Customer Reviews

Roget's Descriptive Word Finder

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

 

 

For people fond of words and language, this is a fun book for browsing, no doubt. But for writers looking to write more descriptively, this book is not the best choice and for some writers, may even be a poor choice.

For one thing, nearly half the words in this book are *very* obscure, polysyllabic words that writers are probably better off avoiding. The words may impress but most readers won't know them.

For another, this book is all adjectives. That in itself is not a bad thing, but many writers also need specific verbs as well. Using this book, one could be inclined to modify a verb with an adjective. No matter how well-chosen the adjective, this leads to wordiness. Why use "walked slowly" if "ambled" is the more specific (and better) choice?

You'll get far more use from books like Rodale's "The Synonym Finder" and Random House's "Word Menu." McCutcheon's "Roget's Super Thesaurus" is less comprehensive but still a decent book to have on your shelf.

This is a good book for those who enjoy unusual words and who enjoy language for its own sake. Writers looking for books that help them improve their writing should look elsewhere.

I agree with the previous reviewers... this is an excellent alternative to a thesaurus. The lists of synonyms each have a definition, so that you can find exactly the right connotation for your taste. I can't count how many times I've looked up an idea in a thesaurus and all of the synonyms I found had exactly the same connotations (red, crimson, scarlet; instead of, say, bloody).

I do have one MAJOR complaint, though - there is no key to this book! There is no Table of Contents or Index appendix.

Sure, the ideas are categorized, but you have to scan through the entire book, page by page, hoping to run across the category you want. It's a HUGE problem unless you've got all of the categories memorized. Sample categories from pages 272-273: Observance, Obstruction, Occupation, Occurance, Ocean. I don't know about you, but those terms don't automatically spring to mind when I'm looking for a word.

Then you get to the "Quick Word Finder" appendix - pages 411-457 - and there are an entirely NEW set of alphebetized categories. You may have to check in both places.

I still think it's an awesome book... but please, please, please, I beg you, authors - add a key in the next edition! Please!

Roget's Descriptive Word Finder blends a dictionary and thesaurus devoted exclusively to adjectives, offering thousands of descriptions for people, places and things and presenting a theme organization which brings related words together. There are over five hundred entries which are designed to appeal both as quick references and as browsing material.

This is really a terrible book. First, the word choices it uses are weak. They're not words you want to use. Sure, they're interesting, but for those of us looking for that one right word that sums up the idea of a sentence, this book is just not a good option. I have not found one word in the book that I've used. Maybe they're in there, but I can't find them.

Which leads to my second gripe: this book is NOT usable. When I'm writing and I need a word, I need it fast. What's a synonym for fast? Let's look for a heading for fast. Nope. Not under Fast. What about speed? Nope, no heading for speed. What about velocity? Nope. Nothing on that. I shouldn't need a thesaurus to look up synonyms for fast so that I can find the heading "Fast" is under in this book. I usually look for five minutes, get frustrated, throw the book across the room and go to a thesaurus on-line.

This is a fine book if you just want to leisurely browse words, which I sometimes do, but don't buy it expecting you'll be able to quickly find a word you need when you need it. You will be disappointed. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it provides brief definitions of the words so that it's not just a meaningless word list. Still, that's not enough to make me recommend this to anyone.

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This is the Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered

This is a writer's aid that works When Microsoft Word's Thesaurus doesn't cut it.

This Roget's will work to an author's advantage often enough to encourage her to keep going back to it.

Kipfer reminds us that her book works much like the human brain, by categorizing. She's right, of course.Because we memorize the alphabet when we are young, we think we are naturally alphabetical animals. We are wrong. We had to learn specific skills for using a dictionary or putting a Rolodex into order, but we group and classify the entire world rather naturally.

I found that one of the most useful ways use Kipfer's combination dictionary and thesaurus is look up a word in my old thesaurus and then cross-reference what I found there to this new one. If you look up "receding" in a thesaurus and find "retrogression," you could go to Kipfer's book and find other entries that were, indeed, in your thesaurus, but you'll also find "crablike." That certainly suggests a simile better than another Latinate word like "reflex" or "retrograde."

I also was in awe of Kipfer's approach to categorizing in her addendum. She calls it a "Quick Word Finder". It uses very broad categories like Appealing-Unappealing. There one finds everything from the mundane (affluent, alluring, yummy) to the really off-beat (fiddle-footed and Circean.)

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Her newly released Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered has won three.)

Quality, sparingly-used adjectives aren't the bane of good writing and vivid word paintings - ADVERBS are. I find this book invaluable in searching for the unusual, lyrical, 'dead-on' adjective to fit a particular scene or mood. I prefer it to a thesaurus because of its ease of use, smaller size, and 'quirkier' approach.

Yes, there are a lot of words that a reader would not be familiar with. But so what? Sometimes a word is perfect anyway, because of the image its sound invokes, the meaning made clear by the context. You are more likely to be tripped up by the 'uh oh, this writer is using a thesaurus' approach in using a thesaurus than this book.

Besides, thumbing through it is incredible fun, as well as opening one's eyes to potential new vistas.

It doesn't replace a thesaurus, but it's a more-than-worthy companion (I use it more often, by 2-3 times), and is seldom more than arm's length at my desk.

Years back, it was very helpful for my writing. But with the advent of online dictionaries and thesaurus, this book is no longer convenient. I even forgot the time I last opened this book. I hope this can be made available on CD-ROM and in a more comprehensive package.

Barbara Ann Kipfer is probably best known for her book, "Flip Dictionary," which in itself is a wonder book. However, the present book builds on a standard dictionary or thesaurus in that it pinpoints the exact word to color an author's content based upon a unique system of categorical organization.

Roget's Descriptive Word Finder is the ideal companion to writers and consumers alike. It's the first comprehensive resource for the adjective hunter. It's a rich resource of 457 pages packed with information that never lets you down. Like other equally poignant works that she has delivered, such as the Flip Dictionary, Barbara Ann Kipfer is a true leader in innovative ways of settling the word debt that face most people who dare to write. In this powerful and original work, she loads 30 pages of almost 600 categories, which incorporate opposites like good-bad, happy-sad, etc. the work provides you with the precise word that colors your prose to perfection.

Other reviewers are missing the point. This reference work is not a thesaurus. It is a work for providing the most evocative adjectives. It is no substitute for a thesaurus, but unlike a thesaurus, it leaves you with a list of words uncluttered with unnecessary words in other parts of speech. And, unlike a thesaurus, it provides a simple definition with each entry to ensure precise meaning, especially important with less familiar words.

Dr. Kipfer possesses a distinguished academic background. And with 25 titles under her belt, she ranks as a solid talent in the word business. I only wished such books were available when I was in school. A must read for any serious writer.

Who hasn't heard the belabored rule: Use Adjectives Sparingly.


This book is for those brave souls who resist the great English Teacher in the Sky and bend, maybe even break, the rules.

Almost entirely adjectives, the book provides a quick fix for that stubborn word-on-the-edge-of-your-tounge condition which so frequently afflicts aspiring writers.

Also, included at the end of the book is a Quick Word Finder:


1. Colors (who knew there where so many distinct shades of yellow-chrome yellow, butter, golden, blonde, ash blond, and linen to name a few).

2. Smells (putrid, rancid, stinky, stuffy, sweet, etc).

3. Sounds (bloop, blop, achoo, badow, bang, bzzzz, boyng, bradada to name a few of my favorites).

4. List of Prepositions (and, but, to, across, an, concerning, etc).

5. List of Interjections: (ah, boy, bravo, cheerio, aw, shucks, chop-chop, etc, etc).


Therefore, while not nevery writer needs this reference book, many can benefit from its easy-to-read format, lists and suggestions.

My suggestion: Don't pass this one up.

This book is fun to browe. Also, the book was in top condition and the service was very prompt. I would buy from this seller again. Thank you!