Bibliophile's Dictionary: 2000 Masterful Words and Phrases

By Miles Westley

Book Overview

A Book Lover's Dictionary of Masterful Words and Phrases How would you feel if someone called you temerarious? What about... Puerile? Gormless? Pusillanimous? Irenic? Sesquipedalian? Munificent?... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582973563
• ISBN13: 9781582973562
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

What this book really is....

What this book is.... is a wonderful, interesting, and useful tome of unusual words. I won't try to impress readers with my literary pedigree on why I love this book but just give the facts. I needed a book to learn new words and increase my vocabulary.CHECK! I wanted a book that would give me words to allow me to better convey my understanding of subject matter like religion, language, and philosophy in an impressive and intelligent way. CHECK! I wanted a book to help me find the RIGHT word quickly and easily. CHECK! I wanted words that were accessible and useful, not archaic and esoteric words that impede and retard communication by their cryptic nature. CHECK! I wanted to know the proper pronunciation. CHECK! I wanted an index. CHECK! I wanted usage examples and word origins. CHECK! I wanted something small to read wherever. CHECK! And finally, I wanted a diversity of subject matter. CHECK! I would also like to tell anyone thinking of buying this book to do so. I can now describe the world around me in quite impressive fashion. Seldom am I at a loss for words and this book is a part of the reason why. The hardcover edition is compact and attractive. Great job Mark.

A dictionary worth reading. Truly a unique resource.

To read Websters is to fall asleep. To read Miles Westley's dictionary is to be engaged and fascinated. This is a remarkable compilation. Consider the pages turned by the author to arrive at such a dictionary. A real treat to read or simply peruse.

A book of words and phrases which gather unusual phrases organized into specific categories such as

Miles Westley's Bibliophile's Dictionary is another winner for aspiring writers; this offering a book of words and phrases which gather unusual phrases organized into specific categories such as myths and household objects. If you're seeking an atypical collection of words to amaze and puzzle - and to sprinkle liberally into tired writing to give it some spice - Bibliophile's Dictionary is for you, encouraging both browsing and reference.

An essential tool for any writer, wannabee writer, or logophile who wants to show off at cocktail pa

I was lost in a thicket of verbiage, stumbling over vines of adverbs and lacerated by stinging nouns, trying to hack my way toward precisely the right word while writing something unspeakably boring. Then I found Miles Westley's "The Bibliophiles Dictionary" and I was saved. But let us get something straight, right at the outset. This is not your average dictionary. It's not really even a reference work. It is a book built for browsing, for opening at random and sampling whatever happens to fall before your eyes. (It is, in that sense, excellent bathroom reading, but I digress.) Like any good book about words the Bibliophile's Dictionary is idiosyncratic and weird, organized roughly into categories but adamantly analphabetic. In what other book can you find "Ursuline" (an order of nuns established in 1572 and devoted to the education of girls) in close proximity to "Knights of Columbus," or "Propinquity" (proximity) found so propinquitously near "Ultramontane" (of or relating to the Alps). There's no making sense of it, you just have to go with the flow. Now, I do have some caveats. Chapter 5, for example, "The Lowly and Corrupt," features subsections named "Lustful," "Cowards and Moral Weaklings," "Drunk and Gorged," and "Lazy Slobs." This pretty much covers everyone I know, and I refuse to allow my friends to be denigrated in such callous fashion. Still, I would say that the BD is easily the second best book I have read in the past 12 months. I am, of course, too modest to name the best book, given that I wrote it (Computer Privacy Annoyances, available on this very site and at fine bookstores everywhere). OK, maybe I'm not so modest. Seriously, give this book a look. If you aspire to write, it belongs on your desk between Strunk and White's Elements of Style and Roget's Thesaurus. If you just love words, put it on your coffee table, or in the bath. You'll find it hard to put down.

Bibliophiles Dictionary by Miles Westley

I highly recommend this book for all types of writers. This book is full of interesting and uncommon words from unusual sources. It may be a dictionary, but it makes for a pretty compelling read on its own!!! I love this book, and I can't wait for the sequel. I read it every morning when I wake up and a bit at night before I go to bed. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!!!!