C:\oracle\product\12.2.0.1\ctx\sample\thes>ctxload -thes -name default -file dr0thsus.txt
Enter user: mcdonac/******
Connecting...
Creating thesaurus default...
Thesaurus default created...
Processing...
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21760 lines processed successfully
Beginning insert...21760 lines inserted successfully
Disconnected

SQL> create table t (col varchar2(60));

Table created.

SQL>
SQL> insert all
  2  into t values ('I abandoned all hope of losing weight')
  3  into t values ('We shall never surrender')
  4  select * from dual;

2 rows created.

SQL>
SQL> create index t_idx on t (col) INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CONTEXT;

Index created.

SQL>
SQL> select * from t where contains (col, 'abandonment') > 0;

no rows selected

SQL> select * from t where contains (col, 'SYN(abandonment,default)') > 0;

COL
------------------------------------------------------------
I abandoned all hope of losing weight

1 row selected.