English Dictionary Online — definitions, pronunciation & synonyms
Look up any English word and get definitions, IPA transcription, native-speaker audio, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, and example sentences. Browser-only — powered by two free APIs (Free Dictionary API + Datamuse) with no signup, no API key, and instant search-as-you-type suggestions.
Search any English word
Type a word above to see its definitions, IPA pronunciation, audio, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, and example sentences. Try the Word of the Day if you need a suggestion.
What you'll use this for
Vocabulary building
Look up new words during reading; the synonym chips let you chain into related vocabulary without losing context.
Writing & editing
Search for stronger word choices, check spelling, and find rhymes when writing poetry, lyrics, or marketing copy.
Pronunciation practice
Hear native-speaker audio and read the IPA transcription side-by-side — useful for ESL learners and language coaches.
Crossword & Scrabble
"Sounds like", "spelled like", and "means like" word-finding via Datamuse — perfect for word puzzles and word games.
Songwriting & poetry
Find perfect and near-rhymes, plus statistically-associated words to broaden your vocabulary while writing lyrics.
ESL / EFL classroom
Teachers can share a direct link to any word — the URL hash preserves the lookup so students see the same definitions.
How to use the dictionary
Type any word
Search-as-you-type pulls suggestions from Datamuse's million-word corpus. Use ↑/↓ to navigate, Enter to select.
Read the entry
The headword shows IPA + audio play button + Save button. Below it, every part of speech (noun, verb, adjective…) has numbered definitions with example sentences.
Click any related word
Synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, "sounds like" — every chip is a direct link to that word's full entry. Chain through related vocabulary without losing context.
Save or share
Click the ⭐ Save button to bookmark words locally. The URL updates with a hash so you can share or bookmark any lookup — e.g. #serendipity.
How the dictionary is built
The dictionary combines two free public APIs that don't require an account or API key:
- Free Dictionary API — pulls definitions, phonetic transcription (IPA), native-speaker audio recordings, synonyms, antonyms, and example sentences from Wiktionary and other open-licensed dictionaries. Endpoint:
https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/v2/entries/en/<word>. - Datamuse — provides search-as-you-type suggestions, rhymes, near-rhymes, homophones (sounds-like), spelled-like matches, statistically-associated words ("triggers"), and adjective/noun co-occurrence data. 100 000 free queries per day, no signup. Endpoint:
https://api.datamuse.com/words.
Every API call goes directly from your browser to those services — there is no HCODX server in the middle. Search history and saved words live in your browser's localStorage on this device only.
The tool also normalizes input: trims whitespace, lowercases for lookup but preserves capitalization of proper nouns in the display, and follows redirects (e.g. colour → color via Wiktionary's variant entries).
Frequently asked questions
Yes — completely free, no signup, no API key. The tool calls two free public APIs from your browser: the Free Dictionary API and Datamuse.
The Free Dictionary API pulls from Wiktionary and other open-licensed dictionaries (Webster's 1913, GCIDE). Datamuse uses a corpus of about a million English words from books, news, and the web — the same data behind the OneLook dictionary search.
When the entry includes an audio URL (most common English words do), an audio play button appears next to the IPA. Click it to hear a native-speaker recording from Wiktionary's audio corpus. Different regional variants (UK, US, AU) may be available for the same word.
Datamuse computes rhymes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phonetic data. Two endpoints power the two sections: ?rel_rhy= for perfect rhymes (stressed-vowel + everything after match) and ?rel_nry= for near-rhymes.
Recent searches and saved favourites are kept in your browser's localStorage on this device only — nothing is uploaded to HCODX. The actual word-lookup API calls do go to dictionaryapi.dev and api.datamuse.com (their normal request logs apply).
The Free Dictionary API only returns data for words present in Wiktionary. Very rare terms, proper nouns, and recent slang may have no definition. Audio is also incomplete — common words have multi-region audio, less common ones may have none. Datamuse always returns at least a few related words regardless.
Yes — the URL updates with #<word> whenever you look up a word. Bookmark the page, share the URL, or open it in another browser and the same lookup runs automatically.