Open Dictionary
What is the Open Dictionary?
The Open Dictionary is Macmillan Dictionary's crowdsourced dictionary, where you can suggest words and expressions for us to add. The Open Dictionary started in 2009, and since then thousands of words and phrases have been added. About half of these have been "promoted" to become full entries in Macmillan Dictionary.
What kinds of words can I submit to the Open Dictionary?
We'd like you to tell us about words and expressions that are being used in English where you are. They could be:
- new words and phrases that have entered the language;
- technical, regional or slang terms;
- words from other languages that English is borrowing;
- or just words we missed when we were compiling Macmillan Dictionary.
We have created a useful diagram to help you decide whether to submit a suggestion or not.
What kinds of words should I not submit to the Open Dictionary?
Please don't submit:
- words that you or your friends have invented;
- obscenities;
- the names of people you dislike and what you would like to do to them;
- or words and phrases that are already in the dictionary.
All of these types of suggestion go straight into the (virtual) bin.
How do I submit a word to the Open Dictionary?
You can click on this button to read full instructions and to fill in the submission form:
What happens after I submit a word?
We will check to see if there is independent evidence showing your word in use. If there is, we will add it to Macmillan Dictionary, but we won't publish anything which may cause offence. Once your word is in the dictionary, your name will appear with it. For example, here you can see what we did with the word cowberry.
Please note that due to the number of submissions we receive to the Open Dictionary we are unable to respond individually to contributors.
Can I see other words that have been added to the Open Dictionary?
Yes! You can see the most recently added words in our up-to-date Open Dictionary entries list. And you can browse the complete collection of the Open Dictionary words in our Open Dictionary archive.
What does the editor like about the Open Dictionary?
"I never know what I'm going to find when I look at the most recent submissions to the Open Dictionary. What I hope to find is new words or expressions that are entering the English language, or ones that have passed us by for some reason.
Entries that consist of invented words, personal attacks or words that are already in the dictionary, on the other hand, get rejected. The latter generally outnumber the former by about three to one. It would be great to reverse those proportions."
