The LexUp dictionary

Nearly 400,000 definitions. The meaning in plain English first, then every sense, real sentences, quotations with their sources, and where the word came from.

Try a word: abandon · resilient · vivid

Browse

Every word, by letter

Inside an entry

Six parts, in the same order every time

Most dictionaries make you read a lexicographer's definition before you find out what a word means. This one starts with the answer.

In plain English

One short sentence per part of speech, written for learners rather than lexicographers. It sits at the top of every entry because it is the part most people came for.

Full definitions

Every sense, grouped by part of speech and numbered, with the short usage examples that belong to each one.

In use

Ordinary sentences using the word, so you can see the shape it takes before you try to write it yourself.

Citations

Quotations of the word in print, each with its source given in full — the year, the author, the work and the page.

Origin

The descent chain, language by language, from the earliest reconstructed root down to modern English, followed by the etymology in prose.

Quick test

Two questions at the foot of the entry. Nothing is scored — they are there to ask whether you read it.