What do you think?
Rate this book
The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words
Writers looking for more than elementary synonyms found in a standard thesaurus will find exceptional and thoughtful alternatives in this advanced thesaurus. Neither weird nor arcane, each listed synonym is carefully chosen, defined by a "clarifier," and used in an example from the popular press that demonstrates its contemporary usage. Words that may not be exact synonyms but anticipate what the reader was really looking for are also included; for example, in the listing for amusing , the word witling is featured, explained by the clarifier as a "person who tries to be amusing but isn't." Aimed at readers who want their writing and speaking to stand out, this thesaurus ensures that a synonym sought is a synonym well thought.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 2005
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 4, 2019
Not what I thought it would be but not a waste of money either. No one in their right mind would use most of the words in this thesaurus, but it's fun to look up words and see what people may have said many decades ago. Use the words here at your own risk.
April 9, 2011
From the back cover: "This entertaining and informative reference features only sophisticated and surprising alternatives to common words together with no-fail guides to usage. Avoiding traditional thesauruses' mundane synonym choices, Peter E. Meltzer puts each word--whether it's sciolistic, misoneist, orabulia--in context by using examples from a broad range of recent books, periodicals, and newspapers."
The above is an accurate description of this book. Here are a few interesting examples:
incontrovertible (as in an . . . truth) adj: apodictic. [In the prescies use of the term, for something to be apodictic it must necessarily be true, such as a mathematical equation. However, it is frequently used as a rhetorical device, such as in expressing a matter of opinion of the writer, or sarcastically, such as accusing another of treating something as being apodictic, when it obviously is not.]
Example: A number of letters in response to your excellent June 27 editorial "The Disaster of Failed Policy" reveal that many still do not accept the apodictic fact that Hussein had no hand in the 9/11 outrage. Bush's "great courage" was perfectly justified in the invasion of Afghanistan but totally served a personal vendetta . . . in the case of war and occupation of Iraq. (Paul McCaig, "Surveying Iraq with Allawi at the Helm" Los Angeles Times, 7/2/2004.)
connected (by a close relationship) adj.: affined Example: When Reinette says that next year she wants to go to art school in Paris, Mirabelle invites her to share her apartment since her present roommate is leaving. the matter is not immediately settled, because the two, the city sophisticate and the country enthusiast, are not completely affined. Next morning they experience the [beautiful hour before dawn] together. The moment is so lovely that it unites them. (Stanley Kauffman, review of Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle, by Eric Rohmer, New Republic, 8/28/1989).(/i)
Note: I have inserted the word "Example" above, as in the book there is an icon to indicate the start of an example.
Here's a final tidbit from this worthwhile book. (When I consider the research and work and love of words that went into compiling this reference book...I'm amazed and so grateful to Mr. Meltzer. He has given writers quite a gift!
playful adj.: gamesome Example: The attractive design [in this book of letters of the alphabet] skillfully blends illustrations and type to create many gamesome touches, such as a dolphin diving through the letter D and the letter R getting stuck in a reindeer's antlers. (Publishers Weekly, "From Albatross to Zoo: An alphabet Book in Five Languages," 9/28/1992).
The above is an accurate description of this book. Here are a few interesting examples:
incontrovertible (as in an . . . truth) adj: apodictic. [In the prescies use of the term, for something to be apodictic it must necessarily be true, such as a mathematical equation. However, it is frequently used as a rhetorical device, such as in expressing a matter of opinion of the writer, or sarcastically, such as accusing another of treating something as being apodictic, when it obviously is not.]
Example: A number of letters in response to your excellent June 27 editorial "The Disaster of Failed Policy" reveal that many still do not accept the apodictic fact that Hussein had no hand in the 9/11 outrage. Bush's "great courage" was perfectly justified in the invasion of Afghanistan but totally served a personal vendetta . . . in the case of war and occupation of Iraq. (Paul McCaig, "Surveying Iraq with Allawi at the Helm" Los Angeles Times, 7/2/2004.)
connected (by a close relationship) adj.: affined Example: When Reinette says that next year she wants to go to art school in Paris, Mirabelle invites her to share her apartment since her present roommate is leaving. the matter is not immediately settled, because the two, the city sophisticate and the country enthusiast, are not completely affined. Next morning they experience the [beautiful hour before dawn] together. The moment is so lovely that it unites them. (Stanley Kauffman, review of Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle, by Eric Rohmer, New Republic, 8/28/1989).(/i)
Note: I have inserted the word "Example" above, as in the book there is an icon to indicate the start of an example.
Here's a final tidbit from this worthwhile book. (When I consider the research and work and love of words that went into compiling this reference book...I'm amazed and so grateful to Mr. Meltzer. He has given writers quite a gift!
playful adj.: gamesome Example: The attractive design [in this book of letters of the alphabet] skillfully blends illustrations and type to create many gamesome touches, such as a dolphin diving through the letter D and the letter R getting stuck in a reindeer's antlers. (Publishers Weekly, "From Albatross to Zoo: An alphabet Book in Five Languages," 9/28/1992).
March 12, 2012
(originally @ http://lanceschaubert.org/2012/02/22/... )
We like words here, don’t we?
Chuh-huh… yeah! That’s why today’s fantastic point of ignorance goes out to all of you wordsmiths, literators, storyweavers and spelling bee champions out there. I asked for free stuff this Christmas, things like carols and cider and snow cones and oral stories involving hearts five sizes too small but my Grandma’s a gift giver like most of my family. She bought me a copy of The Thinker’s Thesaurus.
Touché, granny. Touché.
Here’s the thing, I’m a recovering academic. I root out ivory tower talk when it rears it’s out-of-touch head. I also doubt I’ll be publishing a story, a non-fiction feature or even a poem in the New Yorker any time soon. Though I’m an avid reader, they’d scoff at my work if it ever managed (against all odds) to land a manuscript on their desks. Because of these disqualifications, I find little practical use for such a book as The Thinker’s Thesaurus.
Don’t even care.
I aint’ gonna read this book ta learn ta write good or ta sound savvy. I’mo read it fer kicks and giggles. It’s a blast, and helpful for finding the names of things. Here sit one dozen jewels I found in the bottom of my prospector pan after sifting through her loquacious pages:
To freeze on an epic scale is to glaciate.
On the other hand, were you Frosty the Snowman, you could melt or deliquesce.
A bullfight could be called a corrida.
The bigwigs in Washington responsible for bailouts are also nabobs.
If the tornado siren was alarming, then it might as well be aposematic.
A hoax involving false stories we call a canard.
Praise is approbation given by an encomiast.
Hobson’s choice struggles to eliminate two of these three: predicament, zugzwang or conjuncture.
Everyone who predicts misfortune and is ignored takes the name Cassandra because Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. She scorned him and he cursed her to know everything terrible that would happen but could stop none of it.
Call any woman who’s pregnant for the first time a primipara, but describe her as enceinte or gravid.
A sound is a sonority, but if it repeats like drums, guns or hooves, we call it a rataplan.
Dub a pretty woman houri, a working gal grisette, scheming ladies jezebel and slender women sylphs. Viragos know strength and courage, fishwives can be crass, maenads rage in screaming frenzy, but the last word will not pass this meter’s mustard: gynecomorphous men look more like well… women.
Enjoy the intelligent alternatives.
We like words here, don’t we?
Chuh-huh… yeah! That’s why today’s fantastic point of ignorance goes out to all of you wordsmiths, literators, storyweavers and spelling bee champions out there. I asked for free stuff this Christmas, things like carols and cider and snow cones and oral stories involving hearts five sizes too small but my Grandma’s a gift giver like most of my family. She bought me a copy of The Thinker’s Thesaurus.
Touché, granny. Touché.
Here’s the thing, I’m a recovering academic. I root out ivory tower talk when it rears it’s out-of-touch head. I also doubt I’ll be publishing a story, a non-fiction feature or even a poem in the New Yorker any time soon. Though I’m an avid reader, they’d scoff at my work if it ever managed (against all odds) to land a manuscript on their desks. Because of these disqualifications, I find little practical use for such a book as The Thinker’s Thesaurus.
Don’t even care.
I aint’ gonna read this book ta learn ta write good or ta sound savvy. I’mo read it fer kicks and giggles. It’s a blast, and helpful for finding the names of things. Here sit one dozen jewels I found in the bottom of my prospector pan after sifting through her loquacious pages:
To freeze on an epic scale is to glaciate.
On the other hand, were you Frosty the Snowman, you could melt or deliquesce.
A bullfight could be called a corrida.
The bigwigs in Washington responsible for bailouts are also nabobs.
If the tornado siren was alarming, then it might as well be aposematic.
A hoax involving false stories we call a canard.
Praise is approbation given by an encomiast.
Hobson’s choice struggles to eliminate two of these three: predicament, zugzwang or conjuncture.
Everyone who predicts misfortune and is ignored takes the name Cassandra because Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy. She scorned him and he cursed her to know everything terrible that would happen but could stop none of it.
Call any woman who’s pregnant for the first time a primipara, but describe her as enceinte or gravid.
A sound is a sonority, but if it repeats like drums, guns or hooves, we call it a rataplan.
Dub a pretty woman houri, a working gal grisette, scheming ladies jezebel and slender women sylphs. Viragos know strength and courage, fishwives can be crass, maenads rage in screaming frenzy, but the last word will not pass this meter’s mustard: gynecomorphous men look more like well… women.
Enjoy the intelligent alternatives.
November 30, 2014
I examined this thesaurus, and found that it offers some words other thesauruses may not have but also a great number of fairly well-known synonyms that I have already learned. It also demonstrates the word being used--by quoting some lengthy extract from a media source. These quotations often serve to show off the author's sociopolitical views to the reader.
You could do as well with another thesaurus. Not recommended.
You could do as well with another thesaurus. Not recommended.
June 11, 2016
always in one of my tabs hehe
Want to Read
February 18, 2013The go-to guide for finding those exceptional and unexpected words that will bring your writing to the next level.
Do you find that your regular thesaurus spits out the same old words already running through your head? Are the lists boring, repetitive, and generally unhelpful? Peter E. Meltzer thought so and decided to create a unique thesaurus that would offer interesting, original synonyms along with contextual examples. He quotes from a range of recent media—including books and hundreds of magazines and newspapers—to reassure readers that though the words might be unfamiliar, they are all completely legitimate words in current use. The first edition was the top-selling thesaurus in the United States on numerous occasions. The second edition has been expanded by 50 percent and includes a new introduction that lays out the goals and methods of the thesaurus. This highly entertaining and informative book is truly a dream come true, not only for logophiles but for anyone wishing to enhance their writing through these wonderful words.
Do you find that your regular thesaurus spits out the same old words already running through your head? Are the lists boring, repetitive, and generally unhelpful? Peter E. Meltzer thought so and decided to create a unique thesaurus that would offer interesting, original synonyms along with contextual examples. He quotes from a range of recent media—including books and hundreds of magazines and newspapers—to reassure readers that though the words might be unfamiliar, they are all completely legitimate words in current use. The first edition was the top-selling thesaurus in the United States on numerous occasions. The second edition has been expanded by 50 percent and includes a new introduction that lays out the goals and methods of the thesaurus. This highly entertaining and informative book is truly a dream come true, not only for logophiles but for anyone wishing to enhance their writing through these wonderful words.
July 26, 2011
Love it. A great Thinking, philosophers guide. Wish I had this in college. Much more useful to me than a normal thesaurus.
December 6, 2023
Every writer should have one of these to get the brain moving when it's stuck
December 30, 2022
This book is entirely useless and yet I kind of love it. Unless you're unbearably pretentious or deep in a career of academic writing, there's no reason to ever use the words and phrases listed, but having this book in my library brings me genuine joy. I love flipping through it and just finding odd little words I've never heard of before and will never hear again. Good for nerds, not as an actual reference book.
December 10, 2022
The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words is the most unusual thesaurus I've encountered. I recommend for everyone who is a composer of words to buy
The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words
.
February 9, 2025
It could be more thorough and less pretentious. The title is off putting and just because a word is French does that make it sophisticated?
September 10, 2010
The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Synonyms for Basic Words, by Peter Meltzer, goes beyond the realm of what we think a "thesaurus" should be by providing us with a level of useful words that exceeds what we've become used to in a normal thesaurus. The thesaurus that most of us are accustomed to suggests words that can be boring and repetitive. Meltzer gives us words contained in recent media, books and hundreds of newspapers and magazines to whet our appetite for more useful and dynamic words.
This unique thesaurus is not only informative, but entertaining - especially to those of us who are died in the wool "word addicts" and love to look up words for the simple enjoyment of it. If you're a writer, you'll use The Thinker's Thesaurus to move to a new, higher level of writing by using these incredible words in your poetry or prose.
The Thinker's Thesaurus takes us into modern times - far from the day of Peter Mark Roget in 1852. Roget decided to write a thesaurus himself, since he couldn't find one already published. Roget grouped words by related ideas and as a result earned a place in history as a lexicographical expert.
Others have written their own versions of a thesaurus, but most of the words in them are as common and dated as the original words and so, when writers are stuck and needing help with that one word to complete a thought or sentence, they were out of luck. Now, with Meltzer's "thinker's thesaurus," writers or word addicts can find sparkling words that can make the others almost obsolete.
Peter Meltzer's book, The Thinker's Thesaurus, is unique in three interesting ways:
1. This thesaurus provides sophisticated synonyms for the sophisticated writer, word addict, or those who simply want to sprinkle some glitter into their writing.
2. The Thinker's Thesaurus contains examples (not made up, but actually part of current writing) of almost all of the synonyms presented in the book.
3. You'll find words that you're probably unfamiliar with, but that will intrigue you in an entertaining way. Meltzer thought to insert a "clarifier" feature into the words' explanations so that you'll also have the benefit of choosing the most "target-centered" word rather than using a word that's merely near what you want.
If you're a little skeptical that words can be sophisticated and entertaining, have a look at Peter Meltzer's new book, The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Synonyms for Basic Words. Meltzer's thesaurus was the Book Sense Pick of the Month of the American Booksellers Association and earned the award tenfold.
Review by Lauren Smith
This book review covers The Thinker's Thesaurus by Peter E. Meltzer.
Article Source: The Thinker's Thesaurus - Indeed!
This unique thesaurus is not only informative, but entertaining - especially to those of us who are died in the wool "word addicts" and love to look up words for the simple enjoyment of it. If you're a writer, you'll use The Thinker's Thesaurus to move to a new, higher level of writing by using these incredible words in your poetry or prose.
The Thinker's Thesaurus takes us into modern times - far from the day of Peter Mark Roget in 1852. Roget decided to write a thesaurus himself, since he couldn't find one already published. Roget grouped words by related ideas and as a result earned a place in history as a lexicographical expert.
Others have written their own versions of a thesaurus, but most of the words in them are as common and dated as the original words and so, when writers are stuck and needing help with that one word to complete a thought or sentence, they were out of luck. Now, with Meltzer's "thinker's thesaurus," writers or word addicts can find sparkling words that can make the others almost obsolete.
Peter Meltzer's book, The Thinker's Thesaurus, is unique in three interesting ways:
1. This thesaurus provides sophisticated synonyms for the sophisticated writer, word addict, or those who simply want to sprinkle some glitter into their writing.
2. The Thinker's Thesaurus contains examples (not made up, but actually part of current writing) of almost all of the synonyms presented in the book.
3. You'll find words that you're probably unfamiliar with, but that will intrigue you in an entertaining way. Meltzer thought to insert a "clarifier" feature into the words' explanations so that you'll also have the benefit of choosing the most "target-centered" word rather than using a word that's merely near what you want.
If you're a little skeptical that words can be sophisticated and entertaining, have a look at Peter Meltzer's new book, The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Synonyms for Basic Words. Meltzer's thesaurus was the Book Sense Pick of the Month of the American Booksellers Association and earned the award tenfold.
Review by Lauren Smith
This book review covers The Thinker's Thesaurus by Peter E. Meltzer.
Article Source: The Thinker's Thesaurus - Indeed!
April 24, 2016
I may well keep this under 'currently reading', rather than mark it 'read', as it's such an excellent book and I don't anticipate putting it away any time soon.
I've always been very interested in words and languages, and I'm constantly seeking to expand my vocabulary. I love the entry format, as it gives proper context, thereby minimising - or even eliminating - ambiguity.
This could surely be considered required reading for any modern wordsmith!
I've always been very interested in words and languages, and I'm constantly seeking to expand my vocabulary. I love the entry format, as it gives proper context, thereby minimising - or even eliminating - ambiguity.
This could surely be considered required reading for any modern wordsmith!
March 26, 2015
I have been fascinated by Thesaurus books ever since I learned about them in junior high. I love them. I would sit and make list of words.This is like the holy grail. I use it with reverence.
June 7, 2016
the most helpful reference book I own!!! Fantastic!
July 29, 2008
This will always be on the currently reading shelf. This book is totally amazing. Pure felicific.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews