The precision demanded by technical research makes academic and professional research presentation notoriously dry. For writers looking to add flair to their prose, the thesaurus is a natural place to turn to look for some more lively vocabulary.
The only problem with the thesaurus is that it can swiftly turn into a problem for consistency. It’s astonishingly easy to muddy the water with casual language that obscures or distracts from the precision of fundamental terms within the paper. This is certainly one of the biggest pitfalls I see repeated in papers submitted for editing.
This does not mean, however, that you have to throw up your hands and wait for an editor to spruce up your text. There are ways to target your use of the thesaurus that can help you to take more charge of your writing while avoiding some of the usual language traps.
Target your terms
One of the best ways to avoid introducing confusion through synonyms is to pick specific terms (either words or phrases) that can allow variation. When choosing those terms, you should probably avoid using synonyms for your primary technical language. Instead, look to choose synonyms for secondary (or even tertiary) terms. This reduces the risk of introducing any confusion to fundamental concepts. It also makes your life a little easier, as these terms are usually a little more amenable to variation anyway.
The other criterion to look for when choosing which terms to vary is to search for terms in your text to see how frequently they occur. The secondary or tertiary terms most frequently used throughout a paper are (usually) good candidates for synonyms.
Use the dictionary
Having targeted a few specific words and phrases, you now have a plan for opening up the thesaurus. How do you know that you have truly selected the best synonyms to use, though? Here is where the dictionary comes in. Maybe you are pretty sure that you have hit on the perfect synonym or variation of a phrase on the first try. Regardless, you should still open the dictionary and read through the listed definitions of the prospective synonym.
The reason for this is that most of the confusion in synonym usage occurs when an apparent synonym has a different connotation that distorts the originally intended meaning. Thesaurus lists by themselves frequently include obscure, tenuous, or even archaic synonyms. Their definitions may not actually align with your intended meaning, or their most common usage may conflict with the precise definition of your terms. Reading through the definition list helps to avoid this problem. As a bonus, if you see your original term on the dictionary’s list of synonyms to your synonym, you can be pretty confident you have a winner.
Pick a group of synonyms
You have targeted specific terms and come up with a handful of words that you feel confident are accurate synonyms. Now what? To put it simply, don’t go overboard. Select only 2-3 from that list of synonyms to use. This gives you a solid group of words to choose from without confusing your readers. Remember: this is still a technical paper, and your audience expects precision.
Are these tips foolproof? No, not really. As you continue to approach the thesaurus with a plan, however, you will gradually begin to build a bank of terms to return to in later writing. You will also begin to develop a feel for which words are likely to be good synonyms. While not failsafe, the thesaurus is certainly a tool to more instinctual and freer prose.
