Customer Reviews

Concise Oxford English Dictionary

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Few dictionaries costing under $100 contain any of the more exotic vocabulary I occasionally want to look up. For example, if you read H. P. Lovecraft's tales, sooner or later you will be driven to look up the exact definition of "eldritch". Most affordable dictionaries seem made with the assumption that their users will never try to read above a junior high school level or become curious about unusual words.

I keep my dictionary on a desk next to my computer. It's a small desk, so the book's footprint is an issue. Weight and thickness matter because I have small hands and am unwilling to struggle with a volume I could use as an end table in my living room. The creators of this reference have kept its mass and dimensions under control while providing me with a reference that has so
far clearly and simply defined every English word I sought.

This is a gem of a dictionary at a bargain price!

After a pair of 11th edition dud copies (random sections of pages were mysteriously separating from their binding in chunks of ten or so by nothing more than a light tug or page turn), I finally got a copy that I think will be a keeper.

I love this dictionary. There is something special about it. The definitions are as advertised: clear and concise, yet they do not "dumb down" or leave detail or nuance out of the definitions...and YET AGAIN, you are not going to get into crazy bouts of looking up words within words like with dictionaries that obviously try hard to "sound academic," like the American Heritage College dictionary (which seemingly throws all of it's effort into inserting as many "ten dollar word" synonyms as possible into it's definitions).

This is a much more comfortable, much more clear, much more DELIGHTFUL volume.

As another contrast, I notice in the Oxford American dictionary a sort of attempt to...oh...perhaps dumb down the definitions. But too often what you read comes off as a bit convoluted or "off," like they are uncomfortably contorting to conform to some image of what the American reader thinks, knows or will readily comprehend...in other words, it feels awkward, like a Brit saying "dude" or an American saying "chuffed."

So, yes, you are going to get British terms/slang in here, but really it's no big deal when contrasted with the free and easy clarity of most all definitions in the volume.

"Easy reading is damn hard writing." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

By that metric, there has clearly been significant effort involved in the creation and maintenance of this volume. It IS easy reading, and yet it's not DUMBED-DOWN reading by any measure. Quite a special and commendable accomplishment.

This revised edition only improves upon the feel (in terms of the definitions themselves) of my previous edition, the ninth.

Hopefully OUP will sort out the quality control issues so that more people will get (and keep) this fine, fine dictionary.

The Concise OED is a great way to own a bit of the OED without the expense of the 20 volume set, or even the Shorter OED. It certainly contains a wealth of entries and is quite up-to-date with newer words and phrases.

Buying a dictionary is tricky; they each have their own flavor. The Concise OED contains more entries than others, but lacks in its depth of definitions. For instance, the dictionary makes no distinction between "farther" and "further". However, my son's American Heritage Student Dictionary contains a helpful sidebar explaining the usage difference. Ultimately, the "concise" nature of this edition seems to apply to its word definitions. I think most have been trimmed too much.

Another frustrating aspect is the pronunciations. They are presented in The International Phonetic Alphabet and look like greek for the most part. If you are unfamiliar with this system, it is a real pain to flip back and forth to the key to determine pronunciations.

Additionally, the Concise OED is lacking in good etymologies for most words, something I enjoy reading.

On the plus side, it's a big book, but comfortable enough to sit and enjoy browsing. Definitions are plain and simple. Any lover of language and words will find it a fine addition to his reference library, but will need to supplement it with other dictionaries. I recommend the American Heritage a bit more for its casual manner and ease of reading.

This volume seems excellently suited for many dictionary users. For a low price, it contains a high number of words and should be most useful to the majority of users. The Book Description, which quite impressed me, was a major reason why I bought this dictionary.
Sadly, I was quite disappointed when I opened my copy. I expected from the Book Description that this was some sort of updated Oxford Universal Dictionary, a single-volume abridgement of the OED. However, this is nothing of the sort. In particular, its etymology is woefully weak, with almost no etymology listed with many words. The "Word Histories" feature, sadly, is the only really good section of this type.
The etymological side of the dictionary is the prime reason that I bought this book. It is mainly because of my love of historical English that I find the Oxford Universal Dictionary so useful and expected to find this likewise. If you're a student of historical English, especially Old English (as I am) and like the looks of this dictionary, DON'T BUY IT! If you couldn't care less about etymology and just want a comprehensive, inexpensive dictionary, BY ALL MEANS BUY IT!

I'm an English grad student, and needless to say, can't quite afford the entire OED. Finding concise versions such as this is a great way to get the same information without all of the extras. I knew this was the edition I wanted, and the price was awesome!
This is easy to read, and very clear in its word explanations.

From the point of view of a learner of the English language (advanced level), as I am, I have to admit that this dictionary is not as good as I expected.

Of course, the amount of words and phrases is extensive with about 240,000. Nonetheless, this dictionary is not called 'concise' just for the fun of it. It is in some cases too concise, using defining words I don't even understand or which are the same as in the word I looked up in the first place.

Thus, my expressed recommendation goes to the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, which only uses a "strictly controlled 2000-word Defining Vocabulary" ensuring a high level of understanding.

The dictionary is a good quick reference for checking spelling or usage. Keep in mind that they the definitions are a lot shorter than a standard dictionary.

You wouldn't know it from the misspellings in my reviews, but I'm never without the Concise Oxford, which I consider the best all-around dictionary. Why? It's sort of a "best-of" distilled from the twenty volume definitive Oxford Dictionary (and somewhat easier to carry). It's reasonably priced, at least compared to that mammoth set, and it does what you'd want a dictionary to do.

The Concise Oxford is a clear, readable, nicely graphic hardback that has American spelling and usage (usually a variant of British spelling and/or usage). But more importantly it has British spelling and usage derived from both the Queen's English, known as the Received Pronounciation or RP, and the various dialects and variants that a natural language will evolve.

Is English a natural language? In some ways, no, which is why it's so difficult to learn as a second language or to spell as a first language. English comes from German, but its vocabulary is gigantic because there's so much Latin shoved into it, and various sorts of Latin, which is to say Latin also evolved, from different time periods.

The Romance Languages come from Latin, which may be a "dead" language but is the root and heart of most of the "living" ones, including French, Spanish, Portugese, and Italian. There are also numerous Latin terms from science, law, medicine and theology which seem like arcane ten dollar words in English but translate from simple, common Latin terms. Note: I have capitalized all the language names, which is normally not done, to show how you can trace words back with the Concise Oxford.

I tried the Oxford Pocket American Dictionary and was VERY disappointed. The Oxford Concise is excellent and just what I wanted. It is small and handy but also thorough and has enough depth of definition to suit me. It is a wonderful reference volume and perfect for my home office.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary is a great dictionary for any type of person. It not only gives a definition of a word but also what language the word came from. With over 1,600 pages, it's worth much more then $18.00! This dictionary is truly the world's most trusted dictionary!