diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index df4edc9..46fc61a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -8,3 +8,6 @@ colorscheme.py
 colorscheme.rasi
 
 .assets/README.md
+
+# do not add massive gutenberg thesaurus to repo
+nvim/.config/nvim/thesaurus
diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/init.vim b/nvim/.config/nvim/init.vim
index 14b1609..37fc9d7 100644
--- a/nvim/.config/nvim/init.vim
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/init.vim
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ Plug 'dyng/ctrlsf.vim'
 Plug 'lervag/wiki.vim'
 Plug 'alok/notational-fzf-vim'
 " Prose Workflow
-Plug 'micarmst/vim-spellsync'
+Plug 'micarmst/vim-spellsync' " personal dict improvements for git sync
+Plug 'ron89/thesaurus_query.vim' " find thesaurus backed synonyms for word under cursor
 Plug 'kana/vim-textobj-user' " dependency for most other textobj plugins
 Plug 'reedes/vim-textobj-sentence' " extends the capabilities of sentence detection
 " and allows you to jump to the *end* of this <g)> or last <g(> sentence.
diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim b/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
index c02e8be..111e648 100644
--- a/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
@@ -118,15 +118,6 @@ map F <Plug>Sneak_F
 map t <Plug>Sneak_t
 map T <Plug>Sneak_T
 
-" SPELL CHECKING
-" Spell check set to <leader>O, 'o' for 'orthography':
-" Move to the prev/next spelling error with [S ]S
-" Move to the prev/next spelling error or suggestion with [s ]s
-noremap <leader>Z :setlocal spell! spelllang=en_us<CR>
-noremap <leader>ZE :setlocal spell! spelllang=en_us<CR>
-noremap <leader>ZG :setlocal spell! spelllang=de_de<CR>
-noremap <leader>z 1z=
-
 " PLUGIN: NERDTree
 " open/close NERDtree with leader-e
 " whatever method tree has been opened by, leader-e closes it again
@@ -241,6 +232,19 @@ nnoremap <silent> <localleader>cc :CiteRef<cr>
 " map <leader>cm to insert markdown prettified citation
 nnoremap <silent> <localleader>cm :CiteMarkdown<cr>
 
+" SPELL CHECKING
+" Spell check set to <leader>O, 'o' for 'orthography':
+" Move to the prev/next spelling error with [S ]S
+" Move to the prev/next spelling error or suggestion with [s ]s
+noremap <leader>Z :setlocal spell! spelllang=en_us<CR>
+noremap <leader>ZE :setlocal spell! spelllang=en_us<CR>
+noremap <leader>ZG :setlocal spell! spelllang=de_de<CR>
+noremap <leader>zz 1z=
+
+" PLUGIN: tq thesaurus_query.vim
+nnoremap <leader>zt :ThesaurusQueryReplaceCurrentWord<cr>
+vnoremap <leader>zt "ky:ThesaurusQueryReplace <cr>k<cr>
+
 " pp to comPile a document (or file, works for some languages like go/python/c)
 " o to open the resulting document (mostly for pdfs)
 " po to comPile *and* open a doc
diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/thesaurus_query.vim b/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/thesaurus_query.vim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae46eb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/thesaurus_query.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+" remove default keymappings
+let g:tq_map_keys=0
+
+" set custom mthesaur file if we have it
+if exists("$XDG_CONFIG_HOME")
+  let g:tq_mthesaur_file=getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME") . "/nvim/thesaurus/mthesaur.txt"
+else
+  let g:tq_mthesaur_file=expand("~/.config/nvim/thesaurus/mthesaur.txt")
+endif
+
+let g:tq_language=['en', 'de']
diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/spell/en.utf-8.add b/nvim/.config/nvim/spell/en.utf-8.add
index 6216a10..eff3661 100644
--- a/nvim/.config/nvim/spell/en.utf-8.add
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/spell/en.utf-8.add
@@ -2,3 +2,9 @@ neoliberalism
 exchangeability
 globalization
 nomadism
+constructivist
+contestations
+atheoretical
+SEZs
+Woolfrey
+Farole