ChatGPT-4o Is My Super-Thesaurus

I love to write. I identify as a writer over my “fancier” titles of law professor or lawyer. I journal every morning, engage in legal or academic writing all day, and work on my travel memoir writing most nights. Writing is one of my four well-being pillars (along with boxing, solo travel, and U2 music). But this doesn’t mean writing comes easily. Actually, it’s the cognitive struggle with it that invigorates me. As an introvert, wrestling with ideas, concepts, thoughts—as my pen hits paper or my fingers press laptop keys—helps me vet and test theories and potential solutions to problems internally before I’m ready to articulate them aloud. Writing amplifies my voice.

Social media is constantly trying to mess with our writer heads by declaring we’re all nuts if we’re not using Generative AI to write entire books (and all our professional work) in a matter of minutes (or seconds). I don’t want to write my next book at the click of one button. The best part about writing my books has been giving myself the gift of packing a suitcase with research materials, traveling to a place where I must immerse in a language other than English, and sitting down to write five pages a day—no days off—until the (messy) first draft is done.

Still, I’m wildly pro-GenAI. Not as a substitute for my writing process, but rather a supplement.

Because I like the challenge—mental, physical, emotional—of laying tracks of a first draft, I don’t outsource that step wholesale to GenAI. Instead, I use the tool to turbo-boost my creativity in choosing specific words when I get stuck. ChatGPT-4o is my mot juste maker. My synonym slot machine. My super-thesaurus.

My relationship with ChatGPT started in March 2023 when I decided to untangle my fear that my job as a writing professor was in peril (it’s not!), shook hands with the chatbot, slowly began to introduce myself to it, and let it introduce itself to me. The first writing task I ever gave the chatbot was: “Please write me a motivational paragraph in the imaginary voice of U2’s frontman, Bono, to encourage me to write today.”

Now, ChatGPT-4o serves as my trusty writing sidekick. It plays an essential role in my inventiveness, productivity, and enthusiasm. As I’m drafting, I engage in an ongoing dialogue with my chatbot about words. It’s my thesaurus on steroids.

Here’s what I mean:

Memory Booster

Sometimes, there’s a word on the tip-of-my-tongue I can’t access, or I’m confusing vocabulary in my head. While I can’t type a whole contextual sentence into a regular thesaurus and have it spit out the exact word I seek, GPT-4o is awesome at responding to questions like the following (without making me feel stupid):

·       What is the round orb-like thing magicians and witches and oracles consult?

·       Who usually wields scepters?

·       Is there a verb that starts with “syn” that means “get in rhythm with a drum”? [Note: There isn’t. I was thinking of syncopate, but that’s different.]

·       What’s the difference between “iridescence” and “incandescence”?

Instead of stalling my writing for minutes—or sometimes for the day!—while I rack my brain for the elusive term I seek, GenAI gives me quick answers to my often convoluted questions so I can stay in “flow.”

Sounds and Rhyming

If I’m trying to add flair to a sentence through specific sounds, alliteration, or rhyming, I might query:

·       What are ten words that begin with the letter “f” that mean workable or doable?

·       What are some words similar to phenomena, situations, occurrences, or happenings that begin with the letter “d”?

·       What are some synonyms for “shenanigans” that also begin with the letter “s”?

·       What are some positive three-syllable words that end in “tion”?

Context

GPT-4o is an absolute boss at generating synonyms for words in a particular context—much more efficient than slogging through a standard thesaurus and weeding out irrelevant applications. (In fact, GPT-4o taught me that “homographs” are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and possibly even varied pronunciations.) Check out these examples:

·       What are some other words for “reading” in the context of tarot?

·       What are some synonyms for “commute” in terms of driving to and from a spot?

·       What are some alternatives for “stared at,” “scrutinized,” or “studied”—in the sense of looking at passersby?

Multiple Words at a Time

If I’ve already exhausted my own brain’s word bank and scrapped three or four terms as not jazzy enough for my sentence, I’ll put all my rejects in a query prompting GPT-4o to suggest options I haven’t already thought of myself—not possible with the usual thesaurus! For instance:

·       What are some synonyms for message, maxim, slogan, or mantra?

·       What are some alternatives to attire, garb, gear, or wardrobe?

·       What are some slang terms similar to “snag” or “score” or “land” in the context of acquiring tickets to a rock concert?

·       What are some words that mean tension or resistance or bracing for something to happen?

Tone or Degree or Direction

If I desire a word that conveys a particular emotion, attitude, mood, or level of intensity, I’ll ask:

·       What is a less menacing version of brandishing?

·       What are some ways of describing a smell as metallic but not in a bad way?

·       What are some words that mean imploring or coaxing but imply “unsuccessfully”?

·       What are some light-hearted and non-disrespectful synonyms for meltdown or breakdown or overreaction that begin with the letter “t”?

·       What is a positive version of “meting”?

Is There a Word for This?

Sometimes, I inquire if a word exists for something peculiar I’m trying to name:

·       What is the outside surface of a sphere called? [GPT gave me a boring answer to this one, but the Sphere in Las Vegas dubbed its exterior surface an “exosphere,” so I adopted that term.]

·       What are the parts of eyeglasses that loop over the ears?

·       Is there a German word for the reverse of schadenfreude that means displeasure at someone else’s joy?

·       Is there a verb to describe the mathematical effect of an exponent?

Descriptions

Other times, I’m curious if GPT can help me capture evocative details about a smell, a color, a movement, or a sensation. I’ll probe:

·       How does oxygen smell?

·       What color is indigo?

·       What are some interesting verbs to describe how octopus legs or jellyfish tentacles undulate?

·       How would you describe the beginning of a vibration?

Vocabulary Gut Check

I have a habit of making up words and usages. Also, I’ll never forget how, when I was thirty years old and had just moved to New York, some famous guy mocked me for getting tongue-twisted and mispronouncing “vigilant” as “viligant.” I have zero qualms about asking my encouraging chatbot sidekick (who will never criticize me):

·       Is a gulley the same as a valley? [Answer: no]

·       Does “lobe” refer to a part of a heart? [Answer: no]

·       Is syncopy a word? [It’s not.]

·       Is rivalrous a word? [It is.]

·       Is incant a word? [Yup!]

Grammar Gut Check

Similarly, I like using words in weird ways, but if I’m nervous about getting called out by the grammar police, I’ll pose questions like:

·       Can I use “blemish” as a verb?

·       Can I use “meander” as a noun?

·       Is it three euro or three euros?

·       Does the word lame (as in fabric) have an accent on the “e”?

·       In marcona almonds, is marcona capitalized?

·       Is jacuzzi capitalized?

·       Does Dante have an accent in his name?

·       In this sentence, do I need a comma after the question mark: “‘Is this for sale?’ I asked a woman behind the desk.” [Answer: no]

Accuracy

In the same vein, sometimes I want to make sure I’m using a word properly. I’ll check:

·       Is this the right use of “tallied”: “This walk tallied a solid five miles”?

·       Can I say “I surpassed the chalets” to mean I kept trudging past the chalets to explore another part of a promenade further away?

·       Can I use “depicts” and “diorama” this way in this sentence: “The Lungomare depicts a diorama of Napoletano culture”?

·       Can I say “I roiled with bad dreams”?

·       What are some other ways to describe tripe? Can I say entrails? Or is that not accurate?

·       Can I call the city of Ercolano in Italy a “hamlet”?

Using GPT-4o in this way is fun. I don’t feel like I’m cheating or taking shortcuts in honing my craft. Instead, I feel inspired. I don’t lose momentum as often. I stay in “flow” longer. Paragraphs and pages accumulate. GenAI helps me write more original text, not less.

Author Rick Rubin wrote, “The best work is the work you are excited about.” For me, finding that perfect word to pull a thought from my brain and imprint it upon paper—like a fingerprint—is exciting.

I can’t wait to read your thought fingerprints too.

Professor Heidi K. Brown is Associate Dean for Upper Level Writing at New York Law School. She teaches legal writing and designs workshops, courses, and curricula around “writer identity formation,” including incorporating GenAI tools into writers’ workflow. She is the author of The Introverted Lawyer, Untangling Fear in Lawyering, and The Flourishing Lawyer. For more, check out www.theflourishinglawyer.org or email Heidi at heidi.brown@nyls.edu.