Dictionary.com Announces Expanded Products to Help Users Adapt and Enjoy Learning for Today

Updates Include New Product Suite and Branding

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Oct 16, 2020, 08:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Dictionary Day, Dictionary.com today announced several new initiatives to provide users access to an unparalleled slate of resources and expertise on language. My Word List will launch on Dictionary.com, along with a new suite of products on Thesaurus.com such as Grammar Coach™ and Synonym of the Day. These updates help users better navigate the evolving landscape of language and learning in today's fast-changing world.

"Our new product launches are the latest step in evolving and adjusting to the ever-changing world of language and education for today," said Jennifer Steeves-Kiss, CEO, Dictionary.com. "Our brands go beyond definitions and synonyms—we are the dictionary of the future. We do more than document language as it evolves; we strive to meet our user needs as their lives are changing. We now provide a portal into writing, games, education—all packaged in a new look and more personalized user experience with an amazing new array of products."

Product Launches:

Grammar Coach™: To celebrate Dictionary Day, Dictionary.com is offering premium Grammar Coach features for free for the rest of October. This robust new writing tool pairs the company's world class linguist-curated synonyms with cutting edge machine learning algorithms to provide users customized recommendations based on the context of their writing. Grammar Coach offers spelling and grammar check, synonym suggestions, and sentiment analysis, as well features such as tone, formality, and engagement, to help users hone their writing skills — be it in essays, emails, cover letters, or any of the thousands of other places where they use words every day. On average, Grammar Coach™ beta users have spent more than three hours per session honing their skills.
My Word List: Users can create their own Word Lists by saving a word from both Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com to review at any time. Learners, parents, and educators can now easily save words and learn about them in a one-stop shop. The feature provides quick and easy access to learn both definitions and synonyms on the words saved.
Synonym of the Day: Thesaurus.com has unveiled Synonym of the Day, a counterpart to the popular Dictionary.com Word of the Day feature, providing users with a daily means to learn not just new words but smarter, more eloquent ways to use them. Synonym of the Day helps users make better choices about words for more effective communication. No two words are exactly alike, and Synonym of the Day offers a closer look at the nuances and differences in meaning and usage between synonyms, giving users the tools they need to get it right.

Brand Identity:
Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com are places where learning happens - beginning with language. Through language and exploring words, new doors are opened for users to find enjoyment in writing and expression. Dictionary.com has also announced new branding to evoke this doorway to education across its web and app platforms. The new design system illuminates the brand's path as the most trusted education publisher.

"The new brand strategy delivers limitless, and memorable possibilities, and sparking delight, converting new loyal consumers, and building the emotional connection to the brand," Steeves-Kiss said.

Dictionary.com also made additional updates to its editorial content, including even more updated definitions beyond its record release last month, as well as through Extra Credit, which consists of explainer articles that live on definition pages to supplement and expand on the main definitions. Extra Credit gives a simple overview of what terms mean, how they're used, and where they come from. Extra Credit provides the full context of a definition to help users understand a term's meaning on one page, without having to navigate to additional definitions. The synergy between all of Dictionary.com's platforms and resources enables the company to remain timely, capturing trends as they are occurring, but also to take the time to separate what is lasting from ephemeral, and to put trends into larger contexts.

"Dictionary.com has made more updates in 2020 than ever before in its 25-year history," continued Steeves-Kiss. "That includes adding nearly 18,000 entries including new words and updating older definitions to the site, as well as expanding on thousands of words with additional etymological information and usage over time. All of our recent updates allow us to represent changes in language that reflect where we are as a society."

SOURCE Dictionary.com