How do I use the thesaurus?

The thesaurus tool allows you to find alternate word choices.

Thesaurus for Mac users

To find words in the thesaurus:

1.  Right-click or Control + click on the word to be replaced;
2. Choose Synonyms and a list of alternate word choices will be displayed;
3. Choose the desired word and it will replace the word on the page.

Another way to call a list of synonyms is to right-click or Control + click on a word and from the context menu, choose Thesaurus.  A standard Mac word lookup (curated by Apple) is displayed:

1. Pick a replacement word;
2. Close the window;
3. Highlight the word to be replaced;
4. Type the new word in.

Thesaurus for Windows users

To find words in the thesaurus:

1. Right-click a word for which synonyms are desired. In the example below, the word is “precocious.”
2. Choose Home > Thesaurus or Tools > Thesaurus. The Thesaurus dialogue appears:

1. Definitions of words are sorted alphabetically by part of speech, and a list of synonyms, antonyms, and related words is shown below each definition;
2. Select a replacement word. It appears in the text field above the definitions;
3. Click Replace.

The Thesaurus dialogue closes and the selected word replaces the selected word in the script.

If no alternate is acceptable, click Close.

To manually enter a word to find alternatives:

1. Position the cursor where the word is to be inserted;
2. Choose Tools > Thesaurus. The Thesaurus dialogue appears;
3. Type the word to be looked up in the text field above the alternatives;
4. Press the Enter key;
5. Definition(s), synonyms, alternatives, etc. are presented;
6. Select an alternative;
7. Click Replace.

The Thesaurus dialogue closes and the alternate replaces the selected word in the script. If no alternate is acceptable, click Close.

Thesaurus Context Menu

Another way to call a list of synonyms is to right-click on a word and from the Synonyms section of the context menu, choose a word from the list to replace the selection:

To dismiss these context menus without choosing an alternative word, press the Escape key until they disappear.