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.

I've been a fan of Roget's since I received my first copy for my 13th birthday. It's bigger and better 58 years later. Buy the 7th edition, this one, rather than the 8th edition, which they screwed up, listening to Crazy 8's, or wait for the 9th edition. Either way, you won't be disappointed.

This is a good thesaurus - but not as good as my 5th edition. I "upgraded" to the 7th edition because it's bigger and claims to have added a bunch of words and lists, which seemed to imply that maybe none were removed. In prior editions, I didn't see much evidence of words/phrases/terms being removed unless their meaning had altered. The 5th edition had excellent lists, most of all, that were diverse and yet relevant. They felt cohesive & essential. But the lists have changed from the 5th edition, and I'm not sure whether it happened in this or the prior edition. I don't mean to thrown at ol' Barbara Ann, she does a great job - but gone now are the 5th edition lists, and in its place are new lists that are sometimes excellent, but other times a bit arbitrary and haphazard. This 7th edition lacks many of the Latin & French phrases of the "Roget's Thesaurus of English Words & Phrases" such as "pro re nata". Why not just keep them? Their meanings haven't shifted with time and the evolution of language - they are still in tact as synonyms. They're still relevant and beautiful. The language in this edition *does* feel more modern, but for those of us who frequently work on period fiction, or generally just prefer to keep colorful old expressions alive, or to learn new phrases in order to better grasp difficult classics or old essays in which that sort of language is used, it's indispensable to keep the classic Latin terms & ye olde colloquialisms alive. I guess an argument could be made for either, but my personal preference tends toward nostalgia, so I will be sticking to 5th edition and prior.

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.

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.