Dictionary API Reference

Programmatic access to 15M+ words, 100+ languages, and AI-powered linguistic insights. Build language-aware applications in minutes.

ℹ️

All endpoints require authentication via API key. Base URL: https://api.dictionary.com/v1

Quickstart

Get your first definition in under 60 seconds. Install our SDK or make raw HTTP requests.

curl -X GET https://api.dictionary.com/v1/lookup?word=ephemeral \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

import dictionary

client = dictionary.Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
result = client.lookup("ephemeral")
print(result["definitions"])

const Dictionary = require('dictionary-sdk');

const client = new Dictionary('YOUR_API_KEY');
const result = await client.lookup('ephemeral');
console.log(result.definitions);

Authentication

Access to the Dictionary API requires an API key. Include it in the Authorization header of every request.

⚠️

Never expose your API key in client-side code or public repositories. Use environment variables.

Header	Format	Description
`Authorization`	`Bearer <api_key>`	Your secret API key from the dashboard
`X-Dict-Version`	`v1`	API version (optional, defaults to v1)

Endpoints

GET /v1/lookup

Retrieve definitions, phonetics, and usage examples for a given word or phrase.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`word`	string	Required	The word or phrase to look up
`lang`	string	Optional	ISO 639-1 language code (default: en)
`include`	string	Optional	Comma-separated: phonetics, examples, synonyms, etymology

Response

{
  "word": "ephemeral",
  "phonetic": "/əˈfem.ər.əl/",
  "pos": "adjective",
  "definitions": [
    {
      "definition": "Lasting for a very short time.",
      "example": "Fashions are ephemeral, changing with every season."
    }
  ],
  "origin": "Greek ephēmeros, from epi + hēmera (day)"
}

POST /v1/synonyms

Find semantically similar words ranked by relevance. Supports context-aware disambiguation.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`word`	string	Required	Target word
`context`	string	Optional	Sentence to improve disambiguation
`limit`	integer	Optional	Max results (1-50, default: 10)

Response

{
  "word": "quick",
  "synonyms": [
    { "word": "fast", "relevance": 0.98 },
    { "word": "rapid", "relevance": 0.95 },
    { "word": "swift", "relevance": 0.92 }
  ]
}

Error Codes

The Dictionary API uses standard HTTP status codes and returns detailed error payloads.

Status	Code	Description
400	`INVALID_REQUEST`	Missing or malformed parameters
401	`UNAUTHORIZED`	Missing or invalid API key
403	`FORBIDDEN`	Insufficient permissions or expired key
404	`WORD_NOT_FOUND`	Word not in corpus
429	`RATE_LIMITED`	Too many requests. Wait and retry.
500	`INTERNAL_ERROR`	Server-side failure

SDKs & Libraries

Official client libraries for popular languages. Community-maintained wrappers are also available.

pip install dictionary-sdk

npm install @dictionary/api

go get github.com/dictionary/api-go

Documentation for each SDK includes type definitions, retry logic, and webhook handlers for batch operations.