Do you write for a living like so many others in this knowledge intensive society? Reporters, lawyers, researchers, authors, poets, teachers, students, and so many others depend on finding just the right words to express themselves.

The Web offers a lot of dictionaries, thesauruses and other tools that can be helpful. We have come across such a tool that is not only helpful, but also ingenious and pretty cool.

The Visual Thesaurus
Visual Thesaurus is both a dictionary and a thesaurus. It works by showing you the relationship between words. It has an intuitive interface using semantic maps that make it easy to explore the meaning of words and their semantic relationships. Not only is it easy and intuitive, it is also very enlightening. And if you love language, like we do here at Padia HQ, you will have a great time exploring the wonderful world of words.

Even though the best things in life are allegedly free, Visual Thesaurus is not. The Web edition costs 19.95 US dollars a year or 2.95 a month and the desktop edition costs 39.95.

The Visual Thesaurus has over 145,000 English words. There are also beta versions available in Dutch, French, German Italian, and Spanish.

How it works
Visual Thesaurus displays words and meanings that are related to the item in the center of the display. You click on a word to bring it to the center. You can also click on a speaker icon to hear the word spoken. Roll your mouse over a meaning to learn more about it.

To learn more about Visual Thesaurus, you can take a virtual tour. If you would rather have free online reference tools with no frills, have a look at the Reference section of the Pandia Powersearch All-in-One.