The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words

by Archie Hobson (Editor)

We all know what the words cat and dog and mother and tree mean. What we really need is a dictionary that helps us with the tough words, like elucubrate , or demesne , or cynosure . True, a standard dictionary can bail us out when we run across a tough word at home or in a library. But we often
read elsewhere--in a doctor's waiting room or on a plane, or while on vacation. What do we do then?
The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words is designed to meet this need. A portable, pocket-sized reference, it features more than 10,000 entries that focus exclusively on words that, while outside most people's working vocabulary, are often encountered in literature, in technical writings
(such as computing or medical terminology), and in such diverse subject areas as law, philosophy, and art. Entries contain pronunciations, parts of speech, concise definitions, example sentences showing the word used in context, and etymologies when a word's history may shed light on its meaning.
Special attention is given to easily confused or closely related words (such as efficacious, effective, effectual , and efficient , or cynical, sarcastic, sardonic , and ironic ). Usage notes are provided to ensure that readers know how to integrate these words into their vocabularies for more precision
and power in speech and writing.
Produced by a team of experienced lexicographers, drawing on Oxford's exclusive 200-million-word database of contemporary English, this handy volume helps us with the words that lie just outside our vocabulary, words we just won't find in other pocket dictionaries.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2001

Reviews

[Amit Mishra]

This one is a pretty standard dictionary. As the book suggests we all know what is meant by the cat, dog, mother etc this dictionary will let you explore the difficult words that may be helpful in various ways.
It can be helpful in writing a standard article or for the students for higher studies. This dictionary is essential for voracious readers who are learning a lot.

[Freya]

Supposed difficult words are only desirable insofar they explain a phenomenon that cannot be succinctly explained in a simpler manner. I skimmed through the book, looking for those gems. Words like these tend to speak to the imagination, they trigger curiosity and nostalgia, so the process proved unexpectedly tolerable. Only thing that would make it better, would be a measure of frequency or something to indicate how useful or important each word is in actual everyday use. A dictionary entry is not enough to assume relevance.