Whether a student or a business professional, good communication skills are a must for everyone, and a dictionary app helps learn new words. You can understand and use the words better. It eventually aids in building a strong vocabulary. Here we’ve got you covered with some of the best dictionary apps for iPhone and iPad to help you achieve the desired command over the language.
1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
This dictionary app is a complete package and an excellent choice for referencing and vocabulary building. Get to know any word thoroughly with quick definitions, audio pronunciations, example sentences, synonyms, and antonyms.
Wordreference App For Mac Windows 10
Furthermore, test your vocab & learn new words with vocabulary building quizzes & daily new words. The app also brings a handy widget that helps you see the word of the day at a glance.
Price: Free (Remove Ads 1-year Subscription – $2.99)
2. Dictionary
A gem of an app for all multilingual users. It can translate English into more than 40 languages, including French, Spanish, etc. Don’t just look up words; learn how to use them correctly with audio pronunciations & example sentences.
In the Dictionary app on your Mac, choose Dictionary Preferences. You can select and reorder sources, such as Spanish or Korean dictionaries. You can set options for some sources, such as how to display pronunciations or which language of Wikipedia to search. WordReference Dictionary. 100% free application.The app of the world's most popular and powerful dictionary translation website. It grants you quick access to our extensive.
It also enables free access to multiple specialty dictionaries and encyclopedias like medical, legal, acronyms, abbreviations, idioms, and slang dictionaries.
Price: Free (Ad-free upgrade – $1.99)
3. Oxford Dictionary of English
Oxford Dictionary is often regarded as one of the highest authorities for referencing & studying the English language. The smartly designed app sports a user-friendly interface complete with advanced search and learning tools.
It can transform your learning experience with smart features like a favorite list, word sharing, recent list, and an intuitive home page. There are also intensive search options like camera search, keyword lookup, and even wild card search.
Price: Free (Monthly Subscription ODE – $2.99)
4. Dictionary.com: English Words
Dictionary.com is a well-optimized and easy-to-use app designed to be with you, wherever you go. It boasts a great offline mode, all-inclusive learning tools, and even a handy Apple Watch app.
Wordreference App For Android
The feature list also incorporates word of the day, grammar help, spelling help, learner’s dictionary, fun puzzles, and quizzes. And if you want additional content, purchase them separately in the app or opt for the Pro app.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $1.99)
5. Dictionary Offline – Dict Box
Dict Box brings the power of referencing, word search, and translation for over 50 languages offline. That’s right, you don’t necessarily need an internet connection. In fact, it also supports offline text pronunciation.
The app mixes all dictionaries in one convenient and easy to use platform. And smart word suggestions help you find the right term quickly. When online, you can also translate text directly in the web browser and other apps.
Price: Free (Premium Version Monthly – $5.99)
6. U-Dictionary
U-Dictionary is designed for travelers and language enthusiasts. Thanks to a smart AI, it could effortlessly translate text, images, and conversations in around 108 languages.
Moreover, it boasts an object recognition system, a grammar check facility, and accent-oriented audio pronunciations. The app takes references from developed dictionaries such as Concise Dictionary & Collins Advanced Dictionary for precise definitions.
Price: Free (U Dictionary PRO-1 week – $6.99)
7. Word Lookup Lite
A dictionary developed especially for word games like Scrabble, crosswords, WordFeud, Hanging With Friends, etc. The Anagram finder helps you solve even the most complex of challenges.
And thanks to several smart lists like 2 or 3 letter words, high scoring words, and more, your game is improved step-by-step. Along with gaming skills, it even makes your vocab better by teaching new words and their meanings.
Price: Free
8. Urban Dictionary
Can’t get the lingo of the millennials? Or want to know the exact meaning of the next-gen slangs? Then the Urban Dictionary and its ever-evolving pop culture terminologies could be your true bae.
Check out an in-depth description of both slang and non-slang words and even vote for your favorite definition. Get daily Urban Word of the Day and share it on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platform.
Price: Free
9. Advanced Dictionary & Thesaurus
The app has got an enviable library of over 1.4 million words. But what makes it extra special is its intelligent user interface. Along with the basic definition, you get special language notes and cross-curriculum words.
Each word is linked with their synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, and meronyms. By bringing all that info at your fingertips, it greatly helps in improving your writing and speech.
Price: Free (In-app Purchases start from $0.99)
10. WordReference Dictionary
A powerful dictionary cum translation app, WordReference grants quick access to extensive dictionaries and forum discussions. Whether English to Spanish or Spanish to French, it could help you understand & learn many foreign languages
Besides audio pronunciations, it covers the word’s inflections, principal translations, and example sentences. Plus, with over 3 million questions and answers, the Forums are a great resource for learning English and translation.
Price: Free
Signing off
Building proficiency in any language is a time consuming and demanding task. But our smart devices have simplified it a bit with these handy dictionary apps. I hope our listing helped you in finding the right app.
Do share your choice, views, and reviews with us in the comment section below. And if you are looking for more helpful apps, check these out:
A self-professed Geek who loves to explore all things Apple. I thoroughly enjoy discovering new hacks, troubleshooting issues, and finding and reviewing the best products and apps currently available. My expertise also includes curating opinionated and honest editorials. If not this, you might find me surfing the web or listening to audiobooks.
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/arshmeet/Why Hasn't Apple Adopted USB-C for iPhone? Brewing An Alternative...
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/arshmeet/A Decade of Apple: Happy, Sad, Great or Worst Moments of Tech Giant
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/arshmeet/Is Fining Apple for Secretly Slowing iPhones Justified or Not?
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/arshmeet/Why Is Samsung's Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite a Brilliant Idea?
Need a quick French translation?
Want to look up a French word on the go?
Look no further than your pocket! In the age of smartphones, a translation app is your new best friend for quickly learning a new French word or figuring out how to say a necessary phrase.
Translation apps can be very helpful when you’re not quite fluent in French. But don’t rely on them for everything, and know the limits of your favorite app. Not all translation apps are created equal; some are better than others.
As you become more and more well-versed in French, you’ll realize that instead of one translation app, you might prefer to have an arsenal of translation apps, each bringing a different element of translation and comprehension to the table.
To help you get started, here are five of the best French translation apps currently available.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
The 5 Best Translation Apps for Learning and Understanding French
WordReference – The Best Cultural Translation App
WordReference is absolutely the place to go for cultural translations. Why? Because they don’t translate literally!
WordReference has been a key reference site in translation for years, and their app offers all of the same benefits as their site. These benefits are slightly niche, however, meaning that WordReference is not a great catch-all app.
WordReference not only offers translations of words and phrases, but it also has a large forum frequented by native speakers. When you’re looking for an exact translation of an idiomatic phrase and can’t put your finger on the proper translation, WordReference’s forum will be a helpful place to start. You can follow past conversations, which are helpfully arranged based on key words so that the appropriate thread will pop up during searches. There are a lot of previous threads, so be sure to take a look. If you really can’t find the exact expression or context you’re looking for, ask your own question and wait briefly for experts to respond!
If you are looking for a direct translation of a sentence, for example, this may not be the best place to go. Unlike other apps on this list, WordReference does not offer a great option to translate full sentences. However, if you want to understand some French slang or an idiomatic expression – or figure out the translation for an English idiomatic expression in French – WordReference is perfect.
Be aware that WordReference users appreciate when question-posers take a stab at solving their own translation queries before asking for help. This means that when you’re formulating your question, be sure to offer a suggested translation, even if you’re not sure it’s right. Native French speakers will correct and help you arrive at the right translation!
Jibbigo – The Best Spoken Translation App
French spelling isn’t always obvious, especially to a native Anglophone hearing a new word for the first time, which is why Jibbigo comes in handy. If you’ve heard a new French word and want to know what it means, you can simply say it into Jibbigo, a voice translation app. Not only will you be able to see how the word is written in French, but you’ll get a full translation into English as well!
This app works for both words and short sentences, so you can also use it while traveling to ask questions if you need to. Simply say the sentence you are trying to say, and the app will translate and speak the response for you. The other benefit of this app is that it can be used offline, so if you are traveling and don’t want to use precious data to solve your translation woes, there’s no problem!
Google Translation – The Best General Translation App
For basic translations, there’s really nothing better than good old Google Translation. What we like best about this application is that sentence structure is integrated into the app, meaning that you won’t get something incomprehensible in the target language if you input a whole sentence. Of course, it’s not infallible, but it’s a pretty good start if you’re really unsure of how to say something. You can use your FluentU French practice to double-check the translation output and make sure that it’s said the way you wanted!
The other cool thing about this app is the text-to-speak function. Again, it’s not infallible, but when you consider just how much these sorts of features have improved over the last few years, it’s quite impressive! And quite useful too, given the French penchant for critiquing a less-than-perfect accent. You can always play back the audio version of your translation, either for your interlocutor or to improve your own pronunciation, to make comprehension and communication a bit easier.
Audio isn’t the only thing supported by this app. If you need to translate text from an image or handwriting, Google Translation is great as well. Use it for everything from everyday French expressions to French menu items.
Translate Me: The Best English-French-English Translation App
Many translation apps translate both ways, to and from a source language. But if you need an easy format and plan to be translating in both directions frequently, Translate Me is a great option. You can very easily flip the input and output windows, for translations into and from French that are virtually seamless.
But that’s far from the only benefit of the Translate Me app. It’s absolutely perfect for communicating with a French language exchange partner, as Translate Me can also translate source text from a text message. This easy-to-use option allows you to double-check the meaning of a French text without having to copy and paste!
Online-Translator: The Best Topical Translation App
For topical translations, we’re all over Online-Translator. Why? Because the app’s topic feature allows you to pick your topic (business, travel, academia…) before translating.
This might not seem all that important, but consider the difference when translating a simple animal name, for example. When translating the French term “boeuf,” if you’re translating an agricultural text, you’d want the English word “steer”; if you’re translating a menu, you’d want “beef”. There are countless possible mistranslations that could occur similar to this one if your translation is not contextualized.
Thanks to the topical feature of Online-Translator, this app with give you the best or most appropriate version of the translation for the category you’ve chosen, which may not ensure a perfect translation, but you’ll definitely get much closer to the word or phrase you were looking for!
Online-Translator automatically detects the language you are trying to translate from, which is a cool bonus!
These are just some of the fantastic translation apps that are already out there, but more are being developed every day! Whether you use just one, two or many, enjoy using these translation apps to get you through the nitty gritty of learning French.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
Want to keep up with all the latest in French learning tech?
Then you’ve got to try FluentU.
Since this video content is stuff that native French speakers actually watch on the regular, you’ll get the opportunity to learn real French—the way it’s spoken in modern life.
One quick look will give you an idea of the diverse content found on FluentU:
Love the thought of learning French with native materials but afraid you won’t understand what’s being said? FluentU brings authentic French videos within reach of any learner. Interactive captions will guide you along the way, so you’ll never miss a word.
Tap on any word to see a definition, in-context usage examples, audio pronunciation, helpful images and more. For example, if you tap on the word “suit,” then this is what appears on your screen:
Don’t stop there, though. Use FluentU’s learn mode to actively practice all the vocabulary in any video with vocabulary lists, flashcards, quizzes and fun activities like “fill in the blank.”
As you continue advancing in your French studies, FluentU keeps track of all the grammar and vocabulary that you’ve been learning. It uses your viewed videos and mastered language lessons to recommend more useful videos and give you a 100% personalized experience.
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or Google Play store.
If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn French with real-world videos.