Vocabulary.com Reviews

UPDATE: apparently there was a technical problem on the website itself, which directly affected Vocabularycom as well. It was solved within hours and I've received an email with explanation why there were problems at first place.
Now, I was expecting to see Vocabularycom that already has a set of vocab lists to prepare for GRE (the are a few GRE lists there but they only have 30words). I personally find it more productive to learn by choosing the right answer for the words I'm learning. I gave the four starts just because among a huge variety of different lists of words that have been derived from different sources, you kinda have to build your own.. and it takes time to do so... other than that it's a pretty useful app that provides a great description for each word you are currently learning. Oh and the feature of simply clicking on some words that look unfamiliar and finding their full description, that pretty awesome! And that's the way you build your own list of words.. if only it was all prepared specifically for GRE.

I'm gonna write a 'terse' review here. I just downloaded Vocabularycom and played with it for a about three days. Some things that would make it better for my personal use.

1. I like to learn in parts. I can study one part, or list, In the case of Vocabularycom; Leadership is the first list that I want to practice and focus on for about a week or two; Then I want to move on the the list, "100 words every high schooler should know" for the next couple weeks. - Can we have some sort of queue for lists we want to study at a later time?

2. Option to get daily or weekly push notifications for a word of the day or week. Apple Watch compatibility here would be nice as well. Just a quick read if you're committed to this sort of learning.

3. Complete dictionary and functionality of Vocabularycom in offline mode. That means everything is stored on the phone and obviously no connection needed to use app.
(I would pay extra for this feature !!)

This is what I would like to see in future updates. Vocabularycom is a easy and efficient way to expand your vocabulary. I use Vocabularycom for 15 minutes everyday during my first break at work. The repetitiveness and game like aspect of this dictionary is great for learning new words and how to use them. I use it as much as I use duolingo so if you like that, then you'll love Vocabularycom. It will make you a better speaker over the long haul if you commit to it.

Not too "terse" after all.. but reasonable. 😄

I think the amount of time and energy the developer spent to build Vocabularycom deserve the attention of we, the users! I am an ESL student who’s enthusiasm for learning new English words made him use a plethora of apps. But Vocabularycom is something different. You can use a set of predefined words to master or you can fancy making yours. Personally,I like the usage example section. When I was looking up for “Gargantuan” definition I didn’t expect a presence of the word as recent as September 20th ,2018 in Wall Street Journal, quite astonishing!
I just have some minor issues with Vocabularycom , mostly about look. There is a feeling that you’re using a converted web app, not a native iOS app. And speaking of the web app there are some features that are only accessible through web, like huge predefined words list or make a list out of a short page automagically.

I really don’t have a super huge vocabulary for my age. I need to look up a lot of words a lot of the time. I also have to look up the same words multiple times because I almost immediately forget the definition right after I look it up. I love the way that the dictionary function of Vocabularycom gives word definitions! It makes it a million times easier for me to understand what the word means. It gives a short simple one to two sentence explanation of the word, gives an example of a sentence you could use the word in, gives the breakdown of the root latin words, then goes into the standard dictionary definitions and usage examples. The way Vocabularycom explains the words is just so much easier for me to understand then opening up a standard dictionary. Vocabularycom have been very helpful for me when I read my Bible!

Omg! This game is awesome! It is fun in the competitive and points aspect, but educational in the way of the new words. Vocabularycom is beneficent and so worth the money. I would highly recommend this to all teachers, and if you don’t have a school subscription I would inform your teacher on this site so they can utilize its educational value. In this game, you basically get a quiz and answer with spelling and definitions, and if you get it right at the first time you receive a certain amount of points. You get ranks based of the amount of points you have and also get put on school, class, district, and overall leaderboards. You definitely should invest in Vocabularycom. My 6th grade class uses this, and all of my friends compete with me and each other. I am happy because I am up 30,000 points. You really need to get this.

Vocabularycom is amazing. It definitely has some bugs/parts it could fix such as the definitions of some words & expanding its vocabulary content.
I love that it contains a fun way to learn words by playing. It's a smart idea since I am addicted to playing! I love learning new words and there is no better way than this! I would definitely rate this five stars if only it contained more day to day use of words (I search up words sometimes & they aren't there which is frustrating since it is a vocab app, so please fix this! If dictionary app is free and has more variety of words, an app that costs money should definitely be on top of its game.) Also some definitions could definitely be a bit off, confusing or don't offer all the different meanings of a word. Still rating it four stars because I love the game and keeps my tongue top-notch ;).

I noticed that words like "ought" are not in the dictionary and I had to look it up elsewhere. The old English word "aught" is inadequately defined as "nothing" when it's actually "something" and that's a big difference. This is a app that has great potential but needs work in these areas to compete with the other dictionaries:

1) Offline use - most dictionary apps I've used have an offline use to define words. Really great to save data. I can understand the need for internet connection for the games within Vocabularycom but let the users have offline access to the looking up words.

2) Etymology - I would like Vocabularycom to include more on the Etymology of the words, their old English root meanings and not just Latin. I feel there's not enough of that compared to other dictionary apps.

3) Updates - Updates for Vocabularycom should not only be when there are bugs to squash to improve usage but vocabulary additions or updates on the words that I mentioned.

I had hoped that this would be my "all in one" dictionary app that would help me expand my vocabulary and dig deep into the etymology. Please, work on including these features into the next update. If the developers would include the offline use feature then I would give it a 5 star!

I like it and it's been useful - helping me with pronunciation and studying for the MAT. The repetition is good and the different meanings and context are very helpful.
My only two complaints: there is no opt-out button for words I already know. I wish they would make one!
And when you make a list - they plug in other words along with your list words - which is frustrating when I need to learn specific terms and only want to practice those words.
Right now, I'm trying to learn the list I made for the Periodic chart - and after several rounds - I have only had two words of the list and the rest has been a mess of words from The Challenge. It's frustrating when you are trying to study for something specific.

I love Vocabularycom and have used it now for 7 years. My vocabulary has improved tremendously. I love words and using Vocabularycom is enjoyable. There are article links for how a word is used in context within a current publication. These reference links have exposed me to new and interesting topics ( many that I wouldn’t have been exposed to naturally) some are current events, other historical, science, pop culture etc… You get so much more than vocabulary definitions. You also get an education too ( if you take the time to explore publication links) and it keeps you in touch with what’s relevant “today.” As a longtime app user, I can express myself articulately and my awareness of the world around me has expanded.

First off, Vocabularycom is incredibly well designed. It has a point system and many "achievements" that make you feel good about learning words.
Further, the definitions of the words are explanations, written in plain, comprehensibe English. I went online and created my own word list and I also found a list in Vocabularycom 's word list database. This way I can learn the words I see in everyday readings, as well as challanging words I'm not used to seeing.
Vocabularycom actually helps you learn vocabulary, I've already noticed a difference in the way I write from only using Vocabularycom for about 3 months. I would recommend every person who values written and verbal expression, which should be all of us. 5 out of 5 stars.

The website version of this is invaluable, and Vocabularycom is very useful as well for practicing vocab, but something that I would really like to see in future updates is the ability to add words to and edit your lists through Vocabularycom , preferably with an option to add a word to a list directly from the definition page. I'm not sure why app developers limit such important features like this but it makes Vocabularycom not nearly as useful to me because instead of looking up a word I come across while reading then adding it to one my lists, I have to wait until I can get to my computer and then add it by editing the list. I probably would not have bought Vocabularycom if I had knew it was missing this function, but overall it is still a good app and others may not miss the feature.

The best app to learn new words everyday and have an open mind and have your mind from nonsense games out there, that wastes your time only. Definitely I recommend to everybody, but specially for those whom are foreigners like myself. It gives the options to learn and focus more on those words you need the most. And perhaps some change may need but maybe that could be adding the options from changing language to others so don't have the need leave Vocabularycom but have one app open only, that would definitely save lot of times and money. Congratulation to the creator of this and for being so benevolent to share his creativity.

It's a good app, great even. But it's a bit of a drag you can't use your own lists. I want to learn the words I find. I keep running into dumb words that I already know. That's my biggest problem with it. It's crashed here and there for me. And I wish there was a back button when you're looking for lists. Sometimes I look at a list but decide I don't want it, but to look at more of what I searched, I have to redo typing it in. Minor hindrance. And you need wifi for Vocabularycom to work. If you change the list thing, I'd give Vocabularycom 5 stars.
To recapitulate, it's an good app, in my opinion not worth $3.18, and it has little issues here and there. I'd recommend it though!

Honestly, i have not found a better app to learn GRE vocabulary or increase my range of vocabulary. Vocabularycom had major issues for ~2 years because the team was slow on updating Vocabularycom with the updates for the newer iPhones. Thank you to the developers and tech team for finally updating Vocabularycom . I hope the team continues to make changes and updates with the new screens and focuses their time on the user friendliness. If they continue doing so, with a little bit more marketing, they will be the top vocabulary app - no doubt about it. Word Hippo, word of the day, nothing compares. Keep it going!!!

Worth the cost of Vocabularycom just for the dictionary alone. Many dictionaries will use the word in the definition, but this one doesn't. Definitions include sentences using the word, word families, a short paragraph explaining the word, and sometimes a link to a blog post that goes into more detail, if you're interested.

Not only is the dictionary great, the challenge is executed well. Plus you can create your own list of words to practice in the challenge. It's easy to add a word from the dictionary to your practice list.

My only complaint is that occasionally Vocabularycom won't prompt you to add a word you've looked up to your practice list. The developers need to work on that!

Strong app for learning but poor on customization (making one's own lists or creating word and definition entries) and runs a weak dictionary. For example: "objurgation" is available, so is "abjuration"but "objuration" is not. Interestingly, there were many words I could not find in lists even though they were in Vocabularycom dictionary. On the plus side, Vocabularycom is designed with short drills which allow one to keep going or stop without feeling one has not "finished" a workout. So, it is not tedious. It has an appealing aesthetic which is inviting.

Again, on the negative side, the definitions are not always of the most common modern usage of the terms, sometimes the choices in the drills can be misleading if one wants to pick the most common definition, and equally importantly one cannot choose which individual terms to include - or not include - in drills (game mode). The most irritating point, though, is not being able to include one's personal choices of words and definitions.

Customer service is poor.
Several email attempts to contact the company for explanations have not been answered, (nor have the emails been acknowledged).

1. I would really like the ability to highlight text so I can copy paste it.

2. Often Vocabularycom fails to open keyboard (I use the default English keyboard) when trying to type in text boxes. Should be an easy glitch to fix. It was most notable when signing up with an account and providing feedback to a text box question. (I spelt it right but it was capitalized and counted it wrong)

And that’s it at the moment. I did say a just couple. Highly recommend Vocabularycom, I’ve already asked a few relatives to get it for themselves. :D

There are so many tools and ways to improve your vocabulary out there that it makes for a real challenge to find the one you'll want for a standard. I would love for the team to build Vocabularycom towards excellence by focusing on key principles of memory, learning and psychology.
Semantic chunking is a much better and proved way to learn vocabulary instead of alphabetical order.
But I'm giving Vocabularycom 5 stars because it follows most of the core principles around its goals, and by doing that it becomes a very effective tool in your language learning/improving kit. A must have.

I found this application through the website, and very recently downloaded it.

I really love how interactive it is, especially with the games - because you wind up learning from them.

HUGE problem now (and something I didn’t even realize while downloading, which would’ve likely been a red flag for me): Vocabularycom hasn’t been updated in SEVEN YEARS…😳

Since I updated my iPhone to the latest iOS, I can’t use the application at all, until & IF the developer(s) updates it. I’m honestly really bummed out, because I switched from all of my previous dictionary apps when I downloaded this, and now I can’t even USE it?!

Also, like…seven years, really? Developer(s): could you PLEASE update Vocabularycom for us who REALLY do love Vocabularycom & would like to keep using this in the form of an app, NOT a website (because it’s much more accessible for certain people, including myself, a disabled human). And could you start making it a regular thing to update it too…?

I will GLADLY edit/update my review & stars if any of this gets done/I see some real consistent progress.

As stated above, 4/5 of the screen is completely black, which makes it nearly impossible to use Vocabularycom . I am using an IPad mini 4, and this has not happened on any of the other apps I have used. I have removed and reinstalled Vocabularycom multiple times, but this bug does not go away. The only way I have found to not trigger the bug is to open Vocabularycom in portrait. If I try to switch it to landscape after this, I can no longer type on the very right hand side of the screen, meaning I can't access the letters l and p, and I can't type the backspace button. This is also the only side of the screen which is visible when I open Vocabularycom in landscape. Because of this bug, I rate Vocabularycom 1 star. If it weren't for its dysfunction, I would rate Vocabularycom 5 stars.

I would and wouldn't recommend. If your school uses it then that is fine but if you are using just to learn vocab words and your school doesn't use it I WOULDN'T recommend. Here is why. I use it for school and my teacher assigns lists so it is easier to learn the coach words by this because we take tests on here to so it is just easier. BUT if you are using it to search up definitions and attempt to make a list for let's say the list of words your teacher gave you, then it starts adding words that they think you wouldn't know. For example, we are reading A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and we have a 35-word list for act one. I am getting words like canon pop up on the learning queue and that is not a word on the original list. I wanted to know one so u read the progress on that word and it said that it added it because it thought I wouldn't know it. That could be nice if your goal is to expand your vocab but if you are learning a specific list it gets annoying quickly. Once again, I would rate it 4 stars max.

Vocabularycom is a terrific idea but has one major issue: no updates in over a year on a purchased app which seems a bit ridiculous considering the amount of bugs and issues still left (e.g., I still can't mute the audio when mastering a word even when my phone itself is muted).

That said, it's certainly worth the expense and I still enjoy using Vocabularycom regularly. It has a clean and unobtrusive interface, making it quite simple to use. Would definitely be 5 stars if the developers rolled out even a small bug fixes every few months.