SuppliedThe Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus
iPhone, Android
$18.99
The Oxford American Dict-ionary & Thesaurus app is the quintessential tool for ameliorating one’s lexical capacity and mastering the sprawling anomaly known as the English language.
The app possesses all the attributes of a comprehensive dictionary. Definitions are concise but informative, the range of synonyms is extensive, and an IPA pronunciation guide is included with each word. The app also collects words one selects onto a list called “Favorites,” allowing the immediate retrieval of definitions.
“Word Toolkit” and “Choose the Right Word” are the app’s most useful features. “Word Toolkit” lists a number of words that are appropriate in certain contexts. Apologetic and contrite have similar meanings, but “Word Toolkit” states the former is more appropriate for nouns such as “response” and “gesture,” while contrite better describes “heart” and “spirit.”
“Choose the Right Word” delineates nuance in words whose definitions are often conflated and emphasizes subtle connotations. “Bold” suggests strong self-confidence, courage and even defiance, while “audacious” implies recklessness in taking risks.
One’s quest to erudition is hindered by the lack of a speech tool that pronounces words, while word origin and original meaning are occasionally meager. But this app undoubtedly encourages locutionary deployment in speech and composition, obsequiousness with one’s professor and magniloquence with one’s peers. With this app, the previously unattainable realms of lexical esotericism shall no longer be forbidden.
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