Learning new vocabulary is now easier than any time before and this is all thanks to the Internet. With a single click, users can access a wide variety of resources to help them enrich and improve their vocabulary.
Vocabulary is key to language learning and a strong grasp of vocabulary is a prerequisite especially for improving one’s writing style and speaking skills. The list below features some of the best vocabulary websites that you can use with your students and kids to learn new vocabulary items, improve vocabulary practice, and ultimately enhance one’s grasp of the target language.
1- Easy Notecards
Another great free vocabulary website to use with your students in class. Easy Notecards allows you to create interactive note cards that can work across various devices and platforms.
There is also the possibility to add images to your notecards by either uploading them or using their URLs in case they are already published online. To learn more about Easy Notecards, read this step by step guide.
2- Dictionary websites
Check out this collection featuring some of the best free online dictionary and thesaurus websites. Students can use them to search for definitions of words, synonyms and antonyms, examples of words usage, grammar tips, word of the day, quizzes, crosswords, word games and many more.
3- Vocabulary.com
As its name indicates, this site helps students improve their vocabulary through games and fun learning activities. The site also includes a dictionary that provides word definitions with thousands of example sentences from current newspapers, magazines, and literature.
Besides the dictionary, Vocabulary.com also offers vocabulary lists, word challenges, commonly confused words, test prep, vocabulary jam, and several other educational resources.
4- Quizlet
Quizlet is a game-based learning platform that you can use with students to teach them vocabulary using various tools including flashcards. To learn more about Quizlet, check out this step-by step tutorial
5- Reverse Dictionary
‘The way Reverse Dictionary works is pretty simple. It simply looks through tonnes of dictionary definitions and grabs the ones that most closely match your search query. For example, if you type something like “longing for a time in the past”, then the engine will return “nostalgia”.
The engine has indexed several million definitions so far, and at this stage it’s starting to give consistently good results (though it may return weird results sometimes). It acts a lot like a thesaurus except that it allows you to search with a definition, rather than a single word. So in a sense, this tool is a “search engine for words”, or a sentence to word converter.’
6- Wordnik
Wordnik is an online English dictionary that provides definitions from various sources including the American Heritage Dictionary of the Engish Language. When you search for a word in Wordnik you will numerous definitions, examples of usages taken from different online sources, lists of synonyms and antonyms, related words, reverse dictionary, and many more.
7- Wordreference
Wordreference is a bilingual online dictionary that you can use with students to enrich and improve their vocabulary learning. Wordreference offers access to a number of bilingual dictionaries include Spanish-English, French-English, Italian-English, and many more.
The site alo include a language forum where users ask questions about language usage and get help from native speakers. To learn more about Wordreference, check out this guide.
8- Ludwig
Ludwig is a sentence search engine that helps students become better writers of English. It is also a great vocabulary website which offers a host of helpful services including: definitions, synonyms, antonyms, translation, paraphrasing, comparing the frequency of words, examples of usage, and more.
The way it works is simple: type in your sentence or word and Ludwig provides you with relevant examples sourced from numerous English sources.
9- Word Hippo
Word Hippo is another vocabulary website that helps students improve their vocabulary learning. Besides accessing antonyms and synonyms, Word Hippo provides rhyming words, example sentences, translations, definitions, words forms, word game helpers, pronunciations, and more. Word Hippo is also available as a mobile app for both iOS and Android.
10- Flocabulary
Flocabulary is a website that helps students develop cross curricular academic vocabulary through rap/hip hop songs. Flocabulary offers a wide variety of pre-made lessons and activities to help students build towards mastery.
These include Vocab Game, Vocab Cards, Lyric Lab, Quiz, and several other activities. Teachers can create their classes, invite students to join, and start sharing lessons and assignments with students. They can also grade students responses, provide timely feedback, and monitor students learning progress. Read Flocabulary full review to learn more.
11- Membean
Membean is a vocabulary website that provides differentiated and personalized vocabulary instruction to students of all ages and abilities including ELLs and students with dyslexia. Students are engaged in training sessions where they get introduced to new words that they learn using different pathways.
Besides learning about the word’s pronunciation, students also practice the new vocabulary through sample sentences, visual representations, explanations, and definitions.
