Synopses & Reviews
This new edition of the
Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is more exceptional than ever, solidifying its place as the one thesaurus every writer (or aspiring writer) will want to have.
This book provides more than 300,000 synonyms and 10,000 antonyms, with copious real-life example sentences and careful selection and ordering of the most relevant synonyms. Additional features include notes on American English usage and word spectrums showing the shades of meaning between polar opposites. The text is enhanced with thoughtful mini-essays on favorite words by ten noted contemporary writers--David Auburn, Michael Dirda, David Lehman, Erin McKean, Stephin Merritt, Francine Prose, Zadie Smith, Jean Strouse, David Foster Wallace, and Simon Winchester.
This new edition has been updated and enhanced, including a new foreword by award-winning author Rick Moody. Additionally, the second edition introduces new Word Toolkits, which use an exciting visual display of information to demonstrate the nuances in meaning and use of closely related words. Also new to this edition is a center section including thematic word lists, as well as a comprehensive language guide with writing tips. The new features are based on findings from Oxford's groundbreaking language research program and the Oxford English Corpus.
The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is truly (surely, certainly, unquestionably) the perfect tool for discriminating writers of all varieties looking for the perfect word.
Praise for the first edition:
"The best new array of synonyms around."
--William Safire, The New York Times Magazine
"The only problem in consulting this book could be that the original purpose soon is lost while the reader becomes immersed in one fascinating passage after another." --Richmond Times Dispatch
"Practice writing sharper essays with just the right words from the new Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus."-Parade
"A person looking up a word may continue reading for another 15 minutes or so just out of interestThis is probably the best thesaurus yet."--Desert News
"Written by writers for writers, this innovative thesaurus truly advances the time-honored word source."--American Libraries
"A title that breathes fresh life into a genre very much in need of CPR. This work breaks away from the traditional format of simple lists of synonyms and antonyms by offering a number of ingenious and helpful features set within boxes in the text.... Highly recommended."--Library Journal (Starred Review)
"In the jargon of sportscasters The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is a triple threat: It's a freshly conceived guide to finding just the right word, it's published by the greatest name in English reference books, and it offers thoughtful, amusing and provocative mini-essays on 240 favorite words by nine distinguished contemporary writers."
--Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize winning critic and longtime journalist for The Washington Post
"This very readable reference will help writers find the most precise word for their needs.... Current, thoughtful, and attractively formatted, this is an indispensable tool for writers."
--School Library Journal (Starred Review)
"Perhaps the thesaurus's most fascinating feature is lengthy lists of words that link opposites--fat and thin, comic and tragic, interesting and boring. With this book close at hand, no one will call you the thesaurus's ultimate synonym for writer: a hack."
--Village Voice
Review
"...the best new array of synonyms around."--William Safire, The New York Times Magazine
"To help today's writers in the "grail-quest" for the true word, the folks at Oxford have come up with a title that breathes fresh life into a genre very much in need of CPR. This work breaks away from the traditional format of simple lists of synonyms and antonyms by offering a number of ingenious and helpful features set within boxes in the text.... Bottom Line Although loaded with special features, this thesaurus doesn't undermine its more traditional duties. Under a generous 25,000 headwords, it lists 300,000 synonyms and 10,000 antonyms in usefully laid-out entries. Highly recommended."--Library Journal STARRED REVIEW!
"Anyone who writes for a living knows how valuable a good thesaurus can be in finding the exact words to express a variety of thoughts - and this book has more than 300,000 synonyms and 10,000 antonyms from which to choose. Arranged alphabetically, it includes example sentences and distinctions from the most commonly used words....The only drawback to this book is that a person looking up a word may continue reading for another 15 minutes or so just out of interest.
This is probably the best thesaurus yet."--Deseret News
"In the jargon of sportscasters The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is a triple threat: It's a freshly conceived guide to finding just the right word, it's published by the greatest name in English reference books, and it offers thoughtful, amusing and provocative mini-essays on 240 favorite words by nine distinguished contemporary writers.--Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize winning critic and longtime journalist for The Washington Post
"Oxford also scores high for its new The Oxford Writer's Thesaurus ($40), which employed the skills of several contributing editors. This guide is a tribute to the precisions of the English language, listing more than 300,000 synonyms and 10,000 antonyms. Of special interest are the interspersed notes of the editors, who expound on nuances and crotchetsThe only problem in consulting this book could be that the original purpose soon is lost while the reader becomes immersed in one fascinating passage after another." --Richmond Times Dispatch
Synopsis
This brand new thesaurus from Oxford, the most trusted name in reference, is the first to be developed by writers, for writers.
In addition to the more than 300,000 synonyms and 10,000 antonyms found in the thesaurus, each of our distinguished editorial board members (including David Auburn, Michael Dirda, David Lehman, Stephin Merritt, Francine Prose, Zadie Smith, Jean Strouse, David Foster Wallace, and Simon Winchester) has contributed frank, funny, thoughtful, and, most of all, word-wise mini-essays on words that they particularly love, hate, admire, or are just plain puzzled by.
Even more helpful for writers in search of the perfect word, this new thesaurus contains nearly two hundred word banks, collections of nouns to add exact detail to your writing. (Was it just bread, or was it chapatti, rye, dal, or pita?) Brand-new word spectrums show where your word falls in a line between two polar opposites (passable is three-quarters of the way from beautiful to ugly).
Other features include quick guides to easily confused words; helpful, real-world usage guidance to tricky sticking points of grammar and word choice; and careful, expert distinctions among awkward synonyms.
All Oxford American dictionaries use an easy-to-use respelling system to show how entries are pronounced. It uses simple, familiar markings to represent common American English sounds.
The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus will unlock the power of language and is certain to be the thesaurus that stays on the desk--and stays open.