The Archaic Thesaurus

by

Nina Spinello

Lovely little collection of now little-used words.

The Archaic Thesaurus by Nina Spinello is a delightful collection of words that have fallen out of favor for inclusion in contemporary discourse. It was a pleasure to browse the nominated entries, read their definitions, their use in a brief phrase, and examine three selected synonyms for each. I particularly enjoyed reading the words and their synonyms used in sentences, and was surprised by how substituting one for another would change the tone, feel, or emotional impact of the result. While many of the selections may no longer be heard in everyday conversation, some regularly appear in literature and are used for a singular effect. So, while they are synonyms and seemingly interchangeable, the selection of one over another still changes the perception of the sentence in which it is used. 

I read an advance readers copy rather than a finalized copy of the book, so I assume subsequent editing will address the few issues with duplicated entries and proffered synonyms that obviously belonged to archaic words that were inadvertently skipped. In truth, my biggest complaint would be that the book left me wanting more of the same. 

I recommend THE ARCHAIC THESAURUS to wordsmiths and language lovers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.