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Merriam-Webster

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 0, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Favorite dictionary acts as solid tool for kids.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 10 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Kids can learn a lot on this site about the English language.

  • Messages:

    Not an issue.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Not an issue.

  • Sex:

    Definitions for words like "vagina" and "penis" are proper and not glorified. The Spanish definitions given to sexual words (breasts, for example) aren't slang.

  • Language:

    You can't seem to look up how to say a swear word in Spanish.

  • Consumerism:

    There's a link to the Merriam-Webster store and ads on every page.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Definitions of drugs are pure definitions, but they do include street names. Sponsored links for "marijuana" did bring up outside links to equipment on growing it.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Merriam-Webster

Parents need to know that if you're comfortable letting your kid look up a word in a printed dictionary or thesaurus, you won't have any problems with your kid browsing this online word resource. Definitions are purely educational and straightforward, and your budding wordsmith will enjoy the age-appropriate, word-focused games. Ads (both sponsored and banner) do appear on every page, and links of the sponsored advertisers take kids off the site -- occasionally to iffy sites (the "marijuana" entry provided a site on how to grow pot, for example). There's also a store to buy hard copies of Merriam-Webster products.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about using a trusted source to get information online. Why is it often better to go to a site like Merriam-Webster than to Google to find the best age-appropriate, reliable information? What are safe sites to browse? How can you tell which sites you can trust?
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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Kid Reviewer Age 12
    PianoPlayer
    Lives in North Carolina
    I rate this title on for age 8 and give it 4.0
    • My highlights are:
    • Educational

    Good Website!

    This website is GREAT! My little sister used it, and it helped. But she kind of needed better examples from the definitions. It's helpful and it's just like the actual dictionary!

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate

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