Parents' Guide to Dictionary.com

App Android , Windows app Paid , Free Reference
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Common Sense Media Review

Leslie Crenna By Leslie Crenna , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 9+

Comprehensive tool with voice search, fun daily features.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 9+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Dictionary.com App: Screenshot #1
  • Dictionary.com App: Screenshot #2
  • Dictionary.com App: Screenshot #3

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 1 parent review

 

 

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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Data are sold or rented to third parties.
  • Data are shared for third-party advertising and/or marketing.
  • Data are collected by third-party advertising or tracking services.
  • Data are used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

Dictionary.com has two easily interchangeable modes: dictionary and thesaurus. The search box with voice recognition button (microphone) is present at the top of all pages. The main page lets users choose and read daily (and previous) updates, view recent searches, and access saved words. Links to referenced entries are an obvious but lacking feature, and illustrations are mentioned but do not seem to be present.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 1 ):
Kids say : Not yet rated

Dictionary.com is a pretty darn convenient way to improve spelling, vocabulary, and knowledge with modern bells and whistles not possible in a traditional book format -- voice recognition, daily updates, favorites, and search history. "Hot" words ("How the prefix 'Franken-' took on a life of its own"), Question of the Day ("What is the plural of virus?), and Spanish Word of the Day might hook older kids. Quite good but not perfect voice recognition ("babble" gave "Babel") solves the age-old problem of not knowing how to spell the word you want to look up. Dictionary.com destroys similar apps like Merriam-Webster (Android version) in downloads, ease of use, and overall functionality. Unfortunately, there are no built-in games and no interactivity outside of basic social sharing and relatively engaging and well-done daily updates.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Prepare a list of favorite words, then read definitions and see who can blurt the corresponding word fastest.

  • Play dictionary games. Choose a difficult word and send one player out. Have other players make up definitions and write them down, along with the correct definition. Have the player come back and guess the correct definition.

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

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