The award-winning technology powering Vocabulary.com is now available as an app for Android devices! 

Already played by millions online, the uniquely powerful word-learning system can now be enjoyed on mobile devices and tablets. The Vocabulary.com app provides personalized word learning on a big data scale.

For press inquiries, please contact: Ben Zimmer <[email protected]>, executive producer of Vocabulary.com.

Fast Facts

  • Available for Android on April 29, 2014 for $2.99. Also available for iPhone and iPad.
  • Download Page: http://www.vocabulary.com/app
  • It's a game. Earn point and badges and compete with your friends - while improving your vocabulary.
  • Adaptive technology teaches over 12,000 words using 125,000 questions
  • It's a dictionary. Includes 165,000 words with over 100,000,000 usage examples.
  • Choose which words to learn, or study from over 350,000 ready-made vocabulary lists.
  • Millions of users online, including over 500,000 registered users and students in more than 11,000 schools nationwide

What's Inside

Play. Answer a couple of questions, and you'll quickly see Vocabulary.com's adaptive technology pinpoint words that are challenging for you. Behind the scenes, we’re using sophisticated algorithms to help you learn words more effectively.

Look it up.  Think of a word. Start typing. Within a few key taps, you'll see a friendly explanation of the word that will help you remember its meaning. It’s as if your favorite teacher were explaining it to you. See a word you’d like to know better? Tap "Learn this Word" and add it to your learning program.

Find a list.  Studying for an exam like the SAT, GRE, or TOEFL? We have over 350,000 ready-to-learn lists — everything from standardized tests to classic literature, famous speeches, historical documents, breaking news — you name it.

Things to Try

  • From any dictionary page, try swiping right or left. Swiping right will show the next featured word in the dictionary, while swiping left takes you back.
  • While you’re in the dictionary, give the app a shake!
  • Tap an audio icon. Hear the word spoken by an opera singer.
  • Tap a progress circle next to a word. See any questions you've answered. Choose to focus more or less on the word.
  • Tap the hamburger menu (on the upper left). Scroll down to see leaderboards, and compare your score to others playing Vocabulary.com.
  • Tap your score. See your level and your achievements.
  • Tap on "Lists". Explore the featured lists and then click "Start learning this list" to work on the words from your list.

What's Unique About the App?

It's a science. We start with our pool of over 125,000 questions. Then, we use the science of learning to model how you learn (and forget) new words. By comparing your answers to the 175 million responses given by other Vocabulary.com users, we personalize your learning experience and choose the best question for you at just the right time.

It's a game. Sure, there’s a lot of science and technology muscle behind our technique, but expanding your vocabulary doesn’t have to be a brainbuster. We’ve turned learning vocabulary into an addictive game. Accumulate points, achievements, and badges while competing against your Facebook friends, your classmates, or other members of the Vocabulary.com community. Improving your vocabulary has never been this much fun.

A dictionary with a soul.  Our definitions were written by humans, for humans. Look up a word, and read a friendly explanation that you'll actually remember. It’s as if your favorite teacher were explaining it to you.

See how words are being used today. To make you more confident about using the words you look up, we include clever usage tips and millions of real-world example sentences that'll show you how words live in the wild.

Your vocabulary follows you everywhere.  It's all connected, Your progress will seamlessly carry over if you switch from one device to another.

As your vocabulary grows, Vocabulary.com grows with you. Vocabulary.com is a platform for lifelong learning, growing with you every step of the way. The more you play, the more we get to know you. And as you learn, we'll introduce you to more advanced words and questions.

What does this mean?  Don't play logged in on your kid's iPhone, or they might be in for a rough time.

World-class audio pronunciations, by world-class opera singers. You know who's good at elocution? Opera singers. That's why we had a team of them pronounce each of the 165,000 words in our dictionary.

Who's Using Vocabulary.com?

Students.  Prepping for a quiz has never been easier for students. They simply make a list on Vocabulary.com and start practicing.  Or they can find one of our pre-made vocabulary lists from the top books taught in schools.  Many students just love playing in their spare time to expand their vocabularies.  It sure beats playing Flappy Bird.

After 3 days trial of vocabulary.com, I am super fan... Some people play Sudoku while they are bored, I play vocabulary.com!
-Tracy Y.

I like your explanations of particular words. They are great, humorous and funny which is very good. Sometimes I feel like a young guy who asks you about some words and you're my uncle who always is patient and give me a definition of words I am interested in.
-Waldemar

Test Takers.  Whether they're studying for the SAT, GRE or TOEFL, test takers love Vocabulary.com. Its adaptive nature lets them focus on the words likely to appear on a test, and avoid wasting time on words they already know.

Thanks for all of these word lists. This really will boost my SAT score by about 300-400 points, which can be all the difference in the world, based on what you are trying to do with your SAT score.
-John J.

Teachers.  Assign students vocabulary homework they'll love. Vocabulary.com empowers kids to learn vocabulary independently, and let's teachers focus on what's important in the classroom. With Vocabulary.com's teacher tools, teachers and districts can closely monitor their students' progress, and use valuable class time to focus on classwide trouble words.

From the very first day the students and I worked with Vocabulary.com, I noticed an invigorated, buzzing energy in my classroom. When I walked in at 8 a.m., two students were comparing the points they'd accumulated thus far… they even laughed about the explanations of specific words… I certainly didn’t recall this rollicking cheer in vocabulary review sessions of the past.
-Sara Walsh, English teacher, EF International Academy, Tarrytown, NY

Vocabulary.com is everything that I’ve always wanted: it engages my students, it is dynamic, it leads to understanding by explaining word definitions, it champions retention by constantly revisiting words, and, perhaps most importantly, it’s fun.
-Daniel Spacher, English teacher, Red Jacket Middle School, Shortsville, NY

Everyone. Let's face it. We all could use a little vocabulary improvement, and flashcards just aren't that much fun.  That's why we've turned vocabulary learning into a competitive game. We adapt to each player's level, so whether you're learning English as a second language or comfortable using the word funambulist in a sentence, your experience will be rewarding.

As a person growing up with non-English speaking parents, English has always been my weakness. The dictionaries would give me definitions using words I did not understand. Usually, when I had to search for the definition of one word, it would really mean looking up 2-5 words. I would just like to thank you for making a great site with such comprehensive definitions to every word I search. The examples used with the definitions are VERY helpful! I wish I knew about this site in high school! Perhaps, I would not have taken 7 years of high school English classes.
HERE IS A VERY BIG THANK YOU FROM AN EXTREMELY HAPPY USER! 
-Vincent M.

I can only say it's such a pity I haven't discovered this website before when I was still studying. I would like to say thank you for such perfect tool for extending vocabulary. This is just amazing! Thanks guys, wish you all the best and hope you have had fun creating this as much as I am having right now by using it. Thanks a million!!!
-Jakub G.

Latest Information on the App

  • Read the press release on the launch of Vocabulary.com app here.
  • Find out more about Vocabulary.com here.
  • Stay up to date on Vocabulary.com by following us on our blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
  • For press inquiries, please contact: Ben Zimmer <[email protected]>, executive producer of Vocabulary.com.

Press Kit

  • The Vocabulary.com App Press Kit includes logos, screenshots, and the press release announcing the app launch. Download the press kit here.

Screenshots

Android smartphone

Download more smartphone screenshots here.

Android tablet

Download more screenshots for 7-inch tablets and 10-inch tablets.

Praise for Vocabulary.com

  • "Vocabulary.com is among the quickest and most intelligent ways for students to improve their vocabulary. Regardless of education level or age, Vocabulary.com will help master the words that are essential to academic and business success." —National Education Association
  • "Educators who are familiar with Vocabulary.com are impressed by the technology. It is a sign, they say, that real progress is finally being made in computer-assisted education."  —The New York Times
  • "Vocabulary.com could actually make speaking well cool again." —TIME
  • "Vocabulary.com boasts a Web-based dashboard bristling with points, levels, progress bars and achievement bonuses, among other attractions." —USA Today

Honors and Awards

Press Releases

  • Press release on launch of Vocabulary.com app, 3/18/2014 (download PDF)

Vocabulary.Com Launches App That Puts Word-Learning in the Palm of Your Hand
Groundbreaking System for Learning Vocabulary Keeps Users Connected Everywhere

NEW YORK, N.Y., March 18, 2014— Today the makers of the award-winning Vocabulary.com website announced the release of a new app that can expand anyone's vocabulary with lightning speed. Vocabulary.com's uniquely effective word learning system, played by millions online, now brings word mastery to mobile devices and tablets through engaging gameplay. And just like its online counterpart, the Vocabulary.com app is powered by the world's smartest, fastest dictionary.

Vocabulary.com is a comprehensive program for lifelong learning of vocabulary, in which each activity is specially chosen for the user. Backed by sophisticated algorithms and insights from the science of learning, Vocabulary.com models how people learn and retain new words on the road to successful word mastery. When a user plays Vocabulary.com, more than 120,000 questions are available to answer, teaching more than 12,000 words. By comparing the results of hundreds of millions of answers given by other users, Vocabulary.com personalizes the learning experience to choose the best question at just the right time.

When a vocabulary learner signs up for a free account, progress on learning words will seamlessly carry over from one device to another, bridging online and mobile environments. "With the Vocabulary.com app, you can follow the path to word mastery wherever you go," said Vocabulary.com executive producer Ben Zimmer. "We've shown that learning vocabulary can be fun and addictive, and now on-the-go word learners can always stay connected."

As with the online version, the Vocabulary.com app allows users to accumulate points, achievements and badges along the way. They can also compete with other users from throughout the world to make it to the top of daily and monthly leaderboards. While the gameplay keeps learners engaged, it provides a key benefit to all who seek to expand their vocabulary, improve their communication, and succeed in school and business.

The Vocabulary.com app is perfect for students studying for standardized tests like the SAT, GRE, or TOEFL. Students can let Vocabulary.com choose the right words for them to study through its adaptive learning system, or they can choose from one of more than 50,000 ready-to-learn lists, covering everything from classic literature to breaking news.

Built into the app is the Vocabulary.com dictionary, the world's fastest. Predictive word lookup zeroes in on the right word as the user types it, and words are presented with friendly, easy-to-understand definitions. Words in the dictionary are illustrated with more than 100 million usage examples from real-world sources, and pronunciations are given for all 165,000 words with high-quality voice recordings. The dictionary is fully integrated with the Vocabulary.com learning program, as users can choose to learn the words they look up, and can also consult the dictionary entries as they play the game.

The Vocabulary.com app is available through the App Store for all iOS devices (iPads and iPhones), with an app for Android devices soon to be released as well.

ABOUT THINKMAP, INC.

  • New York City based Thinkmap, Inc. develops and markets software that uses visualization to facilitate communication, learning, and discovery. The company's software applications include the Thinkmap SDK visualization platform, The Visual Thesaurus, and Vocabulary.com.