Building Your Vocabulary: A Thesaurus

I wrote my first poem when I was nine. It was a standard, and very simple, rhyme about the moon. I still have it, and it inspires me, a lot actually. As I continued to write poems my big challenge was always finding new ways to describe the familiar. Enter the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus.

This is my favorite tool for finding new words to fit within my poetry. Rhyming dictionaries are nice, but using a thesaurus helps me take an idea from one word and find a dozen new words that enhance it. A dictionary is good for learning a few new words. A thesaurus helps elevate your vocabulary starting with words you already know. Say you want to describe something as pretty. Your options are: beautiful, charming, cute, elegant, graceful, handsome, pleasant, appealing, comely, dainty, darling, delicate, foxy, tasteful, and pulchritudinous. Words are powerful; those who know how to use the power of words have greater opportunity to influence the world around them. What tools do you use for building your vocabulary?

Visit thesaurus.com to learn more words each day.