Roget's International Thesaurus, 7th Edition

of the major dictionaries and thesauri (the proper plural of thesaurus) :-) on the market, I think. Up until this purchase of Roget’s international thesaurus, seventh edition I have, I think, intentionally avoided any thesauri that specifically have the name Roget’s in the title. I honestly didn’t realize this until recently. :-) Upon exploring this issue in my own mind I determined that it was because I was anxious about the traditional Roget two part format with the separate index. This was easy for me to do, since even though I am almost 50 years old, when I was in school thesauri were already beginning to opt for the dictionary or A-Z format. So that is what, until recently, I have always chose to use. In thinking about why this might be, I realized that I was in fact never instructed, by any teacher anywhere (I have multiple undergraduate and multiple graduate degrees) on the proper use of the traditional Roget structure and format. For those of you, like me until recently, may not be familiar with the “traditional” Roget format, let me briefly describe it as best I can. There are two parts to a traditional “Roget’s” thesaurus. Or perhaps three parts depending on how you figure. The essential two parts are the index of entries and the descriptive entries listed and identified by category words. The process works like this, first you look up the word you’re looking for in the index. When you have done that you are directed to an entry, or usually multiple entries in the description section, or the “thesaurus” proper. These entries are listed alphabetically by “category or concept” words. Often also in the index these entries are listed by the number combination that remind me a little bit of a Bible verse citation. When you get to descriptive entry, you’ll often find anywhere from a quarter page to a page and a half dedicated to your word, or more probably the concept or idea your word is supposed to be expressing. At first this process may seem intimidating and unnecessarily convoluted. At least that’s what I thought before I ever figure it out how to use this kind of traditional thesaurus properly. Now I would say to that it is the preferable way to look up a word. Not by exact word but by the idea behind the word. This gives you many more synonyms and antonyms than even the best dictionary style list have would. While this is not literally accurate, it’s more like looking up an encyclopedia entry on the word you’re trying to examine, by this I mean your original word that you came there to look up. This method gives you a lot more information about subtle shades of meaning and therefore a much broader list of alternative possibilities to your word. You will also quickly discover whether or not you are even thinking of the right word for your purpose. You might find that the meaning you were thinking was attached to your word, wasn’t that attached to one of its relatives. Perhaps the meaning you are looking for is not connected to the adjective but rather to the adverb or something like that. Anyway the traditional Roget format opens up an entire slew of possibilities that an A to Z style thesaurus may not give you. My point is that I now believe that this traditional Roget’s style thesaurus is much preferable to a dictionary style format. All of these traditional style thesauri, this “Roget’s international thesaurus” is simply the best. It is also surprisingly easy to use. This is mainly because the editor Barbara Kipfer took the time to compose a wonderful instruction section. She understands that most users will be like me familiar with the traditional format and takes you through it step by step. However she also includes a detailed lesson on how to read on how to read each entry. This invaluable and probably should be included in all upper-level thesauri and dictionaries as well. Eand dictionaries as well. If you purchased this you may find that this will soon become your go to thesaurus, especially if you consider yourself a serious writer. Now if you are a college or high school student who has to do some writing but not a lot, meaning that writing complex essays and papers about the bulk of what you are going to come they still may want to bypass this text. As it may be overkill. For those of you in this category I would recommend Roget’s 21st century thesaurus, also edited by Barbara Kipfer or, the Oxford American writers thesaurus. Which is a great thesaurus with a wealth of information, but which is in a much faster to use dictionary format. However once again, for serious writers I now think that this “Roget’s international thesaurus” is or will become indispensable. to you!

I was looking for an excellent thesaurus for my personal use as well as a family reference. After reading reviews of numerous books in this category, I settled upon Roget's Thesaurus and am glad I did as this is a well-organized thesaurus that deviates from many others in the category in that instead of following an alphabetical listing of words, it groups words under categories, which proves to be practical as it avoids unnecessary repetitions. This seventh edition (the most recently updated version) contains 464,000 words and phrases which have been organized under categories according to their respective meanings. There is also a comprehensive index for ease of reference. There are fifteen categories: The Body and the Senses Feelings Place and Change of Place Measure and Shape Living Things Natural Phenomena Behavior and the Will Language Human Society and Institutions Values and Ideals Arts Occupations and Crafts Sports and Amusements The Mind and Ideas Science and Technology I found this thesaurus easy to navigate (once you got used to the format), practical, as well as informative. It has proven to be an indispensable reference that helps me with my writing and language needs.

[TLDR] This thesaurus is organized in Roget's original fashion, by concepts and ideas. The index has numbering for subentries. All pages are present, but 60 pages are not cut correctly leaving an overhang which doesn't affect readability. I'm keeping it. I set out to replace my damaged thesaurus and really wanted to keep Roget's original organization by concepts and ideas and the numbered index, so I chose this edition. At first look out of the box, the book has a minor flaw: a chunk of pages (pp. 933-994) are sticking out from the rest of the book (see: 4 pictures). I opened to those pages and tugged gently to check if they were loose. After discovering that they are not loose, I am led to believe those pages were simply not cut to the correct length. As far as I can tell, they pose no problem to using the thesaurus so I will keep it. I flipped through every page and checked page numbers, and all pages are present. There are ink spots on a few of the index pages (no more than 10), but they do not cover any words.

I am an English language teacher. I purchased this book for three of my students and myself. I use it practically every day. At first, it is a bit daunting trying to use it, because it is not organized like other Thesauruses. However, took the time to look it over and discovered a huge index in the back, listing the words in alphabetical order. The front half of the book is organized by theme. These two options for looking up words is brilliant. Have you ever tried to think of a word and said, "It's right on the tip of my tongue!" You can't think of the word, but you know the topic or theme it's related to...you pick up Roget's and look at the theme organized section, which is not alphabetical. Another day you know the word, but want a synonym or antonym for it. You go to the back half, alphabetical Index, and find the word. In both cases, there is a reference number to locate the section with the info you need. Did I say, "I love this book!" My English learners (intermediate to advanced) are able to use the system. It's a great way to build up their vocabulary knowledge without having to dig around for challenging sentences. It's a great conversational tool also. It's density allows for a challenging experience for anyone with any purpose. Challenging, but fun and productive.

No writer should ever be without this essential resource. So often the writer's challenge does not lie in finding a simple synonym or alternative for a particular word, but for alternatives to determining the exact word or phrase that accurately describes a feeling or general consequence. This physical book provides context and themes far, far beyond any that are easily accessible through an online source or computer application. Whether your challenge is to create a well-written note, letter, exam, article, report, thesis or award winning screenplay, you simply must have Monsieur Roget's wonderful thesaurus close on hand as your idea expression backup and all-around literary swamper.

Oxford や Webster 等のシソーラスを補完したい場合は有用だと思いますが、1冊だけのシソーラスとしては使いにくいと思われます。 良い点： ・同義語の意味分けが詳細で表現が多彩。 ・カテゴリ分けなので周辺の語を調べるのに向いている。以上2点がメインです。これが不要なら無用の巨大本となる可能性が。 ・主要語が太字で拾いやすい ・行動・心理・生活一般・人文系は網羅が厚い。 ・個人的にはカテゴリ分けが面白い。ほほう人間の行動はこう分類するのね、など日本語と違う世界観が。 いまひとつな点： ・アルファベット順の検索は、後半インデックスで探して参照先の前半で詳細を見るという二度手間。（後半に列挙の同義語で解決する場合も）。 ・例文がない ・単語により内容の過不足がある・・と思う一因は日本人だからでしょう。 ・カテゴリ分けの見出し語は、後半インデックスでは、見出し語であるとの表示なし。 （例：Inquiry ー 前半のカテゴリ見出し語（広義）下には38の項目があるが、後半インデックス（狭義）では同義語が5つある「普通の単語」扱いのみ） ・古い。 geek すら無い・・ 不満な部分もありますが、個人的には、とても使える・早く買えばよかった本です。

Un libro maravilla para asociar ideas y encontrar nuevas palabras. Fuente de inspiración total.

The book is best for those who are in writing profession - blogging, editing, script writer, content writers, this book is used for mostly to look up words and similar words. The Book has Synopsis of Categories in the first in fifteen class divided - from Class One: The Body and the senses and the topics are listed from 1. Birth 2. The Hair 3. Body ... to Class Fifteen: Science and Technology 1017. Mathematics 1018. Physics ... 1079. Space Travel. And in the last it has index of words - like for the word "able" it has three synonyms capable 18.14, fitted 405.17, competent 413.24 possible 966.6 - turn the section to see the similar words in the section mentioned. This book quite serves the purpose of researching words. I like English language, so this was my second book in my collection. In my professional writing job, I sometimes look up words - to day we can see words in the internet, but sometimes a handy reference is sometimes necessary. The book is not dictionary, rather a reference for writers - to use it to look up words. The novelists can opt for reference but for writing purpose use, it is most suitable. Amazon: I bought this from uRead Store but book delivered was old one - I should have opt for the latest edition with hardcover, which would have costed me 200 more. If your purpose is to write and be writer you can have this handy reference useful.

I bought the 1977 4th edition some time in the 1980s and it has been may favourite thesaurus ever since. The main reason for buying this one is the need in my current work to have reference books in two different workplaces. How American is it? As an example, 746 (American) FOOTBALL gets two full pages, but 752 SOCCER only gets half a page. So there's some bias. But I don't often look at a thesaurus to discover alternatives to "offside rule" or "fumble". I'm much more likely to want to know what a word like "absolute" can mean - and for that job, this thesaurus is admirable. In some areas, the bias seems absent - in the list of anniversaries and holidays in 487 CELEBRATION, we get Remembrance Day as well as Veterans' Day for example, and Queen's birthday as well as Lincoln's birthday. On the other hand, the list of vegetables in 310 PLANTS has "rutabaga" and not "swede". For me, a thesaurus must be the index type like this one, as it's a far more efficient use of space. It's also possible to get enough information about a word just from the index, some of the time. Apart from the Penguin Roget, all the major UK-published ones are now the modern alphabetical type, so they're ruled out instantly. A particular feature of this thesaurus is the inclusion of useful lists, in appropriate forms. In 127 FEAR, FEARFULNESS there are lists of phobias by both name and subject - so you can see what ailurophobia is (fear of cats) or find the fancy word for the fear of <number 13> (triskaidekaphobia). In 10 FOOD, there are lists of breads, cheeses, desserts, meat cuts and joints, beers, beverage types, cocktails/mixed drinks, milk varieties, wines (the lists of fruit and veg are elsewhere). On the physical side: the paper used is thin but not as thin as in some dictionaries. The binding is glued rather than in signatures, but that's true of my old copy and the glue binding is high-quality, so no pages have ever been in danger of falling out. The only bad thing about my old 4th edition (a paperback) is that some pages are badly aligned - nothing's missing but some margins are very narrow indeed. Just in case you remember the same problem, this edition doesn't have it. The "How to Use this Book" section ends with advice that some people quoting thesaurus content as evidence about word meanings might want to note: "[...] very few words are true synonyms: Use the thesaurus in conjunction with a good dictionary whenever a selected word or phrase is unfamiliar to you".