The built-in Dictionary on Mac and iPhone
By Anna —
Did you know that your Mac and your iPhone come with high quality dictionaries?
Apple includes free bi-lingual English dictionaries for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. If you are learning any of these languages (or learning English and know any of these languages) you have easy access to these free offline dictionaries.
So where do you find these great tools? Actually it's a bit hidden.
Dictionary app on the Mac
Your Mac comes with an app called "Dictionary", which you find in your Applications folder.
However, by default only a few dictionaries are activated. You first need to go to the Dictionary app settings (Dictionary Menu > Settings) and activate the foreign language dictionaries that you need.
Now you can look up words directly in the Dictionary app or using Spotlight.
Dictionaries on the iPhone or iPad
On the mobile iOS devices you cannot directly access the dictionaries. There is no dedicated app as on the Mac.
To activate the integrated dictionaries go to System Settings > General > Dictionary. There you can activate and download the languages you need.
Using the built-in dictionaries in Wokabulary
The Apple dictionaries are directly integrated in macOS and iOS, so you can access them from any native app.
When you edit a word in Wokabulary, there is even a dedicated button for this. Just click the book icon in the word editing view to look up the word in the dictionary right away.
But in other apps, or on cards in Wokabulary that you can't edit, a lookup is almost as easy:
On the Mac, perform a force touch or three-finger-touch on the word. (You might need to activate this feature in System Settings > Trackpad.)
On your iPhone or iPad, select the word and choose "Look Up" from the action menu.
[Update October 2026]
- Updated all screenshots
- Added the dedicated dictionary button in Wokabulary's word editing view
