Free Dictionary API

There was no free Dictionary API on the web when I wanted one for my friend, so I created one.

Important Note

The API usage has been ramping up rapidly, making it difficult for me to keep the server running due to increased AWS costs.

Your support directly helps the development of Dictionary API and keeps the server running.

Getting Started

Usage

The basic syntax of a URL request to the API is shown below:

https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/<--version-->/entries/en/<--word-->

As an example, to get definition of English word hello using v2, you can send request to

https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/v2/entries/en/hello and the result returned will be:

[
  {
    "word": "hello",
    "phonetic": "həˈləʊ",
    "phonetics": [
      {
        "text": "həˈləʊ",
        "audio": "//ssl.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/20200429/hello--_gb_1.mp3"
      },
      {
        "text": "hɛˈləʊ"
      }
    ],
    "origin": "early 19th century: variant of earlier hollo ; related to holla.",
    "meanings": [
      {
        "partOfSpeech": "exclamation",
        "definitions": [
          {
            "definition": "used as a greeting or to begin a phone conversation.",
            "example": "hello there, Katie!",
            "synonyms": [],
            "antonyms": []
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "partOfSpeech": "noun",
        "definitions": [
          {
            "definition": "an utterance of ‘hello’; a greeting.",
            "example": "she was getting polite nods and hellos from people",
            "synonyms": [],
            "antonyms": []
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "partOfSpeech": "verb",
        "definitions": [
          {
            "definition": "say or shout ‘hello’.",
            "example": "I pressed the phone button and helloed",
            "synonyms": [],
            "antonyms": []
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]

Regarding V1 Version

The API earlier used to send response as shown below, but this structure of response was found out to be difficult to work with (you can take a look at these tickets #32 and #4), based on feedback in these tickets I have updated the API to v2 version. But v1 version will always be supported for backward compatibility.

[
  {
    "word": "hello",
    "phonetic": "həˈləʊ",
    "phonetics": [
      {
        "text": "həˈləʊ",
        "audio": "//ssl.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/20200429/hello--_gb_1.mp3"
      },
      {
        "text": "hɛˈləʊ"
      }
    ],
    "origin": "early 19th century: variant of earlier hollo ; related to holla.",
    "meaning": {
      "exclamation": [
        {
          "definition": "used as a greeting or to begin a phone conversation.",
          "example": "hello there, Katie!",
          "synonyms": [],
          "antonyms": []
        }
      ],
      "noun": [
        {
          "definition": "an utterance of ‘hello’; a greeting.",
          "example": "she was getting polite nods and hellos from people",
          "synonyms": [],
          "antonyms": []
        }
      ],
      "verb": [
        {
          "definition": "say or shout ‘hello’.",
          "example": "I pressed the phone button and helloed",
          "synonyms": [],
          "antonyms": []
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Paths

Location	Endpoint
Root path	`https://api.dictionaryapi.dev/api/<--version-->`

HTTP request and query methods

Method	Endpoint	Description	Examples
`GET`	`/entries/en/<YOUR_WORD>`	Retrieves the definition of the given word.	`/api/v2/entries/en/bliss`

Future plans

You can see existing and add new feature proposals on the projects GitHub page. Pull requests are welcome!

If you need any assistance or find any bugs, feel free to contact me directly via email or create a new issue on the GitHub page.

Support Me

This Dictionary API was initially created as an API that could be used by my friend for his project. I did not in my wildest dream thought that this API will become so popular, in few months this API took off and many people started to use it, initially I was able to manage the server costs but as number of requests started increasing, so did the server costs. Currently API has more than 10 million requests per month and to keep it running I need support of the community. I have planned few things in near future that will bring the cost down, but that will take some time.

Kindly help me keep running and developing this API. Thanks a lot for using my API, it feels good when your creation help other create their own projects.

Related Projects

Dictionary Anywhere

The Dictionary Anywhere extension helps you stay focused on what you are reading by eliminating the need to search for meaning, Double-clicking any word will view its definition in a small pop-up bubble. Now you never have to leave what you are reading to search for the meaning of the words you don't yet know.

Extension is available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

meetDeveloper / freeDictionaryAPI

readme