The Macmillan Essential Dictionary builds on the success of its sister dictionary, the Macmillan English Dictionary, adapting its unique features to the different needs of intermediate learners. These include:

• the 'red words'
  the most frequent and useful words in English are shown in red, so that you can easily recognize the vocabulary that – as an intermediate learner – you need to know especially well. For this dictionary, we have identified 3,500 red words.
  
  
• maximum coverage
  our goal is to include as many vocabulary items as possible, and this dictionary has more entries than any other intermediate learner's dictionary
  
  
• special attention to 'collocation' (the way words regularly combine with each other) over 130 new collocation boxes provide a unique bank of data on natural-sounding word combinations
  
  
• dozens of special notes
  information on common errors and boxes that will help you to increase your vocabulary
  
  
• Study pages
  hundreds of linked pages, packed with ideas that will help you to become a better learner, including information on collocation, word formation, vocabulary development, and much more

We hope you will enjoy using the Macmillan Essential Dictionary, and we are confident that you will soon find that it is an essential part of your language-learning experience.