Visual Thesaurus

I use the synonym feature of MS Word like it's nobody's business. I rarely come up with that perfect word on the first try, so using this tool is a daily occurrence, it seems. Perhaps we've become too spoiled. I don't even bother opening a web browser to go to thesaurus.com anymore.

Although I am generally satisfied with this feature, it does not always work as well as one would hope. Most of the time I am dissatisfied, it is because the word that I think I want to use is not on the list of synonyms. However, it can also be the case that the synonym you choose doesn't quite have the same meaning or the meaning you intended with the original word. Then it's just obvious that you were using a thesaurus.

The best part about using a thesaurus: expanding your vocabulary. Eventually writing that uses more complex synonyms for common words will translate to your speech and become a part of your daily life.

Because I have been working on revising my resume and cover lately, I have been using this tool to best describe my qualifications to a potential employer. I want to limit my use of conventional, cliche descriptions for personality and skills.

I used Visuwords and Lexipedia and compared their results for the word "achieve" (a common word that came up while I was editing my resume and cover letter).

Visuwords



Lexipedia

The synonyms attain and accomplish both offer the same definition: to gain with effort.

Out of the two visual thesaurus sites, Visuwords is most aesthetic, but I found Lexipedia easier to interpret and understand. The legend used to describe the results on Visuwords is very complex and can be confusing. Lexipedia is a little bit more user-friendly.

For a simple word, I entered "fast" into Visuwords.

This produced some very interesting and surprising results:

Alacritous: quick and eager

Meteoric: like a meteor in speed, brilliance, or transcience

Winged: very fast, as if with wings

In some ways, I am definitely a word nerd. I'm generally not satisfied until I find the perfect word and will keep searching until I find it. It's almost an obsession. I like to expand my vocabulary and discover new ways to express myself. Some words are better than others, you just have to be willing to look for them.