Hello, new to this so forgive if dumb question. But does a book/dictionary exits that contains eloquent/colourful/rich words as opposed to your normal every day words. Or could someone suggest an author who uses a wide, colourful vocabulary that would help me.
Thanks Peggy

Don't know about an author, but there's always a thesaurus?

Welcome!

Welcome

James Joyce used a wide, colorful vocabulary, but he made most of the words up himself so he's probably not the one you're looking for.

boy, howdy!

world wide words (see Quinion's Other Sites of Interest

Luciferous Logolepsy

worthless word for the day (my own website)
___

authors who write without regard to the hardships they may engender amongst their readers, or as Harlan Ellison once wrote, "I will use big words from time to time, the meanings of which I may only vaguely perceive, in hopes such cupidity will send you scampering to your dictionary: I will call such behavior "public service."

John Banville
Alan Furst
William Gaddis
James Joyce (!)
John LeCarré
Thomas Pynchon
Wm. Shakespeare
Neal Stephenson
P.G. Wodehouse
Gene Wolfe
etc. etc.

What about Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary?

Yes peggysmith, colorful writing does exist but contemporary books are rarely so (it's in the water).
You'd best read (and re-read) the likes of Ray Bradbury and R.A.Lafferty to reach an understanding of the semantic union of prose and meaning.

it might be helpful in promoting actual discussion to proceed along these lines:

"As a writer, he was a discusser, not a pronouncer, and he labored to appreciate his opponents' arguments." - David Skinner

I suggest Alexander McCall Smith. Read "Portuguese Irregular Verbs," but all his books are clever, witty and full of rich language.

Welcome Minderbender

I'll second the recommendation to read Alexander McCall Smith. The Isabel Dalhousie series, the 44 Scotland Street series.

Hi,
It might be helpful to know what you intend to use these words for:
- your general education, broadening your vocabulary
- composing a speech
- writing a novel
- writing poetry
- writing an essay for a study project
- writing public relations texts