Customer Reviews

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most other dictionary-format thesauri (Roget's II, for instance) simply won't give you what you want on the first try. If, for instance, you want a more decorous word for "smelly", you're brusquely told to "see MALODOROUS". This means that most of the words you are likely to be looking up require a time-wasting two step process: first find the word you want to replace, then find the main entry for that concept. By the time you've finished flipping back and forth through the pages you've forgotten what it is your looking for.

The Webster's version is a thousand times more convenient. If you look up a specific word, you're guaranteed to find about a dozen or so of the most common synonyms right there (funky, stinky, rank, etc.). This first entry is probably all you'll need, and it constitutes the main time-saving benefit of this edition. But there's more. The real verbomaniacs among us get referred to the main entry of the concept. Here you'll find the mother lode of words, often numbering into the dozens and ranging from the most commonplace to the ridiculously obscure (e.g. mephitic, olid, stenchful). You'll also find related terms (vile, rotten, pestilential), contrasting terms (fresh, clean, deoderized), and antonyms (fragrent, sweet) all in the same place, just as you would in Roget's conceptually arranged International edition. Like I said, most writers are sure to find what they need on the first try.

The only other thesaurus that approaches this one is the Random House Collegiate, but I don't think that one has definitions; this one does. I'm also pretty sure this one has more words than Random House, Roget's 21st Century, or any other. It's also inexpensive for a hardcover, so how can you lose?

This will do if you only use a thesaurus occasionally but it won't do for the rest of us. The usually superlative Merriam-Webster product line missed the beat with this one. Although Roget's is a bit more time consuming to use, it is infinitely more rewarding than this volume. I was very disappointed at the small number of synonyms found for each entry in Merriam. In Roget, you can easily find many words that differ by only the slightest and most subtle shade of meaning. In this book, if it isn't an exact match, you won't know about it. I also saw no point to including antonyms in a thesaurus. I would have preferred many more synonyms included in the space used for antonyms.

Having used and liked my friend's Roget's 4th Edition Thesaurus, I wanted one of my own. But apparently, Roget's changed the format after the 4th Edition. Rather than get the latest Roget's (6th Edition?), which several buyers didn't like, I went for the Merriam-Webster. For one, it boasted over 60,000 more entries than Roget's. And, it was supposidely easier to use. Well, I've barely used it and I'm really disappointed. Several words I consider fairly common weren't even there! For example, look up "anomaly" in Roget's and you get 5 catagories, each with numerous word-choices. In Merriam-Webster "anomaly" isn't even there!! Neither is "vested". I'm sure there are dozens more. I wish I could return it, but it is 2-weeks past the 30-day limit.

I like using a thesaurus to find just the right word, so that means having lots of options. The new, revised edition simply fails to live up to expectations. I was told by one of the reps for Merriam-Webster late last year (2009) that the new Collegiate Thesaurus would knock my socks off. It doesn't; my socks are still on as are my shoes.
It's not that bad, however, I do like the usage phrases set up in angle brackets. I think this helps clear up any meaning concerns if one is unsure of meaning. But I do not like having, what amounts to, a definition for each entry. I really ONLY want other single words or phrases related to the "original word"--and lots of them!
Yes, it looks pretty and bright and is easy to find and to use, but it feels more like a word processor thesaurus (that is, limited options) than the one I still pick up every time I write (which has lots of synonyms). The limited amount of related words and dictionary-like entries simply don't cut the mustard (which you won't find if you spill some on the just jacket).
Good, but not good enough for writers that want to get the nuances of their prose precise and just right.
It might be geared for less experienced writers or those not as familiar with English, but I'm not suggesting it's basic, just not comprehensive.

UPDATE: I spoke with two Merriam-Webster representatives who, politely, educated me on how to USE the darn thing. Needless to say, I have increase my 3 stars to four stars. Now my main gripe is that one has to get use to using this type of thesaurus, which will take some time. But I readily admit, I dismissed it too quickly, so don't make the same mistake.

This thesaurus is very helpful. You will be able to find the word you're looking for about 8-9 times out of 10, which is not bad at all. I am an English major and therefore use my thesaurus quite often and I give it a thumbs up. The price is reasonable. The look is professional. It's a great buy!

Being new to using a thesaurus, I bought this book in part because of its overall rating. The book was of no help with many of the words I looked up. Instead, I found Roget's Thesaurus to be much more useful and a wonderful tool.

This is a good book. It has good words that mean other good words, and that is very good. Sometimes, it can help you know good meanings of other words, like a good definition, but that is not what this good book is for.

If you wanted to know a different good word for a describing word, you can look up your word, and it will tell you a different good word for your good word. These describing words could be good ones, like 'hard' or 'wet' or 'swollen' and it will give you other good words like 'stiff' or 'dripping' or 'engorged'. This helps me write good letters to my favorite good magazines and different good places on the internets.

Now I never use the same good word over again if I know a different good word.

In conclusion, this book is very good. In fact, I'd say it is better than good -- it's Very Good!!

This second edition has much more material than the first edition. This thesarus is perfect for any comtemporary writer who wishes to write in the English of the twenty-first century (that's what any writer is supposed to do, right?). But unfortunately it doesn't have any expanded introduction to the thesaurus and it's history and development like the first edition. And I personally liked the design and the format of the first edition better. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a thesaurus, but before that I think you'd better check other thesauri as well, perhaps there are other ones out there even better. You will enjoy and use this book whenever you write and you need a thesaurus.

My fourth grader needed something more than the children's dictionary & thesaurus. His teacher recommended us to get the collegiate. It really covers everything.

I just bought this for a friend. It is the best ther is. There ae bigger, but there aren't any better.