(This is a mind map-style thesaurus.)
Source: lexipedia.com
- Amazing — incredible, unbelievable, improbable, fabulous, wonderful, fantastic, astonishing, astounding, extraordinary
- Anger — enrage, infuriate, arouse, nettle, exasperate, inflame, madden
- Angry — mad, furious, enraged, excited, wrathful, indignant, exasperated, aroused, inflamed
- Answer — reply, respond, retort, acknowledge
- Ask — question, inquire of, seek information from, put a question to, demand, request, expect, inquire, query, interrogate, examine, quiz
- Awful — dreadful, terrible, abominable, bad, poor, unpleasant
- Bad — evil, immoral, wicked, corrupt, sinful, depraved, rotten, contaminated, spoiled, tainted, harmful, injurious, unfavourable, defective, inferior, imperfect, substandard, faulty, improper, inappropriate, unsuitable, disagreeable, unpleasant, cross, nasty, unfriendly, irascible, horrible, atrocious, outrageous, scandalous, infamous, wrong, noxious, sinister, putrid, snide, deplorable, dismal, gross, heinous, nefarious, base, obnoxious, detestable, despicable, contemptible, foul, rank, ghastly, execrable
- Beautiful — pretty, lovely, handsome, attractive, gorgeous, dazzling, splendid, magnificent, comely, fair, ravishing, graceful, elegant, fine, exquisite, aesthetic, pleasing, shapely, delicate, stunning, glorious, heavenly, resplendent, radiant, glowing, blooming, sparkling
- Begin — start, open, launch, initiate, commence, inaugurate, originate
- Big — enormous, huge, immense, gigantic, vast, colossal, gargantuan, large, sizable, grand, great, tall, substantial, mammoth, astronomical, ample, broad, expansive, spacious, stout, tremendous, titanic, mountainous
- Brave — courageous, fearless, dauntless, intrepid, plucky, daring, heroic, valorous, audacious, bold, gallant, valiant, doughty, mettlesome
- Break — fracture, rupture, shatter, smash, wreck, crash, demolish, atomize
- Bright — shining, shiny, gleaming, brilliant, sparkling, shimmering, radiant, vivid, colourful, lustrous,
Source: writerswrite.co.za
One of my on-going word collections is of colors. I love to stop in the paint section of a hardware store and find new names for red or white or yellow. Having a variety of color names at my fingertips helps me to create specificity in my writing. I can paint a more evocative image in my reader’s mind if I describe a character’s hair as the color of rust or carrot-squash, rather than red.
So for fun, I created this color thesaurus for your reference. Of course, there are plenty more color names in the world, so, this is just to get you started.
Source: ingridsundberg.com
- The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi Description | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | GoodReads
- Emotion Amplifiers: A Companion to The Emotion Thesaurus (FREE ebook) by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi Description | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | GoodReads
- The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi Description | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | GoodReads
- The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi Description | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | GoodReads
Anonymous asked:
I am writer who is struggling in performing the 'show, don' tell' rule and I wanted to hear your opinion out. Do you think it's normal for a writer to refer all the time to a thesaurus or dictionary to choose or find the perfect word for a scene/sentence for the story?
Those two issues are not directly related, in my opinion. Yes, word choice is important, just as effective use of detail is important, but they are not the same thing.
For our thoughts on showing and telling, check out our post, "Show, Don’t Tell!" or feel free to browse through our “show don’t tell" tag. Lots of good stuff there.
As for referring to a thesaurus or dictionary while you write, well, I believe it’s important for writers think critically about the words they employ to tell their stories. And after all, expanding your vocabulary is not an odd thing to do and never had been. Just make sure you thoroughly understand any newly-discovered words before you incorporate them into your writing.
Remember, if you go looking for the perfect word, you may not find it, but you might find some words you’d never heard of before, and that can be just as useful.
Thanks for your question!
-C
A Few Handy Links for Alternatives to "Angry"
Anonymous asked: do you know about any complicated/long words for being angry?
Here are some links that I think will help:
- Word List: Alternatives to “Angry”
- Thesaurus.com's Entry for "Angry"
- DailyWritingTips's List of 75 Synonyms for “Angry”
- More Words's Entry for "Angry"
- Vocabulary.com's Entry for "Angry"
Make sure to look up any words you don't recognize before you use them in your writing!
Thank you for your question!
-C