Shorter Oxford English Dict App Reviews

great app ! just the audio function needs an update … sounds like 1998!

We need a table of abbreviations and a pronunciation table. This app should include the introductory and explanatory pages from the dictionary, so that the user can do a thorough review of a definition.

This dictionary is perfect, except that there are NO SYNONYMS! Synonyms are a major part of a dictionary, and this means that youll always need to go online or have another dictionary..

If I miss type in a word, I cannot do "command+a" to choose the wrong words I have typed in and delete the whole wrong word . Instead, I have to backspace the letters of the wrong word one by one. Also, if this software can translate word on screen where the mouse pointer stay at, it will be excellent tool to use.

This dictionary knows ALL the words: the ones that smaller dictionaries know, plus the really obscure and/or archaic ones. Meanings are clear and complete, and the pronunciations are great for those uncommon words youve seen written but arent sure how to pronounce. Special bonus: the meanings are written in Br. E., with Am. E. spellings listed as variants. That makes *this* Canadian very happy! Theres one downside: it doesnt recognise words you misspell, nor does it list alternates or ask "did you mean…?" So you have to know how to spell it…to look up how to spell it. Other than that, its terrific.

Lack of synonyms and Thesaurus is major inconvenience. Latest update allow you go get dinged for a thesaurus by someone else. Sticky Wicket- And colour should always have a U in OED wheteher shorter or not. Paucity of reviews says something , I know not what- cmon Oxford step up to the verbal plate-

The app is convenient and fast, and contains the entire text of the Shorter OED - a huge reference work - searchable by headword, wildcard search, or as a full text search (search "cheese" and find all listings with "cheese" in the definition). Its good value for the price. The software can also be expanded to add the Chambers Dictionary and Thesaurus. Chambers is not well known in North America, but it is a popular and well established dictionary in Britain, famous for it ssometimes witty definitions, and has a few listings that even Oxford misses. A few bugs in searches that occasionally popped up in previous versions seem to have been fixed in the latest version.

Once I get past the concern that the “Shorter Oxford English Dictionary” has nearly twice the words as the “Oxford Dictionary of English” and the corresponding concern that the bizarre nomenclature is reflected in the content, this is an excellent dictionary and I use it as my go to for writing, over the built in dictionary. Would love greater intigration with the OS.

More definitions than bundled Oxford American. Needed if you watch British tv or like Commenwealth slang: NZ or AU. Quotes are useful: dont recall seeing those in the O.A. A big plus: you can set it up so that once you choose a word on ANY document, a left click pulls up a menu that allows THAT dictionary to be used to get word definitions! If you just heard a word open Spotlight, enter the word and then left click on it to allow the better dictionary to be opened up.

I have tried to email the app makers, but no response. Simply doesnt work in Word on Mac., no idea why you would want it otherwise - esp. for the high price. If it gets fixed Ill alter the rating.

Prepare yourself for a dictionary with no help, no preface and no explanation for the dozens of cryptic bits of information that are thrown into a definition. The electronic version of the SOED does not contain the preface that the printed version contains. Therefore, you have no idea of what the little daggers mean, IME-m17, why some words are italicized, bolded and what the various colors represent. The definitions are fine but their is so much other information included with the definitions that you feel you are not getting the total value of this effort. I have requested this information from the support address given above and hopefully they come through.

I love this dictionary. It contains words not in other dictionaries. And also includes audible pronunciations, a big help to me.

Great dictionary. Good enough but shaky app. Every time I click the audio icon to hear a words pronunciation, the app fully crashes (disappears then an OSX crash report appears asking to click OK to submit to Apple). If you stay away from the broken audio pronunciation feature, the app is fine, as far as I can tell so far. Im running OSX 10.6.8, by the way.

I currently have OED, Oxford American Dictionary, and Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, (in addition to many other well known well-thought of dictionaries) and in the past I used the SOED in print and in software form on my PC (I do advise to several non-English speaking countries education departments on their resource acquisitions). I just installed the SOED on my iMac and played with it an hour or two on a request to evaluate it. It is a bare bone interface and offers no possibility of adjusting font size, font color, or any other display or configurations. This is a s major handicap for a reference on any screen: you are denied changing the interface to your comfort — or utility — level. That takes it off from my list right away at any price. Even the least expensive reference apps do have that basic feature. Second point to loudly complain about this Mac app is, it has a uniformly small font, ( I mean real small 8 or 6 point fonts) and click areas to move your cursor and click on them, and those areas are not sensitive (easily overlapping) and that causes many interjections such as "Da…n!" or the other popular release of exclamation you would use in situations like that!. I think the current marketer of this dictionary avoided spending any money to make suitable for Mac use (or any other use).

Im running this app on a late 2008 MBP. It has never crashed. It is much more comprehensive than eReference (which is a total pain if you have to reinstall). Etymologies included. It is not as Mac-like as it needs to be at this point. I can minimize it (Cmd-M), but it cant be hidden (Cmd-H). I would buy it again. The sound files work perfectly. If it were more Mac-like, it would get 5 stars from me.

Many users wouldnt spend $24.99 for a mere dictionary app, but those are the users who are more likely to believe that reading books is a waste of time. If you read book-length texts as often as I do, or at least as often as the typical college student should read, this app is indispensable. Etymology hounds will find good hunting in these definitions. No, the dictionary entries arent nearly as long as they are in the full OED, but for your money you get more than what you pay for. If you can afford the subscription for the complete Oxford English Dictionary, by all means buy it instead. For the rest of us who have less money to spend on our reference tools, this app is almost as good as it gets. The reason that the title is deceiving is because the Shorter Oxford Dictionary is by no means a short dictionary; its merely shorter than the the 12-volume OED. Its still longer than any other English dictionary that can be found in the App Store. Incidentally, I find myself using dictionaries even more after finishing grad school, not less. Go ahead and look of the entry for irony in this dictionary, and read all the way to the end of the etymology. Then you can understand why no one really has a right to sneer at a perceived misuse of the word since it rarely is used these days according to its oldest meaning.

I hesitated for a moment after reading highly-agreed negative comments, but I decided to give it a try, and I love it :) To change the font size, just open it, click on its menu “Shorter Oxford English Dictionary” at the upper left corner of the screen of your Mac/Notebook (next to the Apple icon) and choose “Preferences.” I don’t think there is any possibility to change its font color or any other configurations, but I think it’s pretty organized and neat even though I have OCD. The only thing I wish it includes would be American pronunciations. Well, it does its job. Perfectly, to be honest. I didn’t expect it to have Le Châtelier, but it does. This is just awesome :)

This is not the OED, which is OK. It’s a strikingly useful dictionary with a more business-like approach than the OED, though there are still some nice discussions of connotations. It’s sad, and amusing, that this work is not available for IOS, and the American Heritage is not available for OS-X. And the Collins Roget is not available in either.

I used to have the two volumes of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary when I was at University in London, but that wasn’t nearly as useful as this version, which is always right here in OS Xs Dock. For the past year or two I’ve also had a copy (made by MobiSystems) on my iPad, which, beside being with me everywhere, has a nicer interface. But I still use this version more often, when I’m writing on my Mac. It is the content which is important, not the interface. The description in the iOS App Store version also notes that the Shorter OED, while containing only one-third of the coverage of the full 20-volume OED, contains every English word in use from 1700 to the present, plus the vocabularies of older major authors. I use other dictionaries most of the time, but this dictionary is indispensable when you need additional clarification.