Vocabulary Showcase: Synonyms for “realise”

Clara has just realised that Ben has been trying to eat her fluffy ears for about a week now. We all have those “aha!” moments when something suddenly becomes very clear and understandable to us. It’s like when you realise that your house plant is dying because you haven’t watered it in 6 weeks, not because of your air freshener.

Let’s have a look at some synonyms for “realise”, so we can expand our vocabulary for different audiences and situations:

Informal/slang:

• To cotton on to something– I only cottoned on this morning that I’m tired because I have slept with the TV on every night this week.

• To twig something– Jeremy twigged that Alistair was angry with him because he stole his lunch.

• To suss something – I’ve sussed that Pokémon means pocket monster! I’m a genius!

• To catch on – I’ve caught on to the Scooby do story line. The park manager did it!

• To latch on – Sidney latched on to the fact that his car was not working because he had put no fuel in it.

Normal every-day:

• To recognise something – Alice recognised that she was tired when she fell asleep in her soup.

Formal:

• To register something – I’ve only just registered that I can’t find my glasses, because they are on my head.

• To conceive of something – I could not conceive of why he decided to go swimming in a suit.

What have you realised recently? Have you had any sudden realisations? Do you sometimes take a little while to cotton on to things?