A snippet from the Introduction

This thesaurus is quite unlike all other thesauruses you’ve come across. You’ll find it different from them all – pleasantly different.

Exclusive focus on adjectives
What primarily distinguishes this thesaurus from a conventional thesaurus is this: A conventional thesaurus has, as headwords, all the main classes of words – nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs – and even some of the minor classes of words. That is, a conventional thesaurus does not focus on any particular class of words.

But this thesaurus deals exclusively with adjectives. That is, all the headwords in this thesaurus are adjectives. It does not have nouns, verbs or adverbs or any of the minor classes of words as headwords. It focuses solely on adjectives. This sort of exclusive focus – undivided focus – on a particular class of words is very important for those who are trying to achieve a fluent command of English vocabulary.

Central focus on core adjectives
This exclusive focus on adjectives is made sharper by another important feature that this thesaurus has: This thesaurus focuses entirely on core adjectives. That is, it uses as headwords only those adjectives that every serious user of English must have a fluent command of – and not all the adjectives that the English language happens to have. In other words, the headwords in this thesaurus are those adjectives that you’ll need frequently – in a wide range of contexts and to speak and write fluently about a wide range of topics: Adjectives you’ll need in order to make your speech and writing clear and effective as well as elegant and interesting – especially, when you have an in-depth discussion or write an in-depth report about a difficult topic.

You’ll find every headword specifically marked, indicating how highly useful it normally is in speech and writing. The headwords that are of the greatest general utility have been marked with five diamonds ‘◊◊◊◊◊’. There are 334 of them. And for most purposes, you’ll find these 334 adjectives quite sufficient. The headwords that are next most important have been marked with four diamonds ‘◊◊◊◊’. There are 238 of them. The headwords that are next most important have been marked with three diamonds ‘◊◊◊’. There are 335 of them.

In this way, this thesaurus has as many as 907 headwords. And you’ll find every headword marked in one of the three ways.

And this thesaurus covers these core adjectives exhaustively – very thoroughly. Not superficially or inadequately. It does this in two ways:

First, through the synonyms and antonyms listed under the headwords, this thesaurus relates the various headwords (that is, core adjectives) together. Second, through these synonyms and antonyms, this thesaurus also relates the headwords (that is, core adjectives) to other adjectives – adjectives of lesser importance. That is, through the eyes of the core adjectives (that is, the headwords), this thesaurus also helps you to see the other adjectives and to get to know them very well, too. It does this by helping you learn how the core adjectives are related to these other adjectives of lesser importance, so that you can become intimately familiar with them, too. In this way, this thesaurus gives due importance to adjectives of lesser importance also.

... (continued in the book)