Using the Research feature, you can look up synonyms (different words with the same meaning) and antonyms (words with the opposite meaning) in the thesaurus.

Tip In Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office Outlook, you can look up a word quickly if you right-click anywhere in the document, presentation, open message, or previewed message in the Reading Pane, and then click Synonym on the shortcut menu.

  1. Do the following in these Microsoft Office programs:

    Outlook

    • In an open message, click the message body, and then on the Message tab, in the Proofing group, click Spelling, and then click Thesaurus.

      Note In Microsoft Office Outlook, the Research task pane is available from any open Outlook item, but not from the main Outlook window.

      thesaurus menu command

    Excel, PowerPoint, or Word

    • On the Review tab, click Thesaurus.

    Publisher, OneNote, or Visio

    • On the Tools menu, click Research, and then in the All Reference Books list, click Thesaurus.

      research task pane

  2. Press ALT and click the word that you want to look up. Results appear in the Research task pane.

    Note Using ALT+Click is not supported in Microsoft Office PowerPoint. Instead, type the word or phrase in the Search for box, and then click Start Searching button image.

  3. To use one of the words in the list of results or to search for more words, do one of the following:
    • To use one of the words, point to it, click the down arrow, and then click Insert or Copy.
    • To look up additional related words, click a word in the list of results.

Note You can also look up words in the thesaurus of another language. If, for example, your document is in French and you want synonyms, click Research options in the Research task pane, and then under Reference Books, select the thesaurus options that you want.

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