A paragraph is a vital component of a piece of writing, which contains one or more sentences related to a single theme or idea. But if you are trying to avoid repeating the same word over and over again, there are several synonyms for paragraph. A few common alternatives are: section, passage, portion, segment, block, division, stanza, subdivision, text, and excerpt. Each of these terms can refer to a specific part of a document, essay or article. Although they may have slight differences in meaning, they all relate to a smaller piece of writing that is part of a larger composition.