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.
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
4.8★ (22,098)
Version
5.9.5
Last updated
Jul 29, 2026
Released
Dec 9, 2011
Attributes
Native appOne-time purchaseNo subscription
Category
Reference, Books
What reviews consistently say.
Themes grouped from 200 App Store reviews. Source feed ›
Praised for
Ease of use and design14 reviews
Subscription pricing and paywalls5 reviews
Value for money3 reviews
Blocks ads effectively2 reviews
Works offline2 reviews
Complained about
Crashes and stability5 reviews
Privacy and data handling2 reviews
Where this comes from
14 of 200 recent reviews raised: Ease of use and design (positive)App Store reviews ›
5 of 200 recent reviews raised: Subscription pricing and paywalls (positive)App Store reviews ›
5 of 200 recent reviews raised: Crashes and stability (negative)App Store reviews ›
2 of 200 recent reviews raised: Works offline (positive)App Store reviews ›
2 of 200 recent reviews raised: Privacy and data handling (negative)App Store reviews ›
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 · 4.9★ (2,562) · Updated Apr 2, 2026
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.
$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.