as in vocabularies
a reference book giving information about the meanings, pronunciations, uses, and origins of words listed in alphabetical order
try to develop the habit of going to the dictionary whenever you encounter an unfamiliar word
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Recent Examples of dictionaries
Christmas hams, party cocktails, elegant layer cakes, and cookout classics fill the dictionaries of Southern family recipes, but one of my favorites is a simple vinaigrette from my grandmother.
—
Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 15 Jan. 2026
For many decades, dictionaries were bestsellers and seen as the authority on the English language.
—Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025
Maybe our expectations for dictionaries are way too high.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
The dictionaries on the founders’ bookshelves were never silent.
—Time, 17 Dec. 2025
Merriam-Webster is the latest in a string of dictionaries to choose words of the year based on our relationship with technology and artificial intelligence.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025
The other two semifinalists, the Saint Louis Billikens and Furman Paladins, have lower budgets but strong soccer traditions—as well as mascots that send people scrambling for their dictionaries.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 12 Dec. 2025
By the 1820s, objectivity and subjectivity were showing up in European dictionaries beside definitions that would seem familiar to us.
—Vauhini Vara, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2025
Overnight, dictionaries announced new norms, as if speech could be disinfected.
—Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 15 Jan. 2026
For many decades, dictionaries were bestsellers and seen as the authority on the English language.
—Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025
Maybe our expectations for dictionaries are way too high.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
The dictionaries on the founders’ bookshelves were never silent.
—Time, 17 Dec. 2025
Merriam-Webster is the latest in a string of dictionaries to choose words of the year based on our relationship with technology and artificial intelligence.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 16 Dec. 2025
The other two semifinalists, the Saint Louis Billikens and Furman Paladins, have lower budgets but strong soccer traditions—as well as mascots that send people scrambling for their dictionaries.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 12 Dec. 2025
By the 1820s, objectivity and subjectivity were showing up in European dictionaries beside definitions that would seem familiar to us.
—Vauhini Vara, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2025
Overnight, dictionaries announced new norms, as if speech could be disinfected.
—Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictionaries
Noun
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The discovery of language skills in great apes — various gorillas and chimps learned substantial vocabularies in sign language or symbols — and that of tool use across the animal kingdom have, over the years, chipped away at the idea that there is any single ingredient that makes humans unique.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
13 Jan. 2026
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Children who are read to from under a year old often have larger and more complex vocabularies than their peers by the age of three.—
Rachael O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The evening leant into the 2016 King Kylie vibe—Kylie herself donned a bubblegum pink wig and matching latex dress—but Kendall and Hailey stayed firmly in their more understated style lexicons.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
18 Oct. 2025
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Anyway, Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, to my mind, is the most astonishing of lexicons ever produced in any tongue.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictionaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictionaries. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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