I have a thesaurus (Roget's 21st Century edition) but I can honestly count on one hand the number of times in a year that I've opened it to look up a word--quite unlike a dictionary, which is a few times a day it seems.
My reasoning is simple: many times the first word that comes to mind is the one I should write. But those rare occasions when I want a word that's like something, but not that exact word, and I can't quite think of what it could be, I consult Roget's.
For example . . . is the word example. Roget's lists some of the following: archetype, case, citation, copy, exemplar, for instance, lesson, ideal, prototype, sampling, specimen, and standard. But if I really want to use the word example for example, then use it.
How often do you use one?
Better yet, do you even own one? Microsoft Word has a thesaurus feature, so you might use that.
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