How to Use a Thesaurus

A thesaurus helps you avoid repetition in your writing and helps you find a word for an idea you have in mind. You can use it to increase your vocabulary as the typical thesaurus has synonyms for more than 100,000 words.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Dictionaries
• Thesauri

1. Read the introduction to your thesaurus. There are two main kinds: a Roget-type, which has a categorization system, and an A-to-Z thesaurus. Thesauri may also contain antonyms, word lists and other interesting features.

2. Get to know the features of your thesaurus. By understanding what changes in typography mean, you will grasp the nuances of the reference book's text.

3. Become familiar with the categorization scheme, if you have a Roget-type thesaurus. And in an A-to-Z thesaurus, you may also benefit from definitions at each entry.

4. Look up a word in a Roget-type thesaurus in the index. The index will likely have the meanings listed under each word. Don't limit your search to one category; also look at the categories just before and after the one you first look up.

5. Examine the offerings in all parts of speech in the category of interest. You might find something you can use by broadening your search.

6. Choose synonyms carefully. You will soon recognize that few words are exactly interchangeable. Use the thesaurus in conjunction with a good dictionary whenever selecting a word or phrase unfamiliar to you.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the thesaurus to avoid repeating words within a sentence and avoid beginning successive sentences or paragraphs with identical words.