Product Description

The Oxford Compact Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Wordpower Guide gives you three books in one. The dictionary section offers excellent coverage of everyday English, with over 120,000 words, phrases, and definitions, while the thesaurus has over 140,000 alternative words. Other features include straightforward guidance on grammar and usage in the shape of in-text boxes and thousands of example sentences illustrating words in use. The Wordpower Guide offers extra help to improve your vocabulary, and includes a section on foreign words and phrases, information on collective names for animals and birds, useful vocabulary for use in word games, lists of common confusables, a section on selecting the right word, and an extensive Wordbuilder section which gives instant links to related words.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #763080 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 121 pages

About the Author
Sara Hawker is Project Editor for English Dictionaries and Thesauruses at Oxford University Press

Customer Reviews

Excellent compact edition, weighted towards dictionary
As I write professionally, I have to confess to being prone to buying the odd dictionary or thesaurus: it doesn't make me a bad person ... and I'm not that boring. But I do believe everyone should have a decent dictionary and thesaurus, and I do believe you can get a lot of enjoyment reading little snippets and exploring the use of language.

"The Compact Oxford" is, indeed, quite compact. Given its 1100 or more pages, it is lighter and more manageable than many of the bulkier tomes on the market. Though not exactly a portable version - it won't really fit in a pocket, briefcase, or bag - it will fit on a desk or workspace, and it is the sort of thing you could carry around the house without inconvenience.

In terms of its contents, it has to be said that it is more of a dictionary than a thesaurus. Each page is divided into two sections, the top part of the page being the dictionary entries. Beneath, select words are given thesaurus entries. The dictionary part gets considerably greater prominence than the thesaurus; you get the sense that in order to keep down bulk and weight (compare it to the much bigger "Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus and Wordpower Guide" or the "Collins Dictionary & Thesaurus"), the publishers have sacrificed the scope of the thesaurus rather than compromise on the scale of the dictionary. But then again, the dictionary entries themselves do give you a number of synonyms and alternatives for the word.

Print quality is excellent - small, but crisp and legible (though you may still need glasses). Paper quality is strong and robust without feeling cheap. It's a well organised and useful book (once you get used to looking at both the dictionary and the thesaurus elements), and, if you'll forgive the expression, it handles well - most people will find it easy to pick up or put back on the shelf.

But, I always caution that when it comes to buying a dictionary or thesaurus, go look at the variety on sale in your local bookshop. You know what you need them for - they're books which should last you a lifetime, so they should be very personal choices. Have a look, get a feel for them, see if they suit your needs, your pocket, your lifestyle.

Possibly leans more towards the dictionary
As I write professionally, I have to confess to being prone to buying the odd dictionary or thesaurus: it doesn't make me a bad person ... and I'm not that boring. But I do believe everyone should have a decent dictionary and thesaurus, and I do believe you can get a lot of enjoyment reading little snippets and exploring the use of language.

"The Compact Oxford" is, indeed, quite compact. Given its 1100 or more pages, it is lighter and more manageable than many of the bulkier tomes on the market. Though not exactly a portable version - it won't really fit in a pocket, briefcase, or bag - it will fit on a desk or workspace, and it is the sort of thing you could carry around the house without inconvenience.

In terms of its contents, it has to be said that it is more of a dictionary than a thesaurus. Each page is divided into two sections, the top part of the page being the dictionary entries. Beneath, select words are given thesaurus entries. The dictionary part gets considerably greater prominence than the thesaurus; you get the sense that in order to keep down bulk and weight (compare it to the much bigger "Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus and Wordpower Guide" or the "Collins Dictionary & Thesaurus"), the publishers have sacrificed the scope of the thesaurus rather than compromise on the scale of the dictionary. But then again, the dictionary entries themselves do give you a number of synonyms and alternatives for the word.

Print quality is excellent - small, but crisp and legible (though you may still need glasses). Paper quality is strong and robust without feeling cheap. It's a well organised and useful book (once you get used to looking at both the dictionary and the thesaurus elements), and, if you'll forgive the expression, it handles well - most people will find it easy to pick up or put back on the shelf.

But, I always caution that when it comes to buying a dictionary or thesaurus, go look at the variety on sale in your local bookshop. You know what you need them for - they're books which should last you a lifetime, so they should be very personal choices. Have a look, get a feel for them, see if they suit your needs, your pocket, your lifestyle.

A very useful and handy reference.
The dictionary and thesaurus are uniquely combined together so that a dictionary entry would have the thesaurus entry for that word straight after it. This makes it very convenient and it also has a large range of words which is useful when essay-writing or reading complicated books.