Chinese Word Synonyms

Anki desktop add-on that shows synonyms from your own deck that share the same normalized meaning with the card you’re reviewing.

Example: reviewing 快乐 (happy) → front shows 2 Known Synonyms / 6 Total Synonyms; back lists 高兴, 开心, 愉快… when those notes share a meaning sense.

Works offline — your collection only. No external dictionary, AnkiConnect, or CEDICT.

Pairs well with Chinese Character Relations (shared characters). Separate menus, indexes, and panels.

Screenshots

<table> <tr> <td width="50%" align="center"> <img src="docs/media/review-front-count.png" alt="Question side: Synonyms card with Known and Total counts" /> <br />_{Question — Known / Total} </td> <td width="50%" align="center"> <img src="docs/media/review-back-synonyms.png" alt="Answer side: Synonyms panel with related words from your deck" /> <br />_{Answer — Synonyms panel} </td> </tr> </table>

Requirements

• Anki Desktop 23.10+ (Qt6 preferred)
• macOS, Windows, or Linux
• Notes with a Word/Hanzi field and a Meaning/Definition/English field

Install

From AnkiWeb (recommended)

1. Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons…
2. Paste download code: 1733540881
3. Restart Anki when prompted.

Or open the AnkiWeb listing and click Download.

From GitHub Release

1. Open the latest Release.
2. Download the .ankiaddon asset (e.g. chinese_word_synonyms-0.1.6.ankiaddon), not Source code.
3. Double-click the file, or open it with Anki / drag it onto the Anki window.
4. Restart Anki when prompted.

After install

1. Open Tools → Chinese Word Synonyms…
2. General: set Word / Hanzi + Meaning fields, check Meaning delimiters, then Rebuild Index.

Manual (developers)

./scripts/link-anki-addon.sh

Or copy the chinese_word_synonyms folder into your Anki add-ons folder, then restart Anki (Cmd+Q, reopen):

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Anki2\addons21\
• Linux: ~/.local/share/Anki2/addons21/

Settings

Tools → Chinese Word Synonyms… (or Tools → Add-ons → Config):

Front card (default): With Show only on back + Show synonym counts, the question shows N Known Synonyms / N Total Synonyms (Known = unsuspended). The front card is hidden when Known is 0. Full list on the answer.

Rebuild after changing scan decks, fields, or delimiters. Show panel in and Appearance update on the next flip (no rebuild).

How matching works

1. Read the Meaning field; strip HTML; lowercase; drop POS prefixes (adj., v., …).
2. Split into senses on your chosen delimiters (default: ; , | / ； 、).
3. Index each note under every sense key.
4. At review, show other notes that share at least one key (same headword excluded).

happy, glad → keys happy and glad. A note with only happy matches. Without comma as a delimiter, the whole string stays one key and rarely matches.

Configure delimiters under General → Meaning delimiters (checkboxes + optional Extra). Empty meaning → no panel.

Tips

• Click a synonym → opens that note in the Browser.
• Scan one vocab deck, then set Show panel in if you want the panel on other decks too (or leave it on Same as scan decks).
• Nothing showing? Check Word + Meaning fields, delimiters, then rebuild.
• Unique meanings correctly show no panel.
• Safe with Character Relations — both panels can appear under the answer.

Support

• AnkiWeb: listing · code 1733540881
• Bugs: GitHub Issues
• Updates / short questions: X @sageozzeus
• Source: github.com/sageozzeus/Chinese-Word-Synonyms

Maintainer docs: docs/MAINTENANCE.md · QA: docs/TESTING.md · Reddit: docs/REDDIT_RELEASE.md

License

MIT — see LICENSE.