Quick Tip:
A Valuable One-Stop Dictionary

Let’s say you’re writing an alternative-health product promo and you find the word “anaphylactic.” You need to know the definition, but you also need to know more about it than what you get from the built-in dictionary in MS Word or the one on your bookshelf. In other words, you need a good medical dictionary.

Or let’s say you’re writing a promotion for a financial newsletter and you come across the word “jornalero” in an article about immigration. Does it mean “journal?” (No!) In this case, you need a good Spanish-English dictionary.

In fact, to be an effective copywriter, you also need a good dictionary of financial terms, of slang, of sports, of business, of computing, of science … and so on.

What I’m saying is that you need an extensive library of dictionaries. But this could be an expensive proposition, taking up tons of space and time (as you go from book to book).

For an easy solution to this problem, go to OneLook.com. This free resource has indexed 931 dictionaries. All you do is enter the word you want a definition (or translation) for and click “search.” Bingo!

If you aren’t sure of the spelling, OneLook.com also allows you to do a partial-word wildcard search. (Explained on their simple website.)