When you have a hard time remembering a word, which do you use mostly: a dictionary or thesaurus?
For myself, it'd have to be a thesaurus. I've spent years absorbing as many definitions as I could, so dictionaries feel somewhat outdated to me nowadays. Even so, I still find myself struggling to select just the right word for any occasion; in spoken communication especially--listeners will get confused if I use an abstract term (and as a result I become confused myself, as I don't instantly realize the problem). Therefore the lists of synonyms in a thesaurus is more useful; just need to recall a root word and scan the related selections. Naturally I don't carry a thesaurus with me, though, so I only have to deal with them when the time comes. ;P
What about you? Do you have a preference, or is another means available [i.e. the Internet]?
For myself, it'd have to be a thesaurus. I've spent years absorbing as many definitions as I could, so dictionaries feel somewhat outdated to me nowadays. Even so, I still find myself struggling to select just the right word for any occasion; in spoken communication especially--listeners will get confused if I use an abstract term (and as a result I become confused myself, as I don't instantly realize the problem). Therefore the lists of synonyms in a thesaurus is more useful; just need to recall a root word and scan the related selections. Naturally I don't carry a thesaurus with me, though, so I only have to deal with them when the time comes. ;P
What about you? Do you have a preference, or is another means available [i.e. the Internet]?
Last edited: