Would otherwise be a serviceable dictionary and marginally serviceable thesaurus, but the UI is just terrible. Specifically, if your thumb or finger even gently goes over a hyperlinked word, and any result will have DOZENS of hyperlinked words, then it immediately goes to that word's location. It's worse than it sounds, as rather than pressing 'back' taking you back to the previous word, it instead takes you to the main app page instead. Really dumb and not worth wasting your time with.

I stumbled across the Word of the Day a few years ago, and was getting it in my email every morning. I word share it on social media every day. But then it stopped coming. Seriously, MW, what’s up with that? I checked my spam folder, I tried unsubscribing and then subscribing again, but nothing. It just would not send. (I know...this doesn’t really seem like a 5 star review, does it? Stay with me, it gets better. 😂) But finally it dawned on me that I was using the website a lot to look up words, either in the dictionary or the thesaurus, and that I should just look for the app. Hey, I’m 62 and a little slow with technology, OK? I love the app, and I use every day...usually several times a day. I look up meanings of unfamiliar words, of course. But I use the thesaurus a lot. When I am writing an email, or text, or posting on social media I frequently find myself searching my brain for a word that I know is perfect for the context, but my brain just can’t seem to grab onto. (Old and slow, remember?) I go to the thesaurus and start putting in words that are similar, but not quite what I’m looking for. Most of the time, I find the word I want. Occasionally I don’t, but I do find an acceptable substitute. I still check out the WOD, and share it on social media. And I am absolutely LOVING the way they subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) throw shade at the current President and administration. It’s a master class in shade throwing. 😎😂

This is the only online dictionary I use or recommend. It has so many (free) ways to help people expand their vocabulary, and these extras work for high school & college, to writing for personal reasons. That’s the extra that I use, and love, the most; the common synonyms & antonyms, but also M-W includes a lot much more. The one that’s best for me & my writing is the origin of the words, including the approximate historical date (in centuries) in which the word was “created” and who most likely created it. At times I find that the original meaning (as used when it was created) is very different to the present day meanings! I went ahead & bought the pro-version, as I use it so often in my writing. I’ve found that M-W the dictionary to be the most user friendly, & helpful. Apologies, but I don’t remember how much is was. I only remember that it wasn’t very much. Just try it, (even the free version still has almost all the things I’ve mentioned.) use it for awhile & compare it to the other online dictionaries. I’m confident that you’ll pick, & stay with, the Merriam-Webster dictionary. 👍🏼

I previously rated this app a five star rating. I still give it a five star rating, however, now, every time that I want to look up a word, I not only have pop up adds, but I have to hear the same old advertisements. It is virtually impossible to read and listen to advertisements, so I hope they remove the voice activated advertisements. Other than the adds, it is a great application! I do enjoy the biographies of famous Authors and the opportunity to read quotes or examples of the authors' books and literatures. Especially from the 1800's. A glimpse into the past and how our cultures have evolved, regarding etiquette, and formalities. We have lost our higher standards of Education, especially regarding our English linguistics, vocabulary and composition. People spoke much more eloquently with dignity and their vocabularies were much more broader during the Middle-Ages, for example, playwright and actor William Shakespeare's writings were superb and he was born in 1564 and died during the dawning of the Renaissance period.