More than two but not many, indicating an indefinite, small number of something.
Examples:
Several evenings later Marian again visited him, this time alone.Anne taped several commercials and fled to Palm Beach with Kevin.Several true friends now came to visit Tom in prison.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Multiple
/ˈmʌltəpəl/
More than one; having many parts, numbers, or elements.
Examples:
Keep it somewhere multiple family members can see and add too.Telmen has given him multiple windows to move.Multiple explosions resound around me.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
Several is often used when the number can be counted or is relatively small, think several apples,several days'.
Multiple implies many or more than a few, think multiple reasons, multiple occurrences.
Remember that several usually feels more limited than multiple.
Several suggests more than two but not a large number, whereas multiple could indicate a large or diverse range.
Use several when you want to emphasize a distinct countability without specificity, and multiple when the count is larger or the emphasis is on variety.