SynMap 12+

I’ve been using this app for a while and thought it a good idea to post why I’ve found it useful.

First of all, I like seeing the word relationships in the spider graph. The ability to *feel* your way to the right word, by clicking along is an interesting interface. The process may lead you to unexpectedly pleasant outcomes that you might never find in the traditional way.

Of course SynMap does not replace a thesaurus or a dictionary. Also, of course, any writer worth his/her salt should not write with the thesaurus beside them - there is no surer way to clutter your inner voice - but when you have a tantalizing word that you cannot recall, there is no shame in reaching for help. In this case, SynMap can provided a good way to the solution.

The links here to Sergejs Melderis' website/support are dead. He still seems to be around as a software engineer but a 2021 date is the latest I found him active, so don't anyone hope to get a fix for the crashing. For me, crashes are guaranteed but so sporadic I can't track down any incompatibles that might be causing them but version 4.2 has seen a lot of OS updates. The app still works enough of the time to be helpful, and the crashes don't cause any lasting corruption or damage (for me) but it's probably downhill from here. It's too bad cuz the app's beautifully designed and has really helped when I'm pressured with a deadline and can't quickly come up with the best or strongest word. It still basically works so it isn't quite R.I.P. time for SynMap but I think the spade is on the job -

Synmap is fast! Type a word and it shows a visual thesaurus of your word and all other related words in a nice visual interface. The left column shows the word definitions broken down by the part of speech you are looking for (nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs as applicable).

I love that this app is updated and compatible with the latest Mac OS versions. I usually keep this app open when I’m writing and have found that it is an indespensible tool for finding and upgrading the word you are looking for.

I’m hoping the developer can be talked into integrating SynMap with a PopClip extension so that I can simply highlight a word in any other app and then see it displayed in SynMap, but copy, launching SynMap and pasting isn’t killing me, but it would save me time!