Online thesauruses suck

• 15 September 2024

Consider the common word "polarize". To polarize is defined as “to break up into opposing factions or groupings.”

I recently learned a similar word: “balkanize". To balkanize is defined as “to divide (a region or body) into smaller mutually hostile states or groups.” What a lovely word! It has an educational etymology as well.

If not exact synonyms, polarize and balkanize are clearly about as related as two words can possibly be.

Yet if I look up polarize in the thesaurus (i.e., if I google "synonyms for polarize"):

• Webster's thesaurus for some reason only provides an entry for the alternative, antonymic usage of polarize (its polar opposite, one might say), listing "consolidate" and "unite" but certainly not "balkanize".
• Thesaurus.com does provide synonyms for our desired definition of polarize, though I'll note that the other definitions are useful too, and in a parallel universe I'm complaining about this outcome instead. But it gives a paltry set of alternatives, like "separate" and "demarcate" -- none of the provided synonyms have the same connotation of separation into opposing groups.
• vocabulary.com and synonym.com are both no better than thesaurus.com -- apparently once you get a good domain you become complacent)
• The Cambridge dictionary website is equally bare, despite its prestigious namesake.

I found the best results on wordhippo.com and powerthesaurus.org. Both contain a fairly extensive list of synonyms, including factionalize, which I think is an excellent synonym for polarize and which I'd actually consider replacing a usage of polarize with, which I can't say of any of the definitions in the other thesauruses.

Yet still none of these listed balkanize as a synonym. This is despite nearly all of them containing a definitions for balkanize. They have all the pieces, yet fail to connect the dots.

I wish this were an isolated example. Sadly, I consistently find the major online^[1] thesauruses (with the possible exception of new challenger Word Hippo!) meager and uninspiring.

If I didn't independently learn of the word balkanize, I simply would never have discovered it.

How many other linguistic discoveries are being suppressed? How much richer might our vocabularies be with access to a thesaurus that actually does its job?

There is hope, though. Here's Claude AI's attempt:

Query: Give an exhaustive list of synonyms for "polarize" (the definition meaning "to break up into opposing factions or groupings")

Claude: Here's an exhaustive list of synonyms for "polarize" in the sense of breaking up into opposing factions or groupings:

1. Divide
2. Split
3. Separate
4. Fragment
5. Factionate
6. Bifurcate
7. Cleave
8. Partition
9. Segregate
10. Dichotomize
11. Balkanize
12. Factionalize
13. Schism
14. Rupture
15. Fracture
16. Sunder
17. Disunite
18. Dissever
19. Estrange
20. Alienate
21. Set at odds
22. Drive apart
23. Create a rift
24. Cause discord
25. Sow division
26. Create factions
27. Pit against each other
28. Create a wedge between

Well done, Claude. I could easily adapt the query to include a definition or explanation of connotations for each word as well.

If we can't count on Webster or Cambridge to provide a compelling thesaurus in 2024, then AI will suffice.

Related reading: You’re probably using the wrong dictionary

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