The Bibliophile's Dictionary
2,000 Masterful Words and Phrases
by Miles Westley
Writer's Digest Books, 2005
ISBN 1-58297-356-3
$16.99 hardcover, 304 pages
About the Book
How would you feel if someone called you temerarious? What about …
Puerile?
Gormless?
Pusillanimous?
Irenic?
Sesquipedalian?
Munificent?
Insouciant?
Lachrymose?
Obdurate?
Sedulous?
Captious?
Irascible?
Obstreperous?
Truculent?
Ineluctable?
Now you can easily find out what each of these words mean, and see examples of how they’ve been used by famous and infamous authors.
The Bibliophile’s Dictionary is an exceptional collection of unusual words and phrases, usefully organized into specific categories such as personality traits, religion, myths, and mysticism, and household objects. Each word has a definition, a phonetic pronunciation, and an example of how the word is used in literature.
Enhance your own vocabulary by learning from the great minds of writers.
More About the Book
“If the average American knows some 10,000 words, Westley’s 2,054 should be among them. If you do not soon tire of commonplace words and familiar phrases, we will soon tire of you.”
—Robert Hartwell Fiske, editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review, author of The Dictionary of Disagreeable English
“Coaxing that elusive but perfect word on the tip of your tongue to the tip of your pen has never been easier than with this generously stocked storehouse of vivid, vital language that will add dash and exactitude to any sentence. Neither a museum of musty obscurities nor a ten-dollar-word crib list for show-offs, The Bibliophile’s Dictionary is a treasury of delightfully useful words and phrases for everyday writing and conversation. With thorough, precise definitions and illustrative sentences drawn from virtuoso writers past and present, the book is a boon for browsers—but it’s so entertaining, you'll probably end up reading it straight through.”
—Gary Lutz, author of Stories in the Worst Way, I Looked Alive, and The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference
“Like Flaubert’s Dictionary of Received Ideas, Peter Miles Westley's The Bibliophile’s Dictionary succeeds as a revving machine that manufactures high-performance prose. Adroitly arranged, detailed with the finest definitions, customized with exquisite taste and a precision-tuned ear, this dictionary purrs along, hits on all cylinders. Language is our vehicle, and this is the after-market kit to soup it up. All muscle. High test. What a ride.”
—Michael Martone, author of Michael Martone, The Blue Guide to Indiana, and Rules of Thumb.
