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This dictionary is of course very complete and easy to you. It gives you a number of ways to find a word including wildcards, Boolean searches, definition searches, and of course a good old A-Z search. What I found particularly useful was the 120,000+ audio pronunciations. Frankly, phonetic spelling has always given me a headache, especially with words like "ennui". I also found the spot maps and illustrations helpful. What's more, you can run this dictionary without the CD-ROM in the drive. (providing you are willing to give up a couple of the bells and whistles) The only thing I really don't like about this software is that it is a full on pain in the neck to get it to… Read more
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There are a lot of quaint reference guides out on the market today, but as a professional writer and teacher this is always the thesaurus I reach for. Not only are you provided with nearly half a million synonyms, but Rogets make the definition conise and meaningful. You will find this book an essential part of your reference section be it 2 books or 200 books in volume. It makes little difference if you are writing a term paper or a business letter, you are foolish not to have this vital tool.
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When I saw the title I knew it was word the [price] even if it was only as a conversation piece. What could be more gloriously pretentious that a book with this title. In its defense, however, there are some very viable synonyms that I have found useful. I does, as the author suggests, remind you of those little used words that bring descriptive writing a certain zest. On the other hand, the book has a limited amount of entries, and some of the synonyms are a bit far fetched. If you are looking for a dependable thesaurus you can you in day-to-day writing try Roget's. But if you find you need a particularly noteworthy word this isn't a bad little addition.
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