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National Thesaurus Day

Celebrate National Thesaurus Day with a fun word hunt! Challenge yourself to find the perfect words to express yourself and get creative!

Monday

January 2027

Last updated February 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar Team

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YEARLY DATEJanuary 18

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYPop Culture

SUBCATEGORYBooks

INTRO

Introduction

PHOTO

Celebrate National Thesaurus Day on Jan. 18! This day honors the first published thesaurus, which was created by Peter Mark Roget in 1852. Since then, many other versions of the book have been produced and it has become an essential tool for writers and scholars alike. On this day, take some time to explore all of the creative ways one can use a thesaurus to express themselves more accurately and creatively through their writing or speech.

TIMELINE

National Thesaurus Day Timeline

Roget's Thesaurus Published

Peter Mark Roget, a British physician, theologian, and lexicographer, publishes the first edition of "Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases."

Expansion and Revising

Roget’s Thesaurus goes through a massive augmenting and revising, more than doubling its original breadth.

First Electronic Thesaurus

IBM releases the first electronic thesaurus as part of its 1962 World Wide English Language Processing System.

Thesaurus in Word Processors

Microsoft Word becomes one of the first word processors to include a built-in thesaurus.

Thesaurus Day Recognition

National Thesaurus Day is recognized and celebrated for the first time on January 18th, marking the birthday of Peter Mark Roget.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Thesaurus Day

Explore a thesaurus

Grab your favorite thesaurus, whether it's physical or digital, and take some time to explore it. See how many creative new words you can find and start to incorporate them into your vocabulary.

CREATE

Create synonym art

Take a phrase or word and create artwork using only its synonyms. Let your creativity run wild as you come up with unique ways to express yourself with this new form of art.

PLAY

Play a game of synonyms

Get together with friends and family and see who can come up with the most synonyms for a given word in 2 minutes. It's a great way to practice and learn new words while having fun.

COMPILE

Compile a list of favorites

Create a list of your favorite words and their synonyms. You could even print them out and hang them up in your home or office as an inspirational reminder.

WRITE

Write an ode to the thesaurus

Take some time to write an ode to the thesaurus, expressing your appreciation for all of the new words that it has introduced you to over the years.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Thesaurus Day

Thesauri make language accessible

Not everyone has a vast vocabulary at their disposal, and that's why Thesaurus Day is important - it encourages language learning for all levels. It creates the opportunity for nonnative English speakers and children alike to discover new words in an easy way that's fun and engaging.

Thesauri help with language development

Using the correct words to describe something or express an emotion can be tricky, and Thesaurus Day is a great reminder to students and writers of any age to increase their vocabularies. By utilizing a thesaurus, people can explore new words which can expand their understanding of a subject or even just add nuance to everyday conversation.

Thesauri promote creativity

Learning new words gives us opportunities to be more creative with our writing. We can add variety to our work while also honing our craft. Using a thesaurus when writing helps us find new ways to say the same thing in different contexts, which can bring new perspectives to our readers.