Roget's International Thesaurus, 7th Edition

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.

The depth and diversity is remarkable. The arrangement allows the writer to browse through a vast array of related words and in the process helps to enrich one's own thinking about the shades of meaning that would best suit the sentence one is trying to craft. I use the word "craft" deliberately because it would not be as useful for those who want to crank out rough, good enough writing -- which includes me, most of the time. It is for those who appreciate the richness and subtlety of the English language. My only disappointment is that I wish I were able to load this onto my laptop. It is a big book and so one is not likely to put it in one's backpack and bring it to a coffee shop, which is where I like to do a lot of my writing.

Still the best. Roget's two step method is by far superior to a "dictionary" type listing method & certainly better than online searches.With Roget's, the words are classified according to subject matter. To find a word, you look it up in the index to find the different subjects it is listed under, giving you the various nuances of the word. It is not as difficult as it sounds and after you use it a few times you will wonder why all thesauri do not follow this pattern.

This is the last edition of the classical thesaurus where words are indexed in the back that refers you to entries in the front. The front entries are organized by the structure of knowledge for the language. This is much more useful than the dictionary form or online sites. It gives a much better nuance of language, and if you need to dive deep, the structure of the arrangement of terms/concepts adds a dimension to writing narratives. It does not seem that this form will be updated.

I love this book so much. I got it because I wrote songs. Pat Pattison recommends a thesaurus as a major tool in lyric writing so I got it and it’s very interesting to use. Basically it’s organized by related concepts and topics so for example if one looks up happiness, one will find a lot of synonyms etc for happiness. Then, before and after one will find words and expressions relating to sadness, despondency etc. It’s super interesting. Highly recommended!

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 SensesFeelingsPlace and Change of PlaceMeasure and ShapeLiving ThingsNatural PhenomenaBehavior and the WillLanguageHuman Society and InstitutionsValues and IdealsArtsOccupations and CraftsSports and AmusementsThe Mind and IdeasScience and TechnologyI 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.

I have always used the the dictionary style thesaurus but thought I’d try this. It might be just me or my dyslexia, but having to remember (write down for me) numbers over and over, then back and forth! Find it much easier to just go to the word I want in the first place!

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".

Haven't used it "officially" but did search some words and it was easy to find what I was looking for. I would have preferred the book in hard cover though.

My husband is very pleased with Roget's Thesaurus and uses it for referece often when doing the crossword. Thanks for quick delivery...

The book is very comprehensive and will be an excellent source to consult when completing crosswords. It will be extremely useful

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  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.