Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Not Easiest To Use, but Helpful in Expository Writing. Review: "Roget's International Thesaurus" is organized by subject as opposed to alphabetically, although all words are also indexed in the back. Which type of organization you prefer will depend upon your needs and tastes. If you are looking for a thesaurus that will simply give you the most and best alternative words, an alphabetical thesaurus such as Rodale Press' "Synonym Finder" is easier to use and more efficient to that purpose. On the other hand, "Roget's International Thesaurus" has traded ease of use for versatility. If it's a synonym you seek, look it up in the index, which will direct you to the appropriate section and subsection. There, you will find synonyms for your word, and if you let your eyes wander up and down the page perusing the contents of that section, you will also find words related to your subject, including antonyms. The part of speech for each word is always given, and abbreviations for "nonformal" and the origins of foreign words are provided for clarity. There are no word definitions. Section/subsection numbers are conveniently found at the top of each page to aid in locating words. If you have no idea what word you need, you can consult the list of 1,075 categories in the front of the book, which will direct you to words related to that subject. Word lists are another of the book's useful features. If you are looking at the subject of lakes, for example, you are provided with a list of the world's major lakes. Other examples include a list of words describing different types of engraving found in the graphic arts section, and over 100 types of ceramic are listed in the ceramics section. A short biography of Peter Mark Roget, the 19th century physician whose work was the basis for all subsequent thesauruses organized by subject, introduces you to the book, followed by a short explanation of how to best make use of this thesaurus. I think that most students will prefer an alphabetical thesaurus to this one. But if you do a lot of expository writing, Roget's organization by subject could prove invaluable. Since I do a lot of writing and have somehow deluded myself into viewing shelf space as endlessly expandable, I have found that having both "Roget's International Thesaurus" and "The Synonym Finder" is the best way to go.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Not Easiest To Use, but Helpful in Expository Writing. Review: "Roget's International Thesaurus" is organized by subject as opposed to alphabetically, although all words are also indexed in the back. Which type of organization you prefer will depend upon your needs and tastes. If you are looking for a thesaurus that will simply give you the most and best alternative words, an alphabetical thesaurus such as Rodale Press' "Synonym Finder" is easier to use and more efficient to that purpose. On the other hand, "Roget's International Thesaurus" has traded ease of use for versatility. If it's a synonym you seek, look it up in the index, which will direct you to the appropriate section and subsection. There, you will find synonyms for your word, and if you let your eyes wander up and down the page perusing the contents of that section, you will also find words related to your subject, including antonyms. The part of speech for each word is always given, and abbreviations for "nonformal" and the origins of foreign words are provided for clarity. There are no word definitions. Section/subsection numbers are conveniently found at the top of each page to aid in locating words. If you have no idea what word you need, you can consult the list of 1,075 categories in the front of the book, which will direct you to words related to that subject. Word lists are another of the book's useful features. If you are looking at the subject of lakes, for example, you are provided with a list of the world's major lakes. Other examples include a list of words describing different types of engraving found in the graphic arts section, and over 100 types of ceramic are listed in the ceramics section. A short biography of Peter Mark Roget, the 19th century physician whose work was the basis for all subsequent thesauruses organized by subject, introduces you to the book, followed by a short explanation of how to best make use of this thesaurus. I think that most students will prefer an alphabetical thesaurus to this one. But if you do a lot of expository writing, Roget's organization by subject could prove invaluable. Since I do a lot of writing and have somehow deluded myself into viewing shelf space as endlessly expandable, I have found that having both "Roget's International Thesaurus" and "The Synonym Finder" is the best way to go.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: This book is hot! Review: ... Roget's Indexed Thesaurus is absolutely invaluable for students, writers, writers who are also students, pupils, scholars, educatees, trainees, tutees, disciples, collegians, and hundreds more! And you can just forget about an alphabetical thesaurus. Yes, it might be "easier," but you'll be sacficing thousands of words (not to mention a quick and easy way to peruse subtle variations of words) or adding few pounds to the book (and this is no beach paperback). So do yourself a favor and get the greatest thesaurus that ever was, and let the phraseology begin!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: This book is hot! Review: ... Roget's Indexed Thesaurus is absolutely invaluable for students, writers, writers who are also students, pupils, scholars, educatees, trainees, tutees, disciples, collegians, and hundreds more! And you can just forget about an alphabetical thesaurus. Yes, it might be "easier," but you'll be sacficing thousands of words (not to mention a quick and easy way to peruse subtle variations of words) or adding few pounds to the book (and this is no beach paperback). So do yourself a favor and get the greatest thesaurus that ever was, and let the phraseology begin!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Organization by ideas still beats organization by alphabet Review: A dictionary of synonyms or a "thesaurus in dictionary form" (now that's phony titling) requires that you think of one of the words by which they sorted the language. A true thesaurus, though, while unfamiliar at first like any new and powerful tool, will let you find the word you are looking for when you can't think of ANY word to start. All you have to do is go to the area with the right sort of ideas and browse a bit. This book only gets better with time. Every writer of every sort needs a copy of this. (Oh, and the index makes a great spelling list for all the words science- and law-obsessed spellcheckers leave out.)
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Ok - but don't toss your Third Ed! Review: After getting many years of excellent service from the 3rd Edition (bought new for $$$) I decided to 'upgraged' to 6th Edition. For the most part a great tool and highly recommended. Especially if you are new to a good thesaurus. HOWEVER - every silver lining has its cloud!The paper used for the pages appears to be a high grade newsprint. Probably is a bit better than that, but after the brilliant white, sensually-thin paper of the 3rd Edition, a bit of a dissapointment. The word lists: A real dissapointment! In the 3rd Edition index there were special entries when a pertinent word-list existed. Under COAL, there would be an entry "Types of ~ 330.10". Sadly this handy feature has been left out of the 6th Edition - you have to stumble across the word lists by luck. So my 3rd Ed. will remain a backup. I wasn't sure what to do with it anyway...
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Forget an alphabetically organized thesaurus Review: Although one's search begins with an alphabetized listing, the main body of this thesaurus (its original concept) is organized by category. This means that to find a synonym for e.g., "trouble", you will not simply be presented a list all the possible meanings of the word but you can choose your search depending upon the sense you are looking for. If you mean "annoyance" you will be sent one place for synonyms (nouns, verbs, adj, adv); if your meaning is more "presume upon" you will be sent somewhere else. In the case of "trouble" there are about a dozen places to go in the thesaurus depending upon the subtlety of meaning you are looking for. If you are a writer, this reference work is a sine qua non. Look no further than here for the best thesaurus in the world.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Forget an alphabetically organized thesaurus Review: Although one's search begins with an alphabetized listing, the main body of this thesaurus (its original concept) is organized by category. This means that to find a synonym for e.g., "trouble", you will not simply be presented a list all the possible meanings of the word but you can choose your search depending upon the sense you are looking for. If you mean "annoyance" you will be sent one place for synonyms (nouns, verbs, adj, adv); if your meaning is more "presume upon" you will be sent somewhere else. In the case of "trouble" there are about a dozen places to go in the thesaurus depending upon the subtlety of meaning you are looking for. If you are a writer, this reference work is a sine qua non. Look no further than here for the best thesaurus in the world.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Poor organization of categories Review: An idea-indexed thesaurus is the most fascinating and useful word tool I know. The alphabetical organization is useful too, but I find it more efficient to use the computer for that kind of search (e.g. the Roget-based 'synonyms' in MS Bookshelf). Since I'm more often looking for neighboring ideas than for synonyms, the organization of the category list is critical. Unfortunately, that is where the recent editions (5th and 6th) have badly botched things. Roget's original categorization was simple and conceptually clear - the high level groupings were very general (abtract relations, space, intellect, emotions, etc.) and fit well together. The clean, hierarchical organization was easy to navigate and worth contemplating in its own right - clearly the product of a very powerful mind.
This architecture was improved on in the subsequent editions, up to the 4th. But the 5th edition, instead of just modernizing the vocabulary, introduced a poorly thought out scheme (also used by the 6th) where, e.g., something as general as 'natural phenomena' is on the same level as 'sports and amusements', and most of the abstract concepts are thrown together into a single huge category, 'The Mind and Ideas'...
Many people won't care about this at all, but if you spend a lot of time with the category list, you may end up annoyed enough to go back to the 4th edition, which is what I did.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: how to succeed with men by devid Copeland, Ron Lois Review: an till 1,000 words and title of it
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