What's the word you can never find in a dictionary?

I'm launching Elseword tomorrow, an AI dictionary built around what you mean, not a fixed list of entries.


The reason I built it: the words I actually needed were never entries. "A polite way to disagree with my manager." "A word for caring about the tiniest details." A dictionary can't answer that; it only answers if you already know the word.

The other reason is that I don't think in one language. I'd meet a word in Chinese, wonder how it lands in Japanese, then want the English sense too, and I'd be three apps deep with a different dictionary for each, losing the thread every time I switched.

So Elseword takes the description and gives you the word in context with examples and usage. Then you can carry that same word into another language, or follow it with a question of your own, without leaving the answer.

Two things I'd love to hear before tomorrow:

1. What's a meaning you've tried and failed to look up?

2. Which language pair do you switch between most?

If you'd like to try it early:

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A quick update: Elseword is now on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

I’m still interested in the words you can describe but can’t quite name. Try one in Elseword, then ask a follow-up about how you’d actually use it. I’d love to hear what you looked up and how it went.