A Feast for Word Lovers: The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus

November 25, 2008 · by Joanna Paterson · in

The third and final book I’m going to review this month is the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus.

Thesaurus: wordfinder, wordbook, synonym dictionary

Writer: author, wordsmith, man/woman of letters, penman, novelist, essayist, biographer, journalist, columnst, correspondent, scriptwriter, playwright, dramatist, dramaturge, tragedian, poet; informal: scribbler, scribe, hack

To be honest I haven’t used a thesaurus for quite a few years now, and I tend to advise people to use them with care.  They can lead you into the temptation of looking for a complicated word when a plain English version would do.  Buying a new thesaurus wouldn’t have been top of my wish list – which meant I was doubly lucky to get send this as a review copy to look at.  I’d never have found it otherwise.

This thesaurus is nothing like the foostie copy of Roget’s thesaurus that I’ve had since I was in school.  (For an explanation of foostie you’ll need a dictionary of Scottish slang not a thesaurus.  Still, one book can’t have everything.)

What the book’s like: In essence, a modern day thesaurus.  It includes ordinary everyday words and suggests other words you can deploy – to get just the right effect, to make a hint, create an association, or avoid using an overused cliche.

It will give you plain word alternatives as well as the fancier synonyms that need to be used with care – especially if you’re not 100% sure what they mean.  The thesaurus will though give you an example of the word being used to try and keep you out of trouble.

To give you an idea of the look of the thesaurus, here’s the extract on experiment:

I used it most recently to finish editing a piece of work: to find alternatives when I’d used a word once too often, and to check that I was using words in just the right way.  (A thesaurus will give you a different sense of that appropriateness of use than a dictionary will.)

Some quotes: Dotted throughout the book are word notes giving you a more detailed introduction to and explanation of a word.  Here’s an example, picked at random, of what they say about ‘woo’:

Court sounds too aristocratic and medieval; seduce is overly limited to the carnal objective.  That leaves woo.  It’s true that woo sounds a little goofy, but that might be ameliorated by more frequent use, or could even be considered a useful bonus connotation in a word for an activity that can put anybody in danger of making a fool of themselves.

Learning points: This book is a great reference source.  It’s reminded me of how much fun words can be, and how much pleasure there can be in finding just the right one.  I know there’ll be learning points aplenty as I dip in and out to check words, and explore new ones.

One thing to improve it: Have to confess, I can’t immediately think of one

Who it’d be good for: writers, students, anyone who’s interested in words.  The book would also make a great gift for someone you know who fits into any of those categories

Thumbs up/down: A definite thumbs up.

More About the Book

You can buy it from Amazon, current price $26.40

It’s hardback (and heavy!).  1128 pages

Other reference books for writers

Brad Shorr recently reviewed the Chicago Manual of Style.  In an ensuing conversation he mentioned that it might be interesting to gather up information on the reference books we use.  Are there any that are must haves on your bookshelf?  Or others that are top of your wish list?