to, not far from, not far away from, a short distance from, in the vicinity of, in the neighbourhood of, within reach of, adjacent to, beside, around, a stone's throw away from
informal within spitting distance of, a hop, skip, and a jump away from

4‘while I am about it, I had better apologize for what happened’

SYNONYMS
occupied with, concerned with, busy with, taken up with, employed in, involved in, absorbed in, in the process of, in the course of, in the midst of, in the throes of
conducting, pursuing, following, practising

adverb

1‘there were babies crawling about in the grass’

SYNONYMS
around, here and there, to and fro, back and forth, from place to place, hither and thither, in every direction, in all directions, abroad

2‘although I hadn't seen him for two years, I knew he was about somewhere’

SYNONYMS
near, nearby, around, about the place, hereabouts, not far away, not far off, close by, in the vicinity, in the neighbourhood, at hand, within reach, on the doorstep, around the corner, just around the corner

3‘we think the explosion has caused about £15,000 worth of damage’

SYNONYMS
approximately, roughly, around, round about, in the neighbourhood of, in the region of, in the area of, of the order of, something like
or so, or thereabouts, there or thereabouts, more or less, give or take a few, not far off
British getting on for
circa
informal as near as dammit
North American informal in the ballpark of
ANTONYMS

exactly, precisely

4‘he gave orders to turn about’

SYNONYMS
in the opposite direction, in the reverse direction, around, backwards, to face the other way

5‘there was a lot of flu about’

SYNONYMS
around, in circulation, in existence, current, going on, prevailing, prevalent, widespread, pervasive, endemic, happening, in the air, abroad

Phrases

    about to

    ‘I was about to climb into bed when the bell rang’


    SYNONYMS
    going to, ready to, all set to, preparing to, intending to, soon to
    on the point of, on the verge of, on the brink of, within an ace of