I was really hoping to get some real answers. More on reddit.com

Oh man, Since I got my ebook I've been loving the full oxford dictionary that comes with it specifically because it has etymology. That shits useful like a mofo More on reddit.com

If I need to find a word in thesaurus, chances are, readers will need to check dictionary and may not come back. If you need different word so you won't use the same twice in a row... why are you telling the same thing twice? More on reddit.com

John McPhee had a great tip about this in a recent issue of The New Yorker: With dictionaries, I spend a great deal more time looking up words I know than words I have never heard of—at least ninety-nine to one. The dictionary definitions of words you are trying to replace are far more likely to help you out than a scattershot wad from a thesaurus. Emphasis mine. For instance, McPhee was struggling to find a synonym for "sparkle," and in the dictionary, he found the definition "to shoot forth light." Hence: The reflection of the sun races through the trees and shoots forth light from the water. It's a simple tip, but after reading it and putting it into practice, I feel as if I've leveled up as a writer. More on reddit.com