Merriam-Webster Dictionary for Pc

I read books that often have unusual, or at least not in the common vernacular, words in them. I used to write them down and at the end of the day look them up in my physical dictionary or Encyclopedia set. Now I have one right in my pocket that is constantly being updated (my physical dictionary was from the early 1990s and encyclopedias given to me by my grandpa before he died when I was ten - I’m 30 now. New things are out there, new ideas, new ELEMENTS. And since I’m a writer, and I hate reusing a word too many times in an essay, paper, or story, the Thesaurus is a great and convenient tool that’s a nice little add on. Plus my family and I try to make up alternative definitions for the ‘Word of the Day’. Funniest or most outrageous wins. Try it! It awesome! Especially if you don’t know what the word means in the first place! Also, like me, if you are writing a story and need someone with the ranking of town mayor but in a tribal setting, the Thesaurus can actually give you the word you are looking for. I typed in ‘lord’ in the thesaurus and it gave me ‘nabob’ and ‘nawab’ two Urdu words for a local Muslim governor in the Mogul Empire (so like a mix between governor, lord, tax collector, and sheriff). If my story develops into neading a Muslim- type country, I can make sure the provinces have ‘nabobs’- cause now I know that word!

This has always been my number one dictionary to pick up first and the one I always referred to when expanding my vocabulary and to aid my understanding of the different meanings of a word based on the context it’s used in. I remember when I was a little kid I would just pick up a dictionary (especially Merriam-Webster), sit down, and start reading through it randomly learning new words. Now with this App on my phone I do like the idea of having a dictionary with me everywhere I go, that I can literally carry around with me in my pocket. Whenever I bring it up to check something I don’t even have to turn a single page to find the word I’m looking up. I guess I just appreciate the multitude of uses that technology brings us, the fact that I already appreciated the physical book itself before smartphones even existed and that I just like everyone else had to remember and or write down everyone’s landline number has something to do with it too. This App is definitely useful to have, and it has come in-handy for me on numerous occasions. So far for me it has been working smoothly, no glitches or anything. I absolutely recommend this app if your looking for a good reputable dictionary to have as a part of your phone’s abilities.

I used to read constantly in my youth and into my twenties but it’s so difficult to find ample time to physically crack open a book these days and read the amount of content that satisfies me, so I started listening to more audiobooks to keep up with my “reading” while performing menial tasks like washing dishes and cleaning floors/etc. But I have to admit my vocabulary unfortunately seems to be paying the price for this convenience! But the WOTD calendar and word games help to continue the expansion of my vocabulary, and while sometimes they are words I already know they are usually words that can be used in writing and sometimes even every day conversation, and it’s nice to be reminded of those fleeting words that aren’t quite seared into memory. There are so many WOTD calendars/apps that seem to think finding the most useless, nonsensical and out of date words in the English language is some great accomplishment, but it’s a waste of everyone’s time in my opinion. The point is to expand the vocabulary of words still in use, or words that at least have an interesting backstory... and Merriam Webster does just that in my opinion. Check out the games as well, fun and educational for all levels of proficiency!

I have an excellent vocabulary proven by many tests and games of this type. In one hour (while paying attention to the news) I played all three games and reached the top competency of all three as well as trying to score no mistakes in the least amount of time. I have had smart phones since they have been available and have resisted until now playing any without someone (my sister, usually) trying to talk me into it. The Mirriam Webster app games broke through my resistance. Even the “beyond difficulty” level is not impossibly difficult, but there are words and pictures (What is This?) and the True and False questions that I don’t know. That is where my fun comes from - learning something I hadn’t previously known. I also learned that some of the questions have rather nit-picky answers. Some of the questions require somewhat closer reading than I gave, sacrificing the closer reading for the sake of speedy answers. But, it is only a game played for my own amusement. I am not going to get my knickers in a twist if I am not perfect. Didn’t Watson prove superior to any human competitors? Isn’t that the point of AI? Scary, but true! Lizzibet