Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged - Largest, Most Comprehensive Printed American Dictionary

I am pleased with the W3. But let me get to its disadvantages first. If you're used to reading without glasses, its small font will task your eyes (see photo for comparison). The typeface of the smaller M-W paperback dictionary, though also tiny, is bolder hence more legible. I understand why for some folks this is more than just a passing irritation. I use reading glasses so I can manage. At almost 6 kg it looks like it can crush a small animal. If you want a dictionary that you can easily grab and quickly find a word in, especially new words, the W3 is not the one you should buy, but something like the M-W Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition, or its paperback version. It's not as up-to-date as it should be. I knew this beforehand, so it's not a deal breaker. Here’s what I love about it. This issue bears all the signs of a premium, brand new book: decent binding, good paper, neat, and presentable. The board covers are wrapped in blue leather-like material for durability. It's printed in November 2023, in India, practically hot off the press. It was shipped in its thin advertising box that you can keep. I have a few dictionaries now, primarily because I'm fond of them: unabridged, college editions, hardcovers, and handy paperbacks. All of them are great for their purpose. Where the W3 excels is its brilliant coverage of English in the early 20th century, and in its in-depth definitions. This is particularly useful to me since English is my second language. For instance, I often hear politicians contending and one of them will say that his rival’s attacks are just politics. My abridged dictionaries will define politics as having to do with governance; also maneuvering and scheming. But the W3 will go on to give the meaning that clarifies the context for me. Politics 4 a (1): political affairs or business; specifically: competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership.. c: political activities characterized by artful often dishonest practices especially in securing success of political parties or candidates. For U$80 new at amazon, who also covers the shipping cost, I think the W3 is a good value. I sprayed specks of acrylic paint on its sides since I sometimes notice those super tiny bugs being attracted to books with plain white edges but seem to avoid speckled or painted edges. M-W has an online subscription of the Unabridged, which they regularly update. It's nice. But it lacks the full page illustrations, lists, tables, and those quaint drawings that makes the book an endearing tome. Bottom line, the W3 is still a useful dictionary for everyone, not just language enthusiasts. With the accretion of vocabulary from the 1960s to 2024 a fully updated Unabridged would be a beast of a book that won't likely see the light of day. The W3 may be the last of its kind. I'm glad to have it.

A must have dictionary in every classroom and den in your home library of books this dictionary have everything that you would need for spelling and any English test. This book is very large and heavy and have pages full of learning experiences. This dictionary is the only dictionary you will ever need. I will purchase another one.

I have the OED and Merriam Webster's revered 2nd Edition (1952). The W2 is an amazing piece of scholarship, and is perhaps the best English dictionary around, including proper names from history, myth, science, etc. as well as a pronouncing gazetteer at the back. However, the Merriam Webster's 3rd (W3) has the most entries ( over 476,000) and includes a lot more scientific terms. It does not include proper names, but it very rich and dense in just about everything that could be considered an English word or a loan-word or a compound word (although I just today noticed it is missing viridarium and cupidinous, which are in W2). This huge tome is for geeks only, as it is massive and weighs a lot. I like to go through it and, with a red pen, underline interesting words. Please note that this dictionary is a bit more DESCRIPTIVE, not strictly PRESCRIPTIVE as the revered W2, which means it sometimes favors newer definitions and pronunciations. However, it is not fully descriptive, which is good, so you can always see how the word evolved over time, starting with the first definition. Love this book!

I had been using the online Webster's but I found the listings incomplete and it was a bit of a nuisance to have to go online to get a listing. It is nice having the dictionary resident in my various computers. On the down side, I guess I expected to see more visuals, more graphics, more bells and whistles with every entry but perhaps it is the words I am requesting that are not conducive to such listings. I doubt if I would have purchased it without getting it back from my university professional fund since it is a bit pricey at roughly $50.

Update: With the current version of the Kindle app, there is no longer an issue with using this as your main Kindle dictionary. The preview entry window is now large enough to display the first definition and there is a drop down button which displays even more entries and of course you can still switch over to open the full dictionary if the word has a multitude of definitions or for the surrounding words. Old review: While this is a massive dictionary, it is not useful to quickly look up a word while reading on your kindle app. The definition pop-up only includes pronunciations and a line or two concerning the word's origin. The pop-up window does not allow you to scroll down for more information. There are no definitions in the pop-up window requiring you to click on the full definition link to open the entire dictionary. While it does open to the correct entry, it slows down your enjoyment of the book by requiring switching back and forth between the dictionary and what you are reading (which isn't always lightning quick on the cheap Kindle Fire tablets). I am not sure if this is a problem with the Kindle app or with how the dictionary entries were hyperlinked. But until it is fixed it is only good for researching a word and not for quick lookups. Also the Kindle edition does not include as many illustrations as the physical book reviews seem to suggest.

This is the ONLY dictionary that has satisfied me. Don't get literal-minded here. Word counts sell dictionaries to the overly-literal-minded American. More words --> better dictionary? Not really. In case after case after case even other biggish Websters (big because they ramped up word count) seem to never capture the IDEA of the word. In fact, the dictionaries almost admit it in their preferatory material (a dictionary is about definition, not connotation). If you have NO idea what a word means, MAYBE the definition will help. What all the other dictionaries FAIL to do is answer this: "you know, I wonder why I picked that word?" This big Webster's Third New International is GUARANTEED TO TELL YOU WHY YOU INSTINCTIVELY PICKED THAT WORD THAT YOU DID. (Obviously I am adressing a native English speaker in this review; non-native speakers: if the weight of this book is not unweildly for you, sure you should get it too.) Today's example: revelatory. I said MathCAD (math software) is motivated by its revelatory aspect. In an Excel spreadsheet all your crazy numbers and formulas can be any kind of stuff -- and noone would be the wiser, but in MathCAD all your computations are made manifest and explicitly disclosed. But the examples are numerous. Just time after time after time I find all other dictionaries dissappointing. It's like I want to add to the entry -- "see one uses this word to make a distinction or in these sorts of uses; if you want to emphasize THAT notion instead, this is not the word, THIS is the word." This big Websters International Unabridged has all that stuff that I would add to the entry already there.

It's bigger than you would think

I am a writer and I was looking for the best dictionary that I could find. I was reading a book on writing mysteries whrere one of the writers suggested the Webster's Third edition. I just got it and so far it has been the best dictionary that I have ever used. It is so comprehensive and it has gotten rid of the things that I don't use anyway. Thuis version has been criticised for not including proper names and geological references. I can't remember any time in my life where I looked up an historical figure of a location in the dicionary. That's what an encyclopedia is for. All that is useless in a dictionary, which is about defining words (obviously). Also some have criticized the fact that this version is descriptive and not prescriptive. Get over it. Curse words and improper words like ain't are used by millions of people in English speaking countries, not just America. Webster's decided to make a dictionary using words from the language as it is used, not how they think it should be used. Bottom line, if it's not in the Webster's Third, it's not a real word. Do yourself a favor and buy it.

Un dizionario della lingua inglese di grande portata! L’unica cosa è che si deve consultare seduto in scrivania, perché è pesante circa 6 kg è lunga 35 cm.! Però ne vale la pena perché è il massimo in commercio della lingua inglese, “ultimate”!

Excellent dictionary!!!

個人的には、アメリカの辞書としては、この3rd Websterと、American Heritageと、 あとコーパス辞書としてNew Oxford American Dictionaryがあれば 完璧かと思います。 かつての製品と違って、いまはCD-ROMはついていません。 ONLINEの1年無料使用権がついてます。 まあもちろん、このデカい辞書は取り回しという意味では難物なのですが、 これが家にあるということが、喜びなのではないかと。 というか、他の人がどう考えるかはともかく、そういう価値観の中で生きていたいです。

Much has already been written about this landmark dictionary. It created ripples across the academic world due to its sheer size and the controversy created on account of the tenacity of breaking the mold of prescriptive usage. The result is this largest single volume monolingual English dictionary available today that has one of the clearest and self-contained definitions, which are a pure pleasure to read. The illustrations littered in every page draw the browser's attention to rarities and tickle further interest towards exploration. For those who are curious to know more about this edition, it's a reprint of the 2002 edition, printed in November 2021 in India; I'm sure Indian reprints will continue, by and by, based on the demand. The principal edition was published in 1961. Since then further revisions were made to the addenda section by incorporating newer words that became prominent in the English language since originally published. The current edition contains 89 pages in the addenda and it's unlikely to change. The dictionary also comes with a one year free subscription to the online version of this unabridged dictionary as well as that of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Collegiate Thesaurus and and Medical Dictionary. Possessing this dictionary gives the feeling of holding an institution within one's reach. I have it next to my study table at all times (not to mention that you cannot move this tome easily if you kept it tucked away in the corner of a bookshelf; it deserves to be looked up with TLC).

The Dictionary arrived on time and in good presentation. It has over 450,000 words which makes it one of the most thorough dictionaries in one book. The only downside is that each page is in three columns and the writting is quite small. It would be better to have a two-volume set with larger text. Nick