For help with finding that word that will clearly get across what you're trying to say, try these sites. The word I used for checking how each site works is "happy."
Watching the Visuwords online graphical dictionary respond to your search request is fun. Take a look and see what I mean. Word relationships are visually diagrammed.
Word Storm has a button for exporting the result of your search as an image. Mousing over each word in the result shows a definition (sometimes not quite right) of that word.
Word Associations Network is a textual site that offers a simple image to accompany the word. Each search is divided into parts of speech -- noun, adjective, verb, etc.
Visual Thesaurus by Thinkmap is subscription-based. You can try it a limited number of times, then are required to pay $2.95 per month, $19.95 per year. Word generation is fun to watch on this site, too.
If you want to expand your vocabulary, try Vocabulary.com. When you load the site, a quiz pops up, and the quizzes will continue until you click somewhere else on the page. The creators' idea is to assess your language skills and help you learn. Check the How it Works page to see what's going on. The dictionary works like a Google search by offering suggestions and the definition selected may talk about the tone and origins of the word. For example, look at "exacerbate" --
Happy word hunting, y'all.
-- Marge
Watching the Visuwords online graphical dictionary respond to your search request is fun. Take a look and see what I mean. Word relationships are visually diagrammed.
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| Visuwords online graphical dictionary |
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Word Storm has a button for exporting the result of your search as an image. Mousing over each word in the result shows a definition (sometimes not quite right) of that word.
***
 |
| Word Storm - the visual brainstorming tool |
***
Word Associations Network is a textual site that offers a simple image to accompany the word. Each search is divided into parts of speech -- noun, adjective, verb, etc.
Visual Thesaurus by Thinkmap is subscription-based. You can try it a limited number of times, then are required to pay $2.95 per month, $19.95 per year. Word generation is fun to watch on this site, too.
***
 |
| Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus |
***
If you want to expand your vocabulary, try Vocabulary.com. When you load the site, a quiz pops up, and the quizzes will continue until you click somewhere else on the page. The creators' idea is to assess your language skills and help you learn. Check the How it Works page to see what's going on. The dictionary works like a Google search by offering suggestions and the definition selected may talk about the tone and origins of the word. For example, look at "exacerbate" --
For a formal-sounding verb that means to make worse, try exacerbate. If you're in trouble, complaining about it will only exacerbate the problem.
Exacerbate is related to the adjective acrid, often used to describe sharp-smelling smoke. Think of exacerbate then as a sharp or bitter thing that makes something worse. A drought will exacerbate a country's food shortage. Worsen, intensify, aggravate and compound are similar, but exacerbate has the sense of an irritant being added in to make something bad even worse.
Happy word hunting, y'all.
-- Marge
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