Random House Webster's College Thesaurus (ISBN 0375400664)

Amazon.com Review:
If you find yourself in perpetual pursuit of the perfect word, Random House Webster's College Thesaurus may earn a place as favorite bedside reading. From "alacrity" to "zeal," "altitude" to "zenith," this reference offers myriad options in the way of scintillating synonyms (as well as apt antonyms). Organized in a simple A-to-Z format, each word is also used in a sentence--with different sentences for distinct meanings of the word--to help eschew malapropisms. If you're still getting your sea legs in the ocean of current vocabulary, the feature on how to avoid offensive or insensitive language (a crash course in political correctness) should help prevent any embarrassing gaffs. And, for those who choose to teeter at the cutting edge of the lexicon, there's a section explaining new hipster words, such as "def," "dis," "phat," and "bloviate" (look it up!). With more than 12,000 main entry terms, 400,000-plus synonyms and antonyms, and the handy "Thumb Index," this revised and updated thesaurus is a reference no wordsmith should be without. --Brangien Davis

Excellent Resource:
The Random House Webster's College Thesaurus, although somewhat thin, is an excellent resource, ranking among the highest. Most words in the English language have multiple meanings, converse forms, similar sounds and spellings in relation to other words, and outlandish synonyms ranging from before the Twelfth century through the Ninties. This thesaurus is not limited to only older words, terms, and phrases: but also contains slang and many new words and terms. It supplies a brief but adequate sentence for each listed word, phrase, and term, as well as for their different forms (i.e. adverbs, nouns, verbs, etc.) to sufficiently define their uses. I also enjoy the fact that this thesaurus lists antonyms, for sometimes I can think of a word, but I can't think of the word that I need, which is the exact opposite. In todays fast-paced world, everyone wants things simple and fast. Another exceptional advantage to owning this thesaurus is that it allows the reader to find what they need without searching for hours, using countless dictionaries and thesaurus's, laid out on their table. Although this thesaurus doesn't meet the criteria to qualify as the best thesaurus, it certainly exceeds the standards set by persons such as myself. I highly recommend adding this book to your personal library.

The thesaurus I liked best:
I compared all the thesauruses in three bookstores and ended up selecting this one. First, it lists words alphabetically (not all thesauruses do). Second, it lists more synonyms than most other thesauruses. With some thesauruses you are given a few synonyms and then referred to a related word to look up and find more synonyms. This related word will then likewise give a short list of synonyms and refer the reader to yet another word. This is an interesting way to explore related words, but it's time consuming. I just perfer a long list of synonyms with each word. Third, the Random House gives one or two easy to understand sentences for each sub-meaning, or sense, of a word, followed by a list of the synonyms related to that sense. Other thesauruses will often give a *definition* of the sub-meaning, but I liked seeing the word usage in a complete sentence. Picking out a dictionary was much more difficult, as each has it's pros and cons, but this was a clear winner, to my thinking, among the thesaureses that I looked at.

Comprehensive and easy to use.:
This is one of the best reference books I bought. It is easy to use and is laid out so I quickly find the perfect word for my needs.

Great:
If you wonder synonyms or antonyms of any word, you should have this book. It is really helpful. It has also example sentences to explain the usage of the words.