Wordnik, an Online Dictionary with a Social Media Twist

Wordnik is a new recently launched online dictionary that comes with a host of new features that none of the other similar websites, of which there are quite a few, have implemented. It takes a much more social and wiki-like approach by letting users add their own words and by having a lot of information on top of just the definition, some of that info coming from social media outlets like Twitter.

“Our goal is to show you as much information as possible, just as fast as we can find it, for every word in English, and to give you a place where you can make your own opinions about words known,” the Wordnik site states. In fact, its creators believe that the new site offers an enhanced experience, so much so that the word dictionary is not enough to describe it. “Wordnik is not a traditional dictionary (in fact, we've seriously considered not calling Wordnik a dictionary at all). If you have a suggestion for a better word than "dictionary" to describe Wordnik, please send it our way!”

The site offers a combination of results aimed at users getting more than just a stale definition of a word. It has that, of course, but it also has examples of phrases containing the word, pulled from various sources, and put in context. An interesting feature is the Twitter integration as the dictionary does a real-time search for the word on the social networking website and brings up tweets using it. It might seem more like a flashy gadget to get people’s attention with no real relevance but it might prove useful in some particular cases.

Wordnik also pulls images related to the search term from Flickr and has a useful 'related words' section, which contains the usual synonyms and antonyms but also, interestingly, words related to the subject that would be used in the same context. Users will be able to add their own words on top of the 1.7 million already available and the site creators hope that this, along with the social media elements, will make the site appealing to word enthusiasts as well as regular users.