Action to display synonyms from a thesaurus?

Is there an action to display synonyms for the current word? I have added the Terminology Lookup action but that appears not to do anything on my iPad.

Thanks.

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Not aware of any issues with the Terminology action. What happens when you use it? You have Terminology installed?

It appears to be installed. At least it is listed in the Actions list on the right in the Basic section. But clicking on it in the action list just displays a circling circle on the right. A tap and hold to edit allows me to change the icon color etc and add to the action bar. But it does not appear in the action bar.

Maybe I have a messed up my Drafts install. I am happy to delete it and any Drafts notes, and reinstall.

Greg is asking if you have the Terminology app installed on your iPad. The action makes a call to that application to lookup terms.

My misunderstanding. I thought that Lookup action used the Lookup facility and dictionaries built in to iOS. Thanks for clarifying @sylumer.

I have not bought that app. Is that the only way to get synonyms for words in Drafts? What about when using Drafts on Mac - will I need another app? Thanks.

Looks like part of the problem was my Drafts install. I installed Drafts on my iPhone and the Action Bar worked fine. On my iPad the buttons just turn grey when pressed and do nothing. Even the simple cursor move actions. I deleted Drafts on my iPad and reinstalled and the Action Bar is now working. :slightly_smiling_face:

I would still like to get a synonym facility that is quick to use. Is the Terminology app the best way? Or if I get Drafts Pro subscription does that do it? If Terminology can someone share how quick it is to use for synonyms? E.g. do you just click an Action button to get a list of synonyms and select one to replace the current word.

Thanks again in advance for your help.

The system “Look Up” works like in any other app, and provides access to the system dictionaries.

There are also many actions that can integrate with third party dictionary/thesaurus apps, like the aforementioned Terminology, but also Lookup and others.

Terminology also has a share extension, so you can select a word, select “Share” in the popup menu, and get a lookup. Some other third party dictionary apps also offer share extensions that work similarly.

Also, many web-based dictionary resources can be integrated, there are many examples in the directory, like Dictionary.com.

If you are looking for something built-in, that’s not something Drafts does. It does not ship with thesaurus/dictionaries, so you would have to integrate with some third party apps or websites. If you have a favorite resource, like a thesaurus website, I’m sure we could help you construct an action to do a lookup on that site.

In case it helps, there is a thesaurus action in the ThoughtAsylum - Writing action group. The action is called TA-Replace with Synonym.

Choose a synonym for a word or phrase and replace the existing selection. If no selection is made, you will be prompted to enter a word or phrase and the selected synonym will be inserted at the cursor position.

Here’s an example of how it looks when looking up a synonym for “draft”.

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Thanks Greg and Stephen for the replies.

I have added the ThoughtAsylum - Writing action group, and it is working nicely. :grinning:

This is showing me even more of the potential for my use of Drafts. I was having second thoughts of whether a subscription would be worthwhile for me. I suspect it will be now. Next is to have a play on macOS to confirm.

Thanks again.

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It surely is.

And do not forget the coffee dir Stephen :wink:

Note the USAn spelling of “draught” and its impact on synonyms. :slight_smile:

Serious point: I wonder how to UKify this.

By using a different API or by having Datamuse add a UK English option to their API (v parameter). At the time I created the action, Datamuse’s API was the best free API I could find.

But in principle, if the API gives a reasonable output, it would be pretty straightforward to do based on the existing functions I put together.

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