Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus: Updated and Expanded 3rd Edition, in Dictionary Form (21st Century Reference)

Fifty plus years ago when I was a college freshman, I purchased a Roget's Thesaurus because I was majoring in English. I knew I would be writing a lot and needed to increase my mental library of words. I can't even begin to tell you how much I used that little book, then and quite often through the years, adding to my repertoire of words and word use. Nothing is more boring than reading an article that has repeatedly used one or two words over and over. But to use this thesaurus in order to sound more intelligent than one truly is isn't the smarter way to use it as one will be found out to be a fraud. The better use of it is to replace the word you know with another like word. I have found Roget's to be invaluable through the years. I have always used my original copy all these years and in one of my "senior" moments, misplaced it. Hunt as might, I couldn't find it. As I couldn't do without it, I ordered this third edition and am very pleased with it. Yes, the print is small but a bright reading light goes a long way here. Computers are a wonderful thing but I still like a hard copy my thesaurus and Roget's is the best.

I started reading this book and found it tough to stick with. The character development was nearly non-existent! In fact, it seems that literally from sentence to sentence even the plot was all over the place - difficult to follow along. I wonder if the author was schizophrenic or something because he (Roget?) really couldn't maintain any semblance of continuity. Worse, I bought this book thinking it would be about dinosaurs and there is hardly any mention of them. I figured with it's title that it was either the precursor to or follow up from "Thesaurus Park". Actually, figured it was a follow up because I think the first book was done in the 1990s and figured with the title "21st Century . . ." it was a newer version or sequel. Very misleading! So if you are considering this book as an avid dinosaur reader, you are likely going to be very disappointed. Sort of like that movie with the misleading title that came out a few years ago; Super 8. I went to that movie thinking it was going to be about the famous hotel chain . . . again, very disappointing as they never even showed one of the hotels in the whole movie! But they'll "leave the lights on for you". But I found two really fascinating aspects of this book! 1: I don't think I could classify it as a murder mystery, a thriller, a romance novel, or a historical piece - at times even something else, it really seemed to be all of the above in one single book. 2: I don't know if it is just me, or if others have experienced it, but I found after reading this book, I actually felt smarter. I found myself using completely different vocabulary than I am accustomed to. And not just in my verbal communications, but even when writing. I mean, I'd go back and proof read a letter and say, whoa, the use of that word versus a more common alternative really sounds a lot better (or at least a lot smarter).. Now, I cannot be sure that is related to this book, as when I was reading this book, I also got into the TV show Duck Dynasty and it is certainly possible, maybe even likely, that it was the result of that fine TV show that made me feel smarter and use more interesting and compelling words??? I think there are better authors out nowadays that seem better at organizing their writings, providing for flow, continuity, suspense and interest. So unless you are like me (I have read every other book ever published), you may find more enjoyment, entertainment and satisfaction by choosing another book. Though I did certainly find this book to be much more compelling than those by Webster, I can tell you that his book, "Dictionary" is super boring and not worth the read! Plus, he has this awful habit of falling into a trap of perseverating on letters . . . I mean, did he really wake up some day and say to himself, "today, I am only going to use words that start with the letter M", how odd.

Should fiction writers use Roget's Thesaurus? I've read and heard arguments on both sides. Those who say "No" think that writers using It write overblown prose, using a long word where a shorter one would be better. I disagree. There are times when the first word that comes to mind is the easy word that does not get at the real meaning of a character's thought, or the feeling I want to convey. If I just write, "the room was cold," I've shortchanged the reader. How cold and why does the temperature matter? But if I show that people wear two pairs of thick wool socks just to sit inside, or get up three times in the night to make sure the baby's bed cap is on his head, or have another character remark that the mercury has frozen in the thermometer, the reader feels the cold. This thesaurus is not only a word-finder that lets me locate synonyms to vary my writing vocabulary, it jogs my brain into new was of thinking about what I'm writing. This book lies on my desk waiting to help me write better. It must work, because I've won one Spur Award and been a finalist for another.

This is my first physical thesaurus, so I can't really give a detailed critique because I am unable to do a comparison. But, I will say that the print is incredibly small. This was disappointing and is the prime reason I am giving four stars. This is for my teenage son to help him to increase his vocabulary. It is serving its purpose. Not as extensive as I would like, but again, it serves its purpose for a beginner.

I needed a new thesaurus and had to decide which was going to be my go to book for writing and reading. I read across all the reviews in a variety of volumes including the heavily debated international versions that use conceptual classification systems. The problem with a person like me is my vocabulary is already quite distinguished, and I don't have the time to be sorting through conceptual ideas when all I want is a quick look at a variety of words that are on the tip of my tongue. Reading the likes of Henry Miller, John Barth, or simply editing my own poetry, I just need a simple guide and easy to access A-Z thesaurus. This is basically what I wanted. Now if you want to go further into research and understand more than just simple word choice then the international volumes are where you want to go. Just be warned some people seem to like the 4th edition which is out of print. The newest 7th edition is much like the past couple versions and not quite organized as some would like it to be. For me I don't want to bother with word history or concepts when I just need to know the meaning of a word as fast as possible while reading or writing. This book does the job very well!

This book has it all , plus ! A definite MUST for anyone seeking a Thesaurus . The paperback version contains small print that may require reading glasses but well worth the minor inconvenience. I was so happy w/ purchase I donated the three I had been using for several years to my local Good Will. Roget truly has left Webster in the dust .

This Thesaurus has everything I needed in a small, inexpensive package. The only downside is the print is very small. Without my reading glasses I couldn't see it. However, I can't read without my glasses anyway so no big deal. I guess you can't fit all that info in this small book unless you make the print really small. If that doesn't bother you go for it. I did, and I'm glad. Ty

The information contained within the thesaurus is very fine print thus difficult to read without magnifying glasses.

Great

The best thesaurus

Kam unbeschädigt und wie erwartet.

Check this on a popular store online where it was costlier than amazon. Comes clean and readable prints. Sent to school with yearly school supply.

TOEICの学習で語彙を調べる際、日本語を介さずに同義語をこの本で、合わせてOXFORD英英で活用しています。 THESAURUSはいろいろ試してみましたが、やはりこれに勝るものは私の中ではありません。語によっては語義がイタリックで書いてあったり、また、アスタリスクのついたもののなかに非常に面白い表現があり、同義語等を理解するのに思わず「なるほど」と納得しています。 語数も多いため文字が小さめなのは仕方のないことですが、印刷も鮮明で手放せません！！ぼろぼろになるまで使いこなしたい一品です。