Using WordWeb Pro

WordWeb Pro can look up words in virtually any program with just one click: just hold down the Ctrl key and right-click on the word. If you are online, with one extra click you can also search web references, for example Wikipedia. The hotkey can be customized, or you can use a keyboard shortcut if you prefer.

If you are editing a document you can select a synonym and replace the look-up word. WordWeb has the option to highlight widely used synonyms, great for helping you write clear easy-to-understand English.

Look up using Ctrl+Right-click on a word in almost any program

Exploring senses

If you are looking for a particular part of speech you can click on the Noun, Verb, Adjective or Adverb buttons to show only the relevant synonyms and related words. To look at a particular sense you can click on the sense number.

Browsing around related words is simple: click on the tabs for synonyms, antonyms, parts, part of, types, type of, similar, see also, and anagrams. To see the definition for one of the related words double-click on the word. You can also use the back and forward buttons.

Related words also have "+" and "-" buttons to be more or less specific. For example if you look at the similar words, maybe you'd like to see words that are more loosely similar: you can do this by pressing the "+" button, and go back again by pressing the "-" button.

Web references

In addition to using the comprehensive English dictionary and thesaurus supplied, if you are online you can also search your choice of web references. Each reference is on a separate tabbed page for easy cross-referencing. The list of tabs can be customized to use your favorite references. Wikipedia and some online dictionaries are installed by default.

Extra dictionaries

You can also get optional third-party dictionaries, including the Oxford, Chambers and Collins dictionaries, shown on separate tabs like the web references.

Use custom glossaries

You can add your own technical glossaries (or list of company acronyms, etc.) using the option on the "Glossaries" menu.

Find words

Using the "Find Word" feature you can quickly find words matching a pattern. You can also search a wide range of optional extra word lists using the Find Word window. The screenshot shows what you'd get if you did a punctuation sensitive search in the optional "Compounds and Phrases" word list for phrases ending in "word".

WordWeb Pro is supplied with a 290 000 list of words from the WordWeb database. There are many additional word lists available, including Scrabble, technical, language, Wikipedia and proper noun lists. For details please see the ordering page.

Use * to stand for any number of letters, and ? for one unknown letter. You can also do powerful advanced searches for vowel/consonant patterns, punctuation specific word forms, and groups of letters, or general advanced regular expressions.

Full-text definition search

Use the "full text" button to search for text appearing in any definition. For example search for "female fox" and it will find the definition of "vixen". The screenshot shows another example.

Anagrams

Enter a word to find all straight and multiple-word anagrams.

You can also find partial anagrams. How many words can you make using the letters in "constitutional"? WordWeb Pro's answer: 726!

Add definitions

Select "New Definition" from the "Edit" menu to add a new word (or set of words) with definition. You can also import and export to common spreadsheet-format files.

Learn vocabulary

Use the bookmark feature to remember useful words. There's a feature to randomly look one up as a way of helping you remember vocabulary. WordWeb also builds a list words you've looked up, so you can go back and check you remember definitions. You can also export the list to a text editor, delete items, or delete the entire history list.

Replace, copy and paste

If you are looking up a word from a document you are editing, you can select any word and press the "Replace" button to substitute a synonym. You can also copy to the clipboard parts of definitions, all definitions, the selected related word, or all of the listed related words (or anagrams/words matching a pattern).

Proper Nouns

Includes many names of places and people, with a concise definitions and related words.

Requirements

You do not need to be online to use WordWeb

You just need a computer running Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 (desktop). There is also a separate Mac OS version.