Verdict
The highest-rated reference app on the store, and the only one here where nobody in two hundred recent reviews had a complaint worth clustering.
Best for
Anyone who looks words up often and wants it to work on a plane, in a tunnel, or with the data off.
Dealbreaker
It is the paid version of a dictionary that is already free with adverts. What you are buying is the ads removed and the content stored on the device — useful, but not new words.
The facts.
Pulled from the App Store, not written by hand.
Price
$9.99 once
In-app purchases
Unknown
Ads
Unknown
Platforms
iPhone, iPad
Rating
4.9★ (2,562)
Version
14.1.1
Last updated
Apr 2, 2026
Released
Apr 30, 2012
Attributes
Native appOne-time purchaseNo subscription
Category
Reference, Education
What reviews consistently say.
Themes grouped from 200 App Store reviews. Source feed ›
Praised for
Ease of use and design10 reviews
Works offline9 reviews
Value for money5 reviews
Subscription pricing and paywalls3 reviews
Where this comes from
10 of 200 recent reviews raised: Ease of use and design (positive)App Store reviews ›
9 of 200 recent reviews raised: Works offline (positive)App Store reviews ›
5 of 200 recent reviews raised: Value for money (positive)App Store reviews ›
3 of 200 recent reviews raised: Subscription pricing and paywalls (positive)App Store reviews ›
The paid edition of TheFreeDictionary, with offline content and no advertsApp Store listing ›
Where we recommend it
Dictionaries you buy once ›Offline dictionaries and thesauruses that charge a single price, with what each one misses.
Alternatives with the same rule.
Every app here is a single purchase. None of them can start charging you monthly for what you already bought. Also with a catch.
$9.99 once · 4.8★ (22,098) · Updated Jul 29, 2026
Verdict. The one with the name on it. If you want the definition that settles an argument, this is the dictionary people mean.
Best for. Someone who cares which dictionary a definition came from.
Dealbreaker. Five of the last two hundred reviews report it crashing on launch after signing in, and others describe the app pushing them toward subscription services they had not asked for.
$14.99 once · 4.7★ (2,208) · Updated Oct 3, 2025
Verdict. A learner's dictionary rather than a native speaker's: definitions written in deliberately simple language, with the pronunciation work that implies.
Best for. Someone learning English who needs the definition itself to be readable.
Dealbreaker. The most expensive here, and reviewers dispute how much of it truly works offline — a few say the offline content they paid for was not there, and others that an update made it slow.
$4.99 once · 4.7★ (363) · Updated Aug 28, 2026
Verdict. A real thesaurus rather than a dictionary with synonyms bolted on, carrying Roget's alongside Moby's two and a half million entries.
Best for. A writer hunting for a word who wants breadth over a tidy interface.
Dealbreaker. It looks and behaves its age. Six of the last two hundred reviews call it unusable, describing results dumped into one window of tiny text with no way through them.