For Love of Lovely Words

FOR love of lovely words, and for the sake
Of those, my kinsmen and my countrymen,
Who early and late in the windy ocean toiled
To plant a star for seamen, where was then
The surfy haunt of seals and cormorants;
I, on the lintel of this cot, inscribe
The name of a strong tower.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Now that I've gotten all flowery, let me pass on a couple of great ways to find the right words. You don't have to be a writer to need help finding the best words; in so many contexts the right tools can make a significant difference in how effectively you communicate.

First, a little program that you can download and install free of charge called WordWeb.

"WordWeb is a free cut-down version of the WordWeb Pro software. It includes a comprehensive English thesaurus and dictionary, and can be used to look up words from within most programs. Features of the free version include: Definitions and synonyms; Proper nouns; Related words; Pronunciations; 150,000 root words; 120,000 synonym sets; Look up words in almost any program."

Then there's a new web-based dictionary/thesaurus that's ad-free and clean-cut called Word Source.

Taken together, you'll never be at a loss for words again.