List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 171

SYNONYMS: form, figure, shape, configuration, contour, profile.
These nouns refer to the external outline of a thing.

Form is the outline and structure of a thing as opposed to its substance: stalactites of curious forms; a garden in the form of a lovers' knot.
Figure refers usually to form as established by bounding or enclosing lines: The cube is a solid geometric figure. Shape implies three-dimensional definition that indicates both outline and bulk or mass: He could not make out the shape at night.
Configuration stresses the pattern formed by the arrangement of parts within an outline: The map shows the configuration of the North American continent.
Contour refers especially to the outline of a three-dimensional figure: I ran my finger along the soft, curving contour of the child's cheek.
Profile denotes the outline of something viewed against a background and especially the outline of the human face in side view: We glimpsed the profile of the church steeple against the last glow of the sunset.