How To Use The Thesaurus In Word

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Do you need an like shooting fish in a barrel way to discover artistic synonyms while writing in Microsoft Word? Word's congenital-in thesaurus makes finding words with the same or similar meanings a cakewalk. You can even use the Word thesaurus to find synonyms for words in other languages, as well as antonyms. This wikiHow article will walk you through using the Microsoft Discussion thesaurus tool on Windows and macOS.

Things You Should Know

The thesaurus is bachelor on all desktop versions of Microsoft Word on Windows and macOS, but non online or on the mobile apps.
To find a synonym or antonym, select a word, right-click the selection, and then choose Synonym.
If a word has multiple meanings, you lot might observe synonyms in different parts of speech.

Steps Download Article

1
Select a word in your document. Only click and draw your mouse to highlight the give-and-take you want to look upward in the thesaurus. You tin too just double-click the word to select it instantly.
- Depending on your version of Discussion, a blue or grey outline will then surround the selected word.
- Unfortunately, the thesaurus is only available in the Windows and macOS Word applications—you tin can't utilise Word'due south thesaurus in Give-and-take Online or using the Role mobile apps.^[1]
2
Right-click the highlighted discussion. If you don't have a right mouse button, y'all can printing Control equally you click the word or tap the trackpad with ii fingers.
- You tin can also open up the thesaurus by clicking the Review tab and selecting Thesaurus on the toolbar.
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3
Click Synonyms on the menu. Another menu will expand, displaying a few select words that accept the aforementioned or similar meaning as the give-and-take you lot've selected.
- If yous'd like, you can click any of the suggested synonyms on the menu to instantly replace the selected word. Alternatively, you lot tin can go on to check out other options in the thesaurus.
iv
Click Thesaurus on the carte. This expands the Thesaurus tab on the right side of your document. The new window displays the suggestions you saw on the previous bill of fare, and in many cases, several other suggestions.
- If the selected word has multiple meanings, yous may meet synonyms in unlike parts of spoken communication. For example, looking up the word highlighted displays several adjectives (tinted, dyed, painted, and decorated) besides as verbs (emphasized, underlined, stressed, and underscored).
- If whatsoever antonyms (opposite meanings) are available for the word, those words appear in the thesaurus list followed by (antonym).
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Click the arrow to the right of a synonym ▼. If you don't see the pointer, hover your cursor over it first. A cursory drop-down menu will expand.
- If the give-and-take yous're looking up is in a unlike linguistic communication than your default language (for case, your computer is set to English simply you're typing in Spanish), select that language from the carte du jour at the bottom of the right panel starting time. ^[2]
6
Click Insert . This replaces the give-and-take in your certificate with the selected synonym.
- If yous're finished with the panel, you lot can merely click the X at the top to close it. But if y'all desire to look upwards more synonyms and antonyms, you can leave information technology open and type additional words into the bar at the top of the console.
- Y'all can also click the down-arrow next to "Thesaurus" at the top of the console to detect helpful options like Resize (to make the panel larger or smaller) or Move (to move the panel somewhere other than the right side of the document).

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Question

What do I do if there are no synonyms?

Y'all're probably trying to detect synonyms for an obscure word or i that you mispelled or used uncorrectly. If in doubt, search the word in Google or Bing by typing in 'ascertain (word)'. Synonyms volition come up for you.
Question

What should I exercise if my thesaurus is not working?

I would restart the Word app. In that location might be some kind of problems messing with the thesaurus.
Question

How do I highlight a text?

Left-click at the beginning of the word yous wish to highlight (or the word at the start of your text, if you want to highlight a chunk of text) and, property the left-click down, drag the mouse beyond the word until everything you want included is highlighted.

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Swapping overly simplistic words with alternatives can add power and depth to your artistic writing. Just exist careful non to overdo it.
You can also use Word to look up words in the dictionary. Merely double-click or highlight the word, right-click it, then choose Search (word). You can and so choose from whatsoever of the online dictionaries in the right panel to notice the definition.
A thesaurus is also available in other Office programs, including PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Visio.