We all know that it’s not a good idea to overuse a particular word in a writing piece. We try not to, but sometimes that different word seems to elude us.
The question is what help does Writer provide for these situations?
The answer is that it provides quite a bit.
OpenOffice.org Writer, like many other similar programs, does have a thesaurus – and here’s how you can get a quick and easy substitute to avoid overuse.
Right-click on the word to be changed.
Towards the bottom of the list you’ll find Synonyms. With this choice you’ll find that a list of replacements is displayed – choose one from this list and it will replace the one you started with.
If you don’t care to use any on this first list then you should proceed to the Thesaurus.
You can get there through a couple of different methods…
- The first is to select Thesaurus at the bottom of the synonyms list.
- You could also go to the Tools menu, Language sub-menu, Thesaurus choice.
- The fastest way would be to use Ctrl + F7 while the cursor in in the word.
Once you get to the Thesaurus dialog box here’s what you’ll see:
It’s a more detailed list with further suggestions based on what meaning of the word you were going after.
Choose a word and click Replace.
Voila!
That tired-out, overused word is now gone with a brand new, fresh-faced replacement.
~ April