The Oxford Thesaurus: American Edition

There is an art to a fine thesaurus. When you seek the right word, you want a thesaurus that's useful (helpful, fruitful, effective), convenient (handy, expedient, user-friendly), and current (contemporary, informed, up-to-date). The Oxford Thesaurus combines the best of two worlds: an A to Z arrangement of words and a Roget's-style index. The first search is as simple as looking up a word in a dictionary, while the synonym index helps fine-tune the intense lexicographic hunt. It requires a delicate balance of many qualities. The Oxford Thesaurus emphasizes current English, but includes enough quaint terms and plenty of regional, idiomatic, and slang terms in English from around the world to provide colorful options. Most entries provide sample sentences, but the bulk of the tome is composed of synonyms, so you needn't wade through lots of excess verbiage when what you really want is the phrase that says what you have in mind, with the right tone and flair. The Oxford Thesaurus makes it effortless. --Stephanie Gold