Synonyms for consult

13 synonyms
8 antonyms
1 meaning

verb
noun

Most common

confer confab confabulate

All synonyms

Verb

1. Confer

confer, confab, confabulate

Other

refer, consider, see, seek, talk, question, interrogate, deliberate

Noun

look-up, consultation

Antonyms

ignore, disregard, bypass

All antonyms of consult →

Definitions

v. 1
To seek the opinion or advice of another; to take counsel; to deliberate together; to confer; to advise.
n. 1
A visit to consult somebody, such as a doctor; a consultation.

Related words

Word family: consultable consultative consultive consultant consultation

Forms

Plural: consults → look-ups, consultations…
Past participle: consulted
e.g. consulted → conferred, confabbed, confabulated, referred…

Choose the right word

Consult, Confer or Debate?

Consult and confer always imply two or more persons, as does debate, unless expressly limited as above. Confer suggests the interchange of counsel, advice, or information; consult indicates almost exclusively the receiving of it.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

confer You should confer with your attorney on this matter.
consider I do not consider her choice of music a happy one.
seek Hide and seek / I count to three / Winter has come
refer Refer to the instructions to fix the refrigerator.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
consult		steady
confer		falling
confabulate		rising
consider		steady
seek		steady
refer		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: see¹
4 letters: talk¹, seek¹
5 letters: refer²
6 letters: advise², confer², confab
8 letters: question², consider³
10 letters: deliberate⁴
11 letters: interrogate⁴, confabulate
12 letters: consultation⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (refer² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: consulter
Italiano: consultare
Español: consultar
Deutsch: befragen
Català: consultar