For as long as Microsoft Word has been around, it has been the preferred word processing application from people serious about writing. This is because Word is so much more than a typing app; Word is full of rich features that help writers be better at their craft. One helpful writing feature of Word is the Thesaurus, here's how to use it.
If you have yet to explore all the features in Microsoft Word, then you are missing out on producing some opulent prose with the aid of a thesaurus that comes standard with Word. Many users may not realize they have a thesaurus at their disposal simply because it is located under a tab that is not the Home tab (the Home Tab is what Word opens up to and contains the most commonly used Word features).
Word's Thesaurus can be found under the Review Tab. Click on the icon of an open book labeled Thesaurus to bring up a thesaurus menu to the right of your document. If you want to take advantage of the thesaurus as you write, then you can keep this menu open. This way you can come up with ingenious declarations as you transcribe.
With the thesaurus menu open, you can enter your word in the search form at the top of the menu and then click the green button to research your word. The thesaurus menu will now be populated with multiple words that have the same meaning with the word that you are looking up. You can then use your discretion to substitute your original word for a better one provided by the thesaurus. Remember to be careful not to pick out a new word that is too obscure or you might isolate your audience--while sounding like a genius!
Another way to use your thesaurus in Word is to double-click the word you want researched and then hit the Thesaurus icon under the Review Tab. You can also right-click the word that you want to research and then go to Synonyms. Right-clicking will provide you with a handy short list of alternative words that you can use to switch out your original word with. If you desire to view a more extensive list of words, then you will want to click on the shortcut to Thesaurus located at the bottom of this list. Both of these thesaurus workflows are quicker than having to type the word in the thesaurus menu.
Try out the thesaurus the next time you use Microsoft Word and turn your boring document into a piece of literature that is sure to make an illustrious impression!
