Customer Reviews

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Difficult Words

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What a relief it is to know that one does not have to carry around the Oxford English Dictionary to keep one's head above water with the English language. I am often at a loss for the correct spelling or usage of a word that I think is the right one. Common business dictionaries often fail to provide the material for creative writing, and usually fail to provide useful examples. And, of course, it helps to have something handy when someone else decides to show off their language skills.

This little gem, "The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words" is intended to fill this particular gap. Only 1-1/2" thick, the paperback is just the size for slipping into a briefcase or portfolio. It provides all the basics; pronunciation, parts of speech, and concise definitions, and sample sentences. It covers both technical as well as English usage. So if you are occasionally non-plussed by the appearance of elucubrate or exactly how to use sardonic, this is the handy reference for you.

This little book has just about any word you might look up, and omits those you won't (e.g., "cat"). In addition, it provides example sentences and explanatory notes for many words (e.g., "further" vs. "farther"). All this in a small and inexpensive package. This is perhaps the only dictionary you'll need.

I bought this dictionary because I have just started a graduate program in English. I thought it might cut out some of the more well-known words and give me a more compact dictionary that I could really use. It seems that they only cut out small words (apparently, "difficult"=polysyllabic), and I find myself still turning to this worn-out old Webster's dictionary my boyfriend bought in high school. Also, there is not much etymological information. Having a B.A. in Latin and being very interested in poetry, I find that the dictionary is not very useful for my purposes. It's good for a basic overview of words--probably good for GRE or LSAT study. Not the dictionary for English grad students. (I have access to the OED online, so I rely on that much more heavily)

This is what an abridged dictionary should be: Lose all the common words which everyone already knows, and keep the rarer words which readers will actually NEED to look up. An unabridged dictionary is just not handy to use (too bulky!) when I'm reading and I come across a word I need defined. I have searched high and low for a compact, portable dictionary that has the tough esoteric words in it ... but dictionary editors abridge their dictionaries in a completely illogical manner: They remove the rare words and keep the common ones, thereby making the "pocket" editions virtually useless!

Along comes the Oxford Essential Dictionary of Difficult Words, which seems like an answer to my prayers. The editors have taken the right approach ... oh wait, they haven't. Although the preface states the very idea which I have just explained, there are several words (like juridical and epigone) NOT PRESENT in this volume. I also came across numerous words which I don't consider "difficult" (awesome, balm, demon, liable, representative, species, virtue...) and which do not belong in a Dictionary of Difficult Words.

So, due to problems of faulty omission AND inclusion, I'd call this a very good idea with which the editors did not do a very good job. I beseech Oxford (or somebody) to try again, because there IS a market for this kind of thing if it's done right. I'd buy one.

I recently finished reading this book and was sorely disappointed. Although it claims to be a dictionary of "difficult" words, it includes many words that really are quite commonplace ("resident," for example) and adds redundancy by defining closely related forms of the same word (for example, "linguist," "linguistic" and "linguistics"). The inclusion of such words comes at a steep price; many genuinely difficult or less-known words such as "omphaloskepsis" (the act of contemplating one's navel) and "aglet" (the piece of plastic at the end of a shoelace) are omitted.

One easy word that isn't included in this book is "proofread." This omission is unfortunate. Perhaps if it had been included, the dictionary's four proofreaders would have known what they had been hired to do. As published, this book is littered with errors. Here are several examples of errors:


-"algid" is identified as a noun (it is an adjective);
-the definition and pronunciation of "cervine" seem to have been typed with caps lock on, rendering the pronunciation completely unreadable;
-there are two lengthy entries for "compose" which seem to differ only in that one entry marks a particular definition as archaic;
-there are two identical entries for "dilatation," one of which appears out of alphabetical order (after "dilate");
-the pronunciation of "enceinte" is omitted.

There are also dozens of less serious errors, including several misspellings and many missing spaces and punctuation errors.

Overall, this is the worst book I have ever read. Next time, I plan to read my local yellow pages instead.

UPDATE (8/15/2007): I've just discovered an error in this book that is so egregious that it needed to be added to this review. The usage note for the word "locate" says, "In formal English one should avoid using locate to mean 'find' (it drives him out of his mind when he can't locate something). In precise usage locate means 'fix the position of, put in place' (the studio should be located on a north-facing slope)."

It turns out that this isn't really complete. The computerized Oxford American Dictionaries (as included with Mac OS X Tiger) has a more complete version of this usage note. It says, "In formal English, one should avoid using locate to mean 'find (a missing object)':: he can't seem to locate his keys. In precise usage, locate means 'discover the exact place or position of' or 'fix the position of, put in place': | the doctors hope to locate the source of the bleeding; | the studio should be located on a north-facing slope."

In particular, the example in the latter usage note about the doctors should be incorrect according to the former usage note. This is because the former usage note neglects to qualify with the phrase "a missing object" the prohibition on using "locate" to mean "find", and it does not mention that it can be used to mean "discover the exact place or position of."

While certainly it is reasonable to omit some things from a less comprehensive dictionary, it is deplorable that the editors of this dictionary do so in such a way as to mislead the reader.

This book is a wonder if your style of writing is a bit on the intellectual side or if you want an Anthony Hopkins type of character, ala Silence of the Lambs--educated, professorial, cerebral. Their dialogue and interior monologue must include words that are well-selected, pithy, yet meaningful in their spot. They become the signature of that person and the reader recognizes the character's appearance on a scene by their speaking style. If that's not your normal speaking style (as it isn't for most of us), it can be tricky, but not impossible thanks to this book.

In my case, I love words. I keep a list of my five hundred favorite nerdy words (like abecederian and apocryphal). I enjoy finding that one word to replace ten others--

* dew point
* heuristic
* curmudgeon

...or the exact word to fit a circumstance

* diaphoretic
* heterodox
* palindrome

When I bought this book, I curled up in bed and read it before going to sleep. The beauty of well-selected words is calming. So many of them flow off the tongue as though they should always have been there, in my mind.

* xenophobic
* obfuscate
* bibliophile
* perspicacity

Oxford Essential Dictionary of Difficult Words also has common words that we-all have likely forgotten--

* objective
* pantomime
* raffish
* spurious

When I read these, I scratched my head. They aren't difficult, but--then it struck me--when was the last time I used them?

THIS is where to look for enhancing your vocabulary with meaningful & useful words that have bite. Just about every word I've tried to locate a concise, direct, and DESCRIPTIVE definition of in a multitude of candy-coated dictionaries & word-finders during the past decade, I have found here. As well, the definitions are worded so that you'll actually RECALL them, with more specificity & less confusion. For instance, how long have I wanted to be certain that a "pedagogue" was identified as a strict or difficult teacher, & not "just" a teacher? And generally, basic words are skipped, so this convenient mass-market size book doesn't burden the searcher down with flipping through so many pages.
Granted, the print is small, but the pages in here are chock-full with a minimum of wasted white space. Features such as related or "derivative" words, along with shade-boxes outlining words which are often confused with each other (i.e. continuous/continual) are also included, WITHIN the alphabetical list where the words are & not cast aside in some tangental appendix. (There IS a useful appendix of prefixes & suffixes). Multiple definitions/senses for appropriate entries, readily identifiable, are presented often.
This is a dictionary that complements ordinary dictionaries. True, other reviewers have made valid note of omissions/comissions they've found, but all told, this dictionary is the one to consult FIRST when you really want the meaning of "that" word.