The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English

The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English is an original and up-to-date collection in A-to-Z format of more than 200,000 synonyms and antonyms, compiled by William D. Lutz, author of Doublespeak and a renowned expert on language use. Instead of indiscriminately listing every word associated with the head-word, as many other thesauruses do, The Cambridge Thesaurus selects those that are synonyms or near-synonyms in the widest range of contexts, labeling any that are slang. Synonyms are listed according to their commonness and appropriateness, as are antonyms, and are distinguished by sense. The first few synonyms of each numbered meaning usually suffice to define the sense, but in those cases where the distinction between senses is not clear, a brief definition is provided.

Special attention has been given to phrasal entries such as come about, fall off, look down on and other familiar expressions in American English that thesauruses have often ignored in the past. These common verb phrases are pre-cisely those for which many people want syn-onyms. They do not typically need synonyms for odd or esoteric words but for familiar idioms in common use. The synonyms seek may indeed range from the common to the esoteric, and The Cambridge Thesaurus does provide a broad scope of possible synonyms for these familiar expressions. they

Synonyms are carefully grouped according to their applicability as substitutes for the head-word. This thesaurus is not filled with gim-micks that compel you to look from place to place before discovering a range of synonyms that meet your needs. It is simple and straightforward: one alphabetical listing of headwords. All the information you need is in one place. The Cambridge Thesaurus is the basic book to help you when you are search-ing for the word you know but cannot recall.

The Cambridge Thesaurus of American English will be especially useful to college and high school students working on papers and reports, but anyone writing a letter or article or preparing a speech will find this thesaurus an essential tool that can be relied upon.