Dictionaries are Adorkable

I am entering into the second week of my first Master's class in English and Creative Writing and thought it might be fun to share some of the discussions in class. This week we are talking about the value dictionaries hold, and how specialized dictionaries provide us with unique perspectives on our ever-evolving language. An online dictionary that offer not only traditional words, but also words in popular culture is the perfect choice for this geek girl. Here's my offering on the discussion:

I chose to explore Wordnik (https://www.wordnik.com/), which operates in both a conventional and unconventional manner when providing information about words. Wordnik offers definitions from multiple sources, so you can see as many different takes on a word's meaning as possible. It showcases a word’s etymology if available as well, so the user can get a sense of the word’s evolution. Wordnik presents examples of how the word is used including examples from major news media and from books.

This online dictionary also presents information about word relationships. It presents synonyms, but in this dictionary you will also find hypernyms (words that are more generic or abstract than the given word) and hyponyms (words that are more specific). Wordnik also functions as a community. Registered users can create lists of words, discuss words with others, and leave comments on word definitions. Users can also find audio files of pronunciations, visual representations of word meanings, and for fun how many points the word is worth in Scrabble.

This dictionary can be an invaluable tool for me as I write some of my new-adult or young adult contemporary romances in a variety of ways.  It offers me alternative words for the word I am thinking of using, but that doesn’t quite fit the situation. For example, if I am writing a sentence where I want to use the word “kerfuffle” but it doesn’t sound like something my character would say, I can use the Wordnik to find similar words like “racket”, which might fit better in the context of the sentence I am using and the character who is speaking.

Another way this tool can be beneficial is to find words that aren’t necessarily in the more establish dictionaries, but are used frequently in communicating both in person and in situations like social media conversations. A great example of this is the use of the term “adorkable”. Wordnik defines it as “adorable in a socially awkward manner” (Wordnik). Adorkable might not be found in a traditional dictionary, or be a valid Scrabble word, but it is being more often. The examples Wordnik offers of its usage illustrate that as well as the fact that the word is on numerous user lists, and has been looked up 2,468 times.

The English language is ever-changing and growing. I believe Wordnik is a dictionary that mirrors that fluidity by combining conventional elements of word meanings with interactive, community-driven ones.

 

"Adorkable." Wordnik..com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.<https://www.wordnik.com/words/adorkable>.