Synonyms for Fathom
ˈfæð əmfath·om

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. fathomverb

   Synonyms:
   fathom out, figure out, work out, puzzle out

2. fathomverb

   Grasp, envelopment, control.

   Synonyms:
   figure out, fathom out, work out, puzzle out

3. fathomverb

   To measure the depth of, take a sounding of.

   Synonyms:
   work out, figure out, puzzle out, fathom out

4. fathomverb

   To get to the bottom of; to manage to comprehend (a problem etc.).

   I can't for the life of me fathom what this means.

   Synonyms:
   puzzle out, fathom out, work out, figure out

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 4 votes

1. fathom

   Synonyms:
   gauge, pierce, measure, sound, probe

   Antonyms:
   survey, glance, scan, overlook, miss, graze, skim

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. fathom, fthmnoun

   a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth

   Synonyms:
   fthm, fathom

2. fathom, fthmverb

   (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore

   Synonyms:
   fthm, fathom

3. penetrate, fathom, bottomverb

   come to understand

   Synonyms:
   click, imbue, riddle, dawn, infiltrate, permeate, perforate, diffuse, sink in, penetrate, come home, get through, bottom, fall into place, fathom, sound, pervade, get across, interpenetrate

4. fathom, soundverb

   measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line

   Synonyms:
   sound, vocalise, penetrate, voice, fathom, vocalize, bottom, go

Matched Categories

1. • Measure
   • Understand

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. fathomnoun

   Synonyms:
   six feet, two yards

2. fathomverb

   Synonyms:
   sound, try the depth of, measure by a sounding-line

3. fathomverb

   Synonyms:
   divine, penetrate, reach, understand, comprehend

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "fathom":

   understand

How to pronounce Fathom?

How to say Fathom in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use Fathom in a sentence?

1. Vanna Bonta:

   When we can build something like the Hubble telescope and fathom images of this vast cosmos of which we are a part, it really gives pause to wonder what and who we are within a larger framework than linear adventures at the shopping mall and taxes.

2. Bob Jones:

   I take serious issue when somebody who's done a little non-fighting time in Iraq, and is not a Middle East or Islamic scholar, claims to know better than our President and Secretary of State how to fathom the motivations of terrorists, or how to refer to them beyond the term that best describes them -- terrorists.

3. from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Translation by Edward Fitzgerald):

   You know, my Friends, with what a brave CarouseI made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,And took the Daughter of the Vine to Spouse.For "Is" and "Is-not" though with Rule and LineAnd "Up-and-down" by Logic I define, Of all that one should care to fathom, IWas never deep in anything but - Wine.

4. William Shakespeare, "The Tempest", Act 1 scene 2:

   Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange.

5. Farkhunda Muhtaj:

   They left their homes and left everything behind, they can’t fathom that they’re out of Afghanistan.