A "bigwig" with hair extensions.

I previously brought you synonyms for the words “doctor,” “criminal” and “laborer” from my favorite reference book, 1971’s Webster’s New World Thesaurus. I go to the volume once again to look at how the synonyms for “celebrity” have changed between then and now. What most caught my attention is that the book lists the main antonym of “celebrity” as “disgrace.” Today, they’re more commonly synonyms, of course. Here are the top ten most interesting entries:

• Ace
• Big gun
• Bigwig
• Figure
• Lion
• Lioness
• Maecenas
• Magnate
• Man of note
• Worthy

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I am pretending to be a working man, and I am displeased with some of your synonyms.

To demonstrate how quickly the language shifts, I posted lists of synonyms earlier in the week for the words “doctor” and “criminal” from my all-time favorite reference book, the 1971 Webster’s New World Thesaurus. Today I bring you the most telling synonyms for the word “laborer” from that same book. Notice that “stooge” is on the lists for both “criminal” and “laborer” and that most of the “laborer” descriptions are none too complimentary.

• Automaton
• Beast of burden
• Chattel
• Doormat
• Flunky
• Hack
• Hand
• Helot
• Hired man
• Hireling
• Instrument
• Mercenary
• Peon
• Pick-and-shovel man
• Robot
• Roustabout
• Stevedore
• Stooge
• Thrall
• Villein

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How's my blood pressure looking, you pill bag?

The greatest reference book I have ever come across is the 1971 edition of Webster’s New World Thesauraus. I like its vibrant language and its A-Z listing so much that I have two copies just in case one is struck by lightning (or a “firebolt” as the good book suggests). The English language is a living thing that changes quickly and gets richer in many ways, but I wish we could retain some of the more colorful aspects of its history. Here are the ten best synonyms in this 1971 volume for the word “doctor,” many of which appear in no thesaurus just about 40 years later.

• Bones
• Castor-oil artist
• Doc
• Fixemup
• Interne
• Medicine-dropper
• Medico
• Pill bag
• Sawbones
• Shaman

Read other lists.