No single get synonym works everywhere, because get has more meanings than almost any verb in English. Obtain and receive cover having something, become covers changes (get cold), understand covers ideas (I get it) and arrive covers travel (get home).
Spotting which job get is doing is the whole trick. Once you know, another word for get is usually easy to find, and your sentence nearly always ends up sharper. This page also covers got and getting, which are just as common.
Swatch at a glance
Best swaps
obtain, receive, become, understand, arrivePart of speech
VerbMost formal
acquire, procure, obtainMost casual
grab, pick up, landAntonyms
lose, give, missWatch out
Acquire suits skills, companies and property. It sounds odd for a coffee or a cold.Word forms covered
gets, got, gotten, getting
Find the meaning, then the get synonym
| If get means | Try | Before and after |
|---|---|---|
| come to have | obtain, gain, secure | get a visa becomes obtain a visa |
| be given | receive | get a letter becomes receive a letter |
| change state | become, grow, turn | get dark becomes grow dark |
| understand | grasp, follow | I do not get it becomes I do not follow |
| bring | fetch, collect | get the kids becomes collect the kids |
| arrive | reach, arrive | get to Paris becomes reach Paris |
| make happen | persuade, have | get him to call becomes persuade him to call |
Casual to formal: the chip strip
Read the paint strip left to right and each word dresses up a little more. Pick up sounds like something you do on the way home. Get hold of adds a little effort. Receive is neutral and fits any email. Obtain suits forms, rules and reports. Acquire is the stiffest of the five, best kept for skills, knowledge or businesses.
Get itself is fine in speech and in friendly emails. Most teachers would rather you cut it from formal essays, which is where these swaps help most.
Another word for got
Got is the past tense, and in British English it also appears in have got (I have got two sisters). Swap it according to meaning, just as with get:
- I got an offer becomes I received an offer.
- She got the job becomes she landed the job or, more formally, she secured the job.
- They got lost becomes they became lost, though got lost is more natural.
- He got home late becomes he arrived home late.
- I have got a car becomes simply I have a car.
So a good got synonym is often just a cleaner verb, or nothing at all. In American English, gotten is the usual past participle in most senses: it has gotten colder becomes it has grown colder.
Getting, gets and phrasal verbs
For getting, the same rules apply: getting better becomes improving, getting worse becomes worsening, getting older becomes aging. Many phrasal verbs with get have a one-word replacement:
Real moments where a swap helps
A cover letter: "In my last job I got a lot of experience and got promoted after a year." Rewritten: "In my last role I gained broad experience and earned a promotion within a year." Gained and earned both show effort, which got hides.
Messaging a friend, though, keep it simple. "Did you get my message?" sounds normal; "Did you receive my message?" sounds like a bank.
Swaps that sound wrong
To acquire a sandwich sounds silly, and to procure a cold is simply wrong, since procure means getting something through effort. Earn means you worked for it, so it does not fit a gift. Win needs a contest or luck. Become cannot replace get before a noun: you get a dog, you do not become a dog. And understand only fits when get means grasp an idea, not when it means hear: I did not get your name means I did not catch it. For general verbs of finding, see find synonyms and obtain synonyms.
Opposite of get
The main opposite of get in the sense of come to have is lose. When get means be given, the opposite is give or send. When it means catch or reach, the opposite is miss: we missed the bus. Forfeit is a formal word for losing a right or prize by breaking a rule. Strong replacements for other everyday verbs are collected among the action verbs.
Frequently asked questions
How do I avoid get in formal writing?
Obtain, receive and acquire cover most cases of having something. For changes, use become; for understanding, use grasp. Pick based on meaning, not just tone.
Which word replaces got in an essay?
Received, gained, obtained and became are the most useful. Often you can rewrite the sentence around a stronger verb, such as the team reached the final instead of got to the final.
Is gotten correct?
Yes, in American English it is the normal past participle for most senses, as in she has gotten taller. British English mostly uses got, except in a few fixed phrases.
Which relaxed words can stand in for get?
Grab, pick up and land are relaxed and friendly. Grab a coffee and land a job are both very common in speech.
What are antonyms of get?
Lose is the most common opposite. Give and miss are also opposites, depending on whether get means receive or catch.
Can I say obtain instead of get every time?
No. Obtain only covers coming to have something. It cannot replace get when it means become, understand or arrive.