Search for synonyms using the Visual Thesaurus

The Visual Thesaurus is an online thesaurus and dictionary of over 145,000 words that you explore and visualize using an interactive map.

Type in a word and the Visual Thesaurus will show you a map of synonyms, antonyms, and definitions.

Unlike Roget's Thesaurus, the Visual Thesaurus contains over 39,000 proper nouns and American and British spellings and pronunciations.

It's a tool for people who think visually. Look up your word now!

Contest

The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: June Edition

Premium content available only to Visual Thesaurus subscribers.June 29, 2012
Yesterday, June 28th, was the 180th day of the year. (It would've been June 29th, but this is a leap year!) In honor of the day, you'll have to do a "180" to solve the puzzle. If you can figure it out, you might win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!  Continue reading...
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Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

Flash Card: Please Refrain From Dangling

Premium content available only to Visual Thesaurus subscribers.June 28, 2012
By Simon Glickman and Julia Rubiner
When it comes to dangling modifiers, "even the most gifted scribe can find himself dangling." So says the Editorial Emergency crew, who break down this surprisingly common grammatical lapse.  Continue reading...
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Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

No "Fun": Noun? Yes. Adjective? Well...

Premium content available only to Visual Thesaurus subscribers.June 27, 2012
By Merrill Perlman
The journalism professor was not having much "fun" explaining things to her feature-writing students: "I know so fun is wrong but I can't tell them why," she wrote. "So happy is right, but so fun should have 'much' as the sandwich filling."  Continue reading...
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Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

Ada to Ziv: Names in Computers

Premium content available only to Visual Thesaurus subscribers.June 26, 2012
By Mike Pope
June 23, 2012 would have been the 100th birthday of the British polymath Alan Turing. Among his achievements, Turing contributed substantially to the field of computers, and his name shows up multiple times in the lexicon of IT. Reflecting on this made me wonder who else I might find represented in the vocabulary of the field. Lots of people, it turns out.  Continue reading...
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VOCABGRABBER

Automatically create lists of vocabulary from any text using the Visual Thesaurus VocabGrabber.
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SPELLING BEE

Think you are a good speller? Take the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee and find out!
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Blog Excerpts

Further Adventures in Anachronism Hunting

June 12, 2012
The latest installment of the Lexicon Valley podcast is on one of our favorite topics: linguistic anachronisms on period TV dramas. Mike Vuolo talks to Benjamin Schmidt, who was inspired by Ben Zimmer's work on Mad Men and Downton Abbey to look more systematically at the language on these shows. Listen to the podcast here, and check out Schmidt's Prochronisms site here.
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Blog Excerpts

Word Routes Among the Top Language Lovers

June 4, 2012
Word Routes, the regular column by Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer, was selected as one of the top 100 Language Lovers of 2012, and one of the top 20 Language Professional blogs, in a worldwide competition hosted by bab.la and Lexiophiles. Language blogs and sites were nominated and then ranked according to user votes and other criteria. Check out the whole list here.
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Teachers at Work

A column about teaching

I Can't Get No Satisfaction
June 25, 2012 - 9 Comments

Word Routes

Exploring the pathways of our lexicon

"Monster In-Laws": A Monstrous Usage?
June 22, 2012 - 5 Comments

Candlepower

Ad and marketing creatives

Bikini and Beyond
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 21, 2012 - 6 Comments

Teachers at Work

A column about teaching

Looking Back at a Teaching Career
June 20, 2012 - 7 Comments

Dog Eared

Books we love

Julie Coleman's Lively "The Life of Slang"
June 19, 2012 - 1 Comment

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

Word Tasting Note: "Funambulist"
June 18, 2012 - 3 Comments

Word Routes

Exploring the pathways of our lexicon

The Battle over Defining "Marriage"
June 15, 2012 - 4 Comments

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

Why You Should Copy (A Modest Proposal)
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 14, 2012 - 10 Comments

Teachers at Work

A column about teaching

A Teacher's Summer Reflections
June 13, 2012 - 2 Comments

Wordshop

Vocab activities for your classroom

Beware the Obscure Adjective, Gelid in its Untouched Tomb
June 13, 2012 - 2 Comments

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

The Power of Assonance
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 12, 2012 - 12 Comments

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

Computers with Red Pencils
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 11, 2012 - 9 Comments

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

The Trouble with FANBOYS
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 8, 2012 - 1 Comment

Blog Excerpts

Summer Reading Season is Here!
June 7, 2012

Evasive Maneuvers

Euphemisms old and new

Compelling, Artisan Euphemisms
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 6, 2012 - 7 Comments

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

"Climate" Change: Weathering a Climax
premium content - available only to Visual Thesaurus subcribers June 5, 2012 - 1 Comment
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OVERHEARD

RECENT COMMENTS FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS

No "Fun": Noun? Yes. Adjective? Well...
morton said, "I don't disagree with most of the "concerns" about the use of funner or funnest but find it interesting that someone who really has a major problem..." - Thursday June 28th, 5:39 PM
Flash Card: Please Refrain From Dangling
Kristine F. said, "Gotta love those danglers! Most often they are at the beginning of the sentence, but not always. An example: "I saw the full moon last night, walking..." - Thursday June 28th, 12:56 PM
Westy said, "Please write us a humorous article about then-than errors. I see much more confusion with these simple words than I do with danglers. My point being..." - Thursday June 28th, 12:46 PM
Roger Dee said, "Basically, I am not a writer! I am a doctor. Doctors that took time to learn to write are a rare species! The "dangling issue" is only one of the..." - Thursday June 28th, 9:59 AM
begum F. said, "Well written addition. I enjoyed the piece. We would like to read more of these types of explanations" - Thursday June 28th, 8:39 AM
Karen D. said, ""Frequently" a source of mirth? Perhaps, but I'd say rather than only when the non-intended reading is funny do we even notice these. They are so..." - Thursday June 28th, 8:19 AM
No "Fun": Noun? Yes. Adjective? Well...
Lee J. said, "Thank you for the article about the use of fun as an adjective. My skin crawls whenever I hear funnest and funner. My spell check agrees with you,..." - Wednesday June 27th, 5:43 PM
Beverley M. said, "My son when younger used to write 'very fun', and I could never give him a satisfactory explanation as to why this wasn't correct. Looks like there..." - Wednesday June 27th, 10:08 AM
Len P. said, "Interesting topic: I agree, I would avoid "so fun" in a formal context, such as school/college writing. I would, like many British-English speakers,..." - Wednesday June 27th, 4:35 AM
I Can't Get No Satisfaction
Fitch O. said, "In response to Tamara's comments, I think that the exposure that the world - let alone other English speakers - has to American English via the media..." - Tuesday June 26th, 4:21 PM

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Lesson Plans

Put the VT to work in your classroom

Tackling Text Complexity through Annotation

June 25, 2012
What vocabulary and reading strategies can students use in analyzing literary nonfiction?  Continue reading...
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Contest

The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: June Edition

Premium content available only to Visual Thesaurus subscribers.June 29, 2012
Yesterday, June 28th, was the 180th day of the year. (It would've been June 29th, but this is a leap year!) In honor of the day, you'll have to do a "180" to solve the puzzle. If you can figure it out, you might win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!  Continue reading...
Suggest a topic / contribute
Click here to read more articles from Contest.

Announcements

Visual Thesaurus Expands to the iPad and iPhone

June 9, 2011
We've just released a new version of the Visual Thesaurus that works for the iPad and the iPhone, at no extra cost to subscribers. And whether you're using the VT in your Web browser, on your iPhone, or on your iPad, you'll enjoy lightning-fast load times.  Continue reading...
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Self Promotion

Now Wear This!

November 8, 2006
Give your favorite somebody your favorite word map! Now you can order a Visual Thesaurus word map on a t-shirt, mug, even a postage stamp. Simply search for a word, click on the "Share" button on top right hand of the Visual Thesaurus window, and follow the easy steps. We can't think of a better gift -- or a gift to yourself, for that matter! (Hey, we're biased!)
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Visual Thesaurus Everywhere

Incorporate the Visual Thesaurus into your blog or website, add it to your home page, or use it from Microsoft Word. Learn all the ways that we offer to make the Visual Thesaurus more convenient to use and easier to share with your friends, family, and colleagues: Continue reading...