Rating: 
Summary: Best Investment a Writer Could Make
Review: As others have already stated, with this thesaurus you can find the word you're looking for simply by looking under the concept. For instance, say you're writing a piece and at that particular moment you can't think of the best word so you write "clear cut" just to get the idea onto the page. Later, when you're editing your piece, you see "clear cut" and still your mental thesaurus fails you. So, you take this book, look up "clear cut" (which is in there) and sure enough, it points you to a series or related concepts and synonyms. *Wonderful* is all I can say. When one can write in a rough draft "set straight" and look up those words in a thesaurus and find a fitting replacement, all that can be said is ... this writer's tool deserves the highest praise.
Rating: 
Summary: Now I can say [...] instead of [...]!
Review: Back in the days before Amazon introduced their handy-dandy instant-review-posting feature, this bad-boy was a very handy tool in my constant battle to get my product reviews past those pesky Amazon editors in a reasonably unmolested state, and posted on the site for all to see. You see, sometimes an editor would cut a seemingly innocuous word or phrase out of one of my reviews, and then either replaced it with an inadequate substitute word/phrase, or nothing at all. For example, the word [...] seemed to bother a few of Amazon's cagier scrutineers. I tried to use the word in a couple of my reviews, but it had gotten cut out both times. Not satisfied with a set of ellipses where [...] used to be, I'd whip out the thesaurus to find a suitable substitute. Let's see now... hmmm... it's an adjective... first synonym is [...]. Nope, that's not the one I'm lookin' for. [...] close, but not quite. [...] nope. Finally, I came to [...], and found me a winner! Possessing the proper substitute that I hoped would squeak my write-up by Amazon's scrutineers, I'd resubmit the review with [...] in the places where [...] used to be, and a few days later it would show up on the site in its (almost) original state!Unfortunately, this thesaurus isn't always a big help where slang terms are concerned. Well, except for those delightfully obscene words of the four-letter kind, but that's another story altogether. For example, in one review I stated that a certain product "kinda [...]" (and yes, I elaborated on why it did indeed [...]). When the review posted, the word [...] was replaced with "was [...]", which I considered an inadequate substitute. Unfortunately, the thesaurus was not all that helpful with vernacular synonyms for the word "[...]". But I did take a look at similar listings for [...], and found what I was looking for with [...]. I redid the review by saying the item "was kinda [...]", and it went through without a hitch. As for this book's format: at first, I wasn't too hot about how the words and their synonyms/antonyms were arranged. The primary arrangement is by subject (classified into such groups as `Feelings/Emotions', `Measurement', and the like, then further refined into various sub-groups), rather than the usual alpha order. At first, I considered this so-called `improvement' more of a hindrance than a convenience. But after dropping my `I-don't-need-to-ask-for-no-stinking-directions" façade of machismo, and taking a look at the `How To Use This Book' section at the very front following the Introduction, I found this once-bewildering format surprisingly convenient! Sometimes it helps to read the instruction manual, you know? `Late
Rating:
Summary: The Original is Still the Best
Review: Believe it or Believe it not, the first edition of Peter Mark Roget's Thesaurus was published exactly 150 years ago (1852). Even more astonishing is the fact that he produced the initial version of his book nearly fifty years before that - in 1805! Of course there are plenty of other books around which date back far farther than that - Shakespeare, the Bible, Milton's Paradise Lost, and so on - but the books that last are normally prose works, like those I've just mentioned.
What's so impressive, to my mind, is that Roget hit upon a way of producing a *reference* work which, in all this time, no-one has been able to improve upon.
(There ARE other books purporting to be thesauruses (thesauri?) but Roget's original format is still the best.) As a writer I'm particularly aware that one of the cardinal sins, in fact or fiction, is to re-use a distinctive word twice in the same sentence, or even in two distinct sentences that are close together. In fact it causes trouble even if you use two variations of the same word in close proximity - as I hope I've just demonstrated with "distinctive" and "distinct". The reason this causes problems, of course, is because the reader's flow is interrupted as they sort out which instance of the word they just read. You read the second occurence of the word and think something like "One minute, I just read that, now I've read it again - or did I lose my place and simply re-read the original word a second time." What you need, then, is TWO words which mean the same thing - which your trusty Thesaurus is just waiting to provide, offer, supply, give, etc. So, Roget's Thesaurus rocks! BUT, there is a potential downside, so be warned - Once you start using Roget's Thesaurus, you may well find that you begin to love words. You start off looking for a simple synonym and you notice an unfamiliar word nearby, so you go off to look at it. Next thing you know your simple search has turned into a pleasant browse through the riches of the English language. You may even find your day-to-day vocabulary swelling beyond the mere 2,000-3,000 words that most people get by on. You may find that you can express yourself more clearly and precisely. People may enjoy listening to you, or reading what you have written ... Good grief, is that the time!
Buy this thesaurus - you'll never regret it, honest, really, Scout's honour, it's a fact, you can count on it!
Rating:
Summary: The best thesaurus I've seen so far.
Review: I have looked at several different thesauruses. Of all, this one is the easiest to use, and the most comprehensive. I teach Japanese people English as a foreign language. It is so well organized that some of my students us this thesaurus instead of a dictionary!
Rating:
Summary: Not just a synonym dictionary
Review: If you just need a different word that is easier to spell or say, a dictionary of synonyms will usually suffice. And that is all that an alphabetically organized thesaurus is. Their advantage is that you only have to do one lookup in the book instead of two, making them quicker and easier. A true thesaurus requires that you look the word up in an index to find a numeric index, then look up that numeric index in the body of the book to get a choice of synonyms. But the true thesaurus will give you a better supply of answers. First, the numeric entries either preceding or following frequently are opposing concepts. That means that if you go forward or backward two entries, you may strike on a subtle change in meanings that fits your intent much better. This had happened to me several times when I couldn't quite get the right word. It was because I didn't quite have the right meaning. Second, because all of the 'answers' are printed once, there is room for more of them. In a simple example, assume 5 words are considered synonyms. For a dictionary of synonyms, that means 5 entries listing 5 words each (the entry and its four synonyms), for 25 words. A true thesaurus lists an entry number in the main body with 5 words, and 5 entries of one-word-one-number in the index. Counting each number as a word, that is 16 words. That I can add 3 more synonyms (3 words in the entry in the body, 3 word-number pairs in the index) in the same amount of space. For larger groupings of words, the difference is much more significant. So now I get 7 choices (8 less the original word) instead of 4 (5 less the original word). Mark Twain claimed that the difference between a good word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. Lightning strikes more often with a true thesaurus than a dictionary of synonyms.
Rating:
Summary: Not just a synonym dictionary
Review: If you just need a different word that is easier to spell or say, a dictionary of synonyms will usually suffice. And that is all that an alphabetically organized thesaurus is. Their advantage is that you only have to do one lookup in the book instead of two, making them quicker and easier. A true thesaurus requires that you look the word up in an index to find a numeric index, then look up that numeric index in the body of the book to get a choice of synonyms. But the true thesaurus will give you a better supply of answers. First, the numeric entries either preceding or following frequently are opposing concepts. That means that if you go forward or backward two entries, you may strike on a subtle change in meanings that fits your intent much better. This had happened to me several times when I couldn't quite get the right word. It was because I didn't quite have the right meaning. Second, because all of the 'answers' are printed once, there is room for more of them. In a simple example, assume 5 words are considered synonyms. For a dictionary of synonyms, that means 5 entries listing 5 words each (the entry and its four synonyms), for 25 words. A true thesaurus lists an entry number in the main body with 5 words, and 5 entries of one-word-one-number in the index. Counting each number as a word, that is 16 words. That I can add 3 more synonyms (3 words in the entry in the body, 3 word-number pairs in the index) in the same amount of space. For larger groupings of words, the difference is much more significant. So now I get 7 choices (8 less the original word) instead of 4 (5 less the original word). Mark Twain claimed that the difference between a good word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. Lightning strikes more often with a true thesaurus than a dictionary of synonyms.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: If you love to write this book is an invaluable resource of words and ultimately knowledge. This book is designed to compare words. By using this Thesaurus repeatedly you will increase your knowledge of words and their usage. You will increase your mastery of the English language. It is a fundamental tool of the trade.
Rating:
Summary: How did I manage without this?
Review: If you're a writer or interested in language this book is indispensible. This 6th edition is the first thesaurus I've owned and I wonder why I waited so long to get one. The first section of the book is a catalog of words grouped together by subject with the subjects listed at the beginning of the book. The second half of the book is the index, where a word can be found alphabetically and then indexed numerically to the categories in the front. I've spent some time perusing this book and I should say that I've had no difficulty with the typeface.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive
Review: Really has everything you need in a Thesaurus and more...I have used this book many times. This really has everything you need, I have used it while writing my resume and letter's to employers. This book has helped me on ALL of my technical essay's at college. When you have a 2500 word essay - YOU NEED THIS BOOK!!!
Rating:
Summary: For those who prefer alphabetical organization...
Review: Some of these reviews seem to dislike the new organization of this edition. In case you believe you may be one of the same opinion I thought that I'd offer to you that Roget's is published in an A to Z format for your pleasure.
Roget A to Z
by Robert L. Chapman
For those who prefer a thesaurus in dictionary form, this bestseller (more than 50,000 hardcover copies sold) is the ideal choice.
Imprint: HarperResource; ISBN: 0062720597; Pages: 768; $13.95; $20.95(CAN)
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