Encarta Thesaurus - Choose the Right Word from Over 350,000 Alternatives (Hardcover)

The Encarta Thesaurus encompasses over 350,000 synonyms and antonyms, more than 1,200 themes listing more than 50,000 related terms, and many words from information technology, e-commerce and the media. The first section of the book, an alphabetical list of 40,000 entries, provides quick reference lists of synonyms. These double as an index to a completely new system of categories in the second section. The categories have headings such as ’The Way Things Are or Seem to Be’ or ’Emotions and States of Mind', reflecting the way language works at the start of the 21st century.

The importance today of English as an international medium of communication means finding the most appropriate word for the context. The increasing cross-cultural awareness of language differences, accelerated by the spread of computer and internet use, is reflected in the breadth of words covered in the Encarta Thesaurus.

Context of use is extremely important when choosing an alternative for any word. For example, 'sad' and 'unhappy' are similar in meaning and are often interchangeable, but it would be unusual to talk about ’an unhappy film’ or ’a sad marriage’. Many English words have multiple meanings, for which different lists of alternative words are appropriate. For example, reasonable means both ’rational and sensible’ and ’fairly good’ and appears in the list of alternatives for both these senses of fair.

The Encarta Thesaurus can open up a fascinating chain of word associations, providing opportunities for expanding vocabulary and increasing word power. Moving around this rich network, the reader will be able to appreciate the subtle differences and shifts in meaning between alternative words and the contexts in which they can be used.