Good Dictionary?

Rhino

I have a couple of these "Webster" and other dictionaries that I keep on my table stand; just random ones I've found at book stores, walmart, gifts, etc.

Anyways, they all suck. Well, at least for what I use them for. When I'm reading, if I don't know a word I look it up. Most of the time, in fact all times but maybe 3 times the unknown word hasn't been in any of them.

I'm not reading technical stuff, just novels; mostly classic literature and very basic history.

Anyways, these things boast "over 70K words!" or "over 90K words" and claims like that; but it's mostly just stupid filler words like "cat", "cow" and "corn" (ie, words that most any native speaker should be famlair with)

What I'm looking for is a "less commonly used word" dictionary. I'm not an expert in English or anything, just a native speaker. Any suggestions? I've searched Amazon.

The American Hertiedge and Oxford ones look like winners?
Merriam-Webester seem to be the low end of the dictonary world?

Any others? I'd prefere something "reading table size". Ideally, something that just as the top 30% least used English words and would remove all the commonly used "filler" words.

cooljammer00

The internet?

Seriously, a program like WordWeb does wonders for my vocabulary. Books get old, and language changes. They won't be in sync with one another for too long.

Rhino

Well, I use it as a reference while reading. The internet is GREAT for words, but it means that every time I want to look up a word or clarification (or even pronunciation) I have to get up from my cozy reading spot, run up 2 flights of steps, boot up the computer, wait 10 minutes, search google, print it out and then run back down stairs.

Some places are more difficult. I some type read at places without internets

DeathPrawn

Do you own a smartphone, or some sort of pocket device with internet access?

Nappuccino

The kind of dictionary you're looking for isn't exactly portable either... so if you're planning on reading on the go and being able to look up words, you won't have much luck.

Cervetus

I do own a book called "2000 Most Challenging and Obscure Words" by Norman W. Shur, but I don't think it'd work very well as a reference because of its writing style and lack of explicit THIS IS THE DEFINITION.

LoveIsUnity

If you can swing it, grab the most recent Oxford English Dictionary. In addition to providing excellent definitions, it provides information about how usage has changed throughout time, which is useful if you're reading anything from the 19th century or earlier. It is, however, incredibly expensive to get the unabridged set, which is 20 books. The concise OED is a lot cheaper and only one book, so you may want to look in to that. In addition, there is a shortened version, which is just two books, but it's over 100 USD for the pair.

RUNN1NGMAN

I think for your purposes the American Heritage Dictionary is your best bet. It's become the standard reference dictionary for many publications in the US, and even the Supreme Court quotes from it on occasion. It's probably the most authoritative "concise" dictionary in the US.

The OED is, of course, in an entirely other category and is really beyond compare. However, for general use it's probably not going to be as useful, because it is so thorough.