Look Up a Word in Microsoft Word
Computer Type: All • Difficulty Level: Novice
Want a quick way to define a word or find a synonym while typing in Microsoft Word? Well, here’s a quick tip to do just that.
For Windows computers, you simply hold down the “Alt” key and click on the word. The research window will open in the task pane to the right that has definitions for the word, as well as a thesaurus entry for the word if appropriate. You can choose from a number of reference sources by using the drop down menu at the top of this window (see the screen shot on right).
Alternatively (or if you forget the “Alt” keystroke trick), you can right-click on a word, and select Look Up from the pop-up menu. From the pop-up menu, you can also select Synonyms to see a list of synonyms. Select a synonym to replace your current word with the word you select. Lastly, you can select the “Thesaurus” from this menu as well.
The screen shot below illustrates this:
Macs have no direct key stroke to get to the dictionary screen, but can get to the same places by right-clicking (hold down the “Control” key and click on the word; see this tip for more info) on the word. Select “Look-up” from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can see synonyms for the word by viewing “Synonyms” from the same menu. To replace your current word with the synonym, simply select it from the list. Lastly, you can look up the word in the Thesaurus by selecting Thesaurus from the bottom of the synonym list. See the screen shot below:
Happy word hunting!
