Wordsmyth FAQ page.

Registering with Wordsmyth is free and gives you access to additional functions and features:

• Registered users can save and share links for quizzes and online study tools.
• Registered users can try limited or temporary versions of new features that are fully or permanently available only with subscription, such as Spanish support, dictionary customization settings, lookup history—and more, as new features are added to Wordsmyth.
• Also, by registering, you help us become a better dictionary site. You help us learn about our users and about how to improve our site to best suit our users' dictionary and vocabulary-study needs. We are a small company and have always benefited from the feedback and suggestions of our users, and we hope to build a vibrant Wordsmyth community that can benefit all its members!

We respect your privacy, and we will never share your email address or information with anyone.

Your "login" or "login shortcut" is the same as what many other sites call a "user name." It is a short memorable string of letters and/or numbers that you can use in conjunction with your password to log in to the Wordsmyth site. Some people prefer to simply use their email address when they log in, so we've made it optional to create a separate login.

Multiple users can't share the same login/password combination, so if yours is rejected, change either the login or password.

Your "display name" is the name by which you will be known on the Wordsmyth site. You'll see it on the top of the page when you are logged in and, when we add social features and community discussions in the future, your display name is the name that will identify you in those places. If you are comfortable using your full name, that is fine. If you'd rather go by an alias or nickname, that's fine too. The only requirement is that it be unique, so you might need to try a couple times to find an available name. Don't worry about remembering it, because you don't need to know your display name to log in.

Your display name needs to be different from everyone else's. If the name you tried has been rejected, try some of these ideas:

• Add a number to the end of the name
  e.g. John Doe John Doe 12
• Add your middle name
  e.g. John Doe Jane Sally Doe
• Use a creative nickname or alias (but remember, if you ever participate in discussions or other social features, other people will see this name!)
  e.g. Mike Smith NYC Teacher Guy

Yes, you can change any or all of these things. Once you are logged in, just click on Settings and then click "Edit" next to whatever field(s) you want to change. Note:

• If you change your email address, you will have to activate the account again by checking your email and copying the activation code into the activation page.
• To make any change, you have to enter your password. If the value you are changing is your password, you should type the new password twice, and then type the old password to confirm the change. (If you are changing your password from the random password you were assigned when you registered, the random password we sent by email is the old password.)

To protect our site from spam and other inappropriate use, we need to confirm that you are all real people with real email addresses, that the email addresses you provide us are valid, and that you are the actual owner of the address. That is the purpose of the activation code--it guarantees that people can't register with someone else's email address or fake email addresses. When we build community features like discussion forums and sharing features into the site in the future, this will help protect all of us from unwanted spam and inappropriate comments.

Some web browsers try to help you out by storing user names and passwords for you and filling them in on web forms. If you see your user name shown in the "activation code" field in the activation page, just delete it and fill it in with the activation code you were sent by email. It's just a miscommunication between your browser and our site.

After you fill in the registration information, we will send a message to the email address you provide. The sender will be [email protected], and the subject heading will be "Wordsmyth registration." If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder in case it landed there. Also, confirm that you typed your email address correctly. If you still haven't received our email, write to us at [email protected] or just try registering again. It might be even quicker.

Wordsmyth has existed for a long time, so perhaps you registered several years ago and forgot? Anyway, don't worry. If you complete the current activation process you have initiated, your old account information will be replaced with whatever new information you provide. (If you are sure that you have never registered before, you might want to confirm that your email account is secure. Since our activation process is designed to prove that you are the real owner of the email address you provide during registration, it would be impossible for someone else to complete a registration with your email address unless they also knew your email password and were able to log on to your email to get the activation code.)

If you closed the Wordsmyth activation window before activating your account, you have two options:

1. If you are using the same computer and same browser that you were using when you registered, and if your browser accepts cookies, then you should see a "Complete Activation" link in the upper right corner of the screen (next to "Log In" and "Register"). Clicking here will take you to the same activation page that you previously closed, and you can paste in the activation code that was sent to you by email.
2. If there is no "Complete Activation" link in the upper right corner of the screen, then you will have to register again. Luckily, you know now that it's a quick process! Just delete the activation email you have now, complete a new registration, and you'll be all set. (Just leave that activation window open this time!)

Fear not! If you know the email address that you used when you registered for Wordsmyth, you can always use that instead. Once you are logged in, you can click on "Settings" to see what your login is. Remember, Login is an optional field, so you might not even have one. If you also forgot your email address, read on...

If you know your login shortcut and password, you don't need your email address to log in. Once you've logged in, click on Settings to see the email address that is associated with your account. If you don't know your login or the email address that you used when you registered, you are going to have to register again. Don't worry--it only takes a minute. If you end up using the same email address as you did the first time you registered, you will get an activation email that says so, and the new info will replace the old info.

If you forgot your password, just click "Forgot your password?" on the Log In page. You'll just need to type in your email address and, provided the email address is in our records, we'll email you a system-generated password. After you activate your account using that password, click on Settings to change your password to something more memorable.

Don't worry. You don't need to know your Display Name to log in. Once you log in using your email or login and your password, your display name will automatically be shown on the top of the page. Click on "Settings" to change it.

Wordsmyth does use cookies to "remember" your login. Ideally, you should not be required to log in every time you visit Wordsmyth. However, in a small number of cases, users' browsers do not seem to remember their login. While we continue to work on a perfect solution for everybody, there appear to be several possible causes:

• You clicked the "log out" link. If you do this, the browser will definitely (for your security) require you to log in on your next visit.
• Your browser is retrieving the Wordsmyth page from its local cache rather than live from our Web server. Although this should rarely happen, you can try to use your browser's "reload" or "refresh" function to re-fetch the page from our Web server.
• Your browser or computer has lost track of the Wordsmyth cookie. This could be a result of security settings on your machine that prevent or erase cookies between sessions.
• We may have had a problem with our servers, which can occasionally lead to a need for users to re-enter their log in.

See our subscription feature chart to find out what's available to all users, registered users, and subscribed users.

No, you do not have to subscribe. All of the Wordsmyth dictionaries are free for anyone to use, and many features and tools are available for free to registered users in a limited form.

The Educational Group Subscription provides premium features through a unique school URL.After the payment transaction is completed, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to your school start page (www.wordsmyth.net/school/yourschoolname/start). Through the start page, all group subscription users will be able to make use of Wordsmyth's premium educational features, including Teacher Tools that allow educators to interact with their students. In other words, each subscription is given its own start page and each teacher or student can use this start page to get access to subscription privileges.
We recommend bookmarking your school start page or adding the URL as a link on your school's website.

Educators in addition to yourself are required to register in order to use Teacher Tools and save data, such as wordlists and lessons. After registration, all users own their personal account. Users can log in on Wordsmyth sites or with the school URL. In other words, a user's personal data will go with them wherever they are.
Students are not required to register (i.e., make an account) with Wordsmyth. Students have full access to subscription features through the school start page without logging in. However, when a teacher sets up a class and gives assignments to the class, students need to register for that class. Class registration is extremely simple--only the student's name is required. This is just so that the teacher can identify each individual student in their class. Wordsmyth does not collect students' personal information.

Yes, you and your students can also use your subscription privileges from home, or anywhere with internet access. As long as a user can open the school start page, all Wordsmyth subscription features will be available.

If you already have an account with Wordsmyth, (i.e., you have previously registered with Wordsmyth), you can log in with your existing account information on your school URL. We encourage you to keep only one Wordsmyth account. If you move to a different school, your saved data will go with you as long as there is a group subscription.

The short answer is "no."
On your school URL, all teachers and students form an "educational group" who collectively enjoy the group subscription. On the Wordsmyth standard URL (wordsmyth.net), if you are the contact person of the Educational Group Subscription, you will have subscription privileges as an individual user. However, students and any other users will not have subscription privileges when logging in from the standard Wordsmyth URL.
To access Educational Group Subscription features, be sure to log in with your school URL.

If you use the school page without logging in, the site will be ad-free with full access to premium dictionary features. However, you will not be able to use Teacher Tools, and you will not be able to save any data, such as wordlists or lessons you've created.

You can click the cancel button on the subscription page while your subscription is active. Also, in your account settings, under the subscription tab, you will find the same "cancel" button.
After you cancel the current subscription, you will have subscriber privileges until the end of the subscription. The subscription will not be renewed after the expiration date.

You can change the number of users for the upcoming subscription period. Please note the change will not take effect during the current subscription period.
The best time to change the number of users is when your subscription comes up for renewal. (You will receive an email reminder at renewal time.) To add new users, you need to first cancel your current subscription and then re-subscribe. The process is very simple! On the subscription page, click the "cancel subscription" button and confirm the cancellation. On the same page, there is a "Subscribe now" button available. Click it and you will see all your contact and school information prefilled and your school URL unchanged. Now you can change the number of users. Of course, if you need to change your contact information or school URL, you can do so as well.
If you are not completely sure about the number of users, please include a few additional slots when you subscribe.

The Title I school financial aid program has been discontinued. We are glad that we were able to support Title I schools with a free subscription in the past, but inflationary pressures have made our continued development dependent on support from all of our users. And we will continue to offer the lowest cost premium services available anywhere online or in print.

Yes, the Wordsmyth Widget is safe to install. This warning, delivered by Internet Explorer, is a generic warning for any bookmark that includes active scripting.

Because the Wordsmyth site has expanded to include more dictionaries and new features, we've done some renaming for maximum clarity. A new tab at the far left, called "Dictionaries," drops down a menu allowing you to choose the Illustrated dictionary (Wordsmyth Illustrated Learner's Dictionary, or "WILD"), the Children's Word Explorer dictionary, or the Comprehensive Dictionary Suite. The leveled dictionary that was simply called "Wordsmyth" has become the Comprehensive Dictionary.

We always appreciate your suggestions for words that Wordsmyth should add to its dictionary. Adding a new entry to the dictionary is a more complex process than it may seem, because it requires a lexicographically trained editor to supply an entry with proper parts of speech, inflected forms, derived forms, definitions, examples, etc. But rest assured, we maintain a database of such suggestions as an important reference in our planning of new content.

Wordsmyth's search box supports two kinds of wildcard searching:

• You can use an asterisk (*) to represent any character or string of characters. For example, if you search for "*oil," you will find all headwords that end in "oil," including "coil," "broil," and "olive oil." If you search for "oil*," you will find all headwords starting with "oil," including "oily" and "oil well." And if you search for "*oil*", you will find all headwords containing "oil" anywhere in their spelling, including "coil," "oil well," and "broiler." The asterisk also represents zero characters, so all of these "oil"-based searches would also return the word "oil" itself. The zero value of the asterisk is most useful in the middle of a search word. When you don't know whether there is a letter or letters at a certain place in a word, you can use the asterisk. For example, you might remember part of a word's spelling, so you might enter "mit*c*ond*ria" in the search box. You would find "mitochondria" because the first two asterisks match the letters "o" and "h," respectively, while the third asterisk matches zero characters. There is no letter between the "d" and the "r" in "mitochondria."
• You can use a question mark (?) to represent any single character. For example, if you search for "?oil," you will find all four-character headwords ending in "oil," including "boil" and "coil." If you search for "??oil," you will find all five-character headwords ending in "oil," including "broil" and "spoil."

Use the Reverse Search feature in Search Tools to find a word that is used in multiple definitions. Just type in the word in the search box and choose between the listed options for searching. Typing in "oil" can help you find words like "anoint," "cottonseed," "crude," "deep-fry," "diesel," and "pesto."

Reverse Search is very useful for this. If you click on Reverse Search under Search Tools, you'll be taken to a page where you can search for any word or words within the text of definitions or other dictionary fields. For example, you can search for all definitions that contain the words "edible fruit," or for all words that have "happy" as a synonym. The Reverse Search page contains explanations of all the kinds of searches you can perform.

Give it your best shot! If you get it wrong and type a word that does not exist, we will show you a list of similarly spelled words as spelling suggestions. Also, if you click on the "Similar Spellings" tab (next to "Multi-Word Results" in the bottom of the left-hand side bar), you will find a list of similarly spelled words there. The Similar Spellings list can be helpful even if the word you looked up does exist--say, if you're trying to think of the word meaning "safe for drinking," and you think it sounds like "portable," type in "portable"! You'll find the real word you're looking for ("potable"!) under Similar Spellings.

Two ways: If you know the exact phrase you are looking for, just type it in the search box. If it is included in the dictionary, it will come right up. Alternatively, if you want to see all phrases that include a particular word, just look up the word and then click on "Multi-Word Results" to see all headword entries containing it. For example, if you search for "lay" and click on "Multi-Word Results," you'll see that there are several phrases containing it, including "lay off," "lay out," and "lay waste." Double click a phrase in the list to see its full entry.

If there are phrases or compound nouns containing the word you have looked up, they will appear in "Multi-Word Results." For example, if you search for "bear," you will find a number of words and phrases in Multi-word Results, including "ant bear," "bear arms," "bear up," "bear with," "black bear," and "brown bear." Double-click on any of the Multi-Word Results to see its full entry.

The "old dictionary format" has remained popular, so we have added it to the Comprehensive Dictionary Settings--as "Classic" format. Registered users can apply a default setting, so that their preferred format, whether Classic or Standard, will be on whenever they visit Wordsmyth.

1. There are no unique symbols to represent any sounds, except for the symbol schwa. With this one exception, only alphabet letters are used.
2. Each vowel letter represents a single vowel sound, as opposed to the same letter being marked in different ways using macrons, dots, or other diacritics.
3. Representation of the vowels using IPA-like letter-sound correspondences is more intuitive for many non-native speakers whose languages have similar letter-sound correspondences (e.g., the letter "i" in Spanish represents a sound similar to the sound /i/ in the Wordsmyth and IPA systems.)
4. The Wordsmyth system is highly consistent within itself and draws on both native and non-native speaker knowledge of letter-sound correspondences.

Well, for one thing, it's fun! While we are purveyors of a dictionary in electronic form, we have never forgotten some of the great things about print dictionaries. For one thing, the serendipitous discovery of words you weren't looking for as you let your eyes wander over a page. That experience isn't enabled when you are limited to typing a word in a search box. Therefore, we have created the "Browse" function, which will let you see words that come alphabetically before and after the word you are looking at. It's a great way to discover words.

Registered users can save glossaries and quizzes they create. After you've customized your glossary or quiz and click "Next," you will see a preview of your activity and, at the bottom right of the page, these options: "Back" (to make more changes), "Set page break by click," "Randomize," (order of questions), "Print," "Try online," and "Save." If you click on "Save," your activity is saved and you will be taken to My Activities page, where you will see this saved glossary or quiz, as well as any previously saved activities.

Registered users can save the glossaries and quizzes they create. To access saved activities, click on My Wordsmyth: My Activities tab (far right).

Go to My Wordsmyth: My Activities. Across from the name of each saved activity, you will see several icons. To share the URL of an activity, click on the envelope icon. A box will open containing the URL of the activity. You can copy and paste the URL into an email, document, or website to share it. You can also click on the link to go directly to the activity yourself.

The current word limit for registered and unregistered users is 12 words. To increase your word limit to 50, as well as to enjoy unlimited saving and sharing, you must subscribe. Read about all the advantages of subscription here.

Yes. To edit a saved activity, click on My Wordsmyth: My Activities tab, where you will see a list of your saved activities. To edit an activity, click on the radio button next to it and then click on the "Edit Activity" button at the bottom right of the Saved Activity list. This will take you back to the Customize screen, where you can edit your quiz or glossary. If you want to go further back and change your original input, such as words and title, click the "Back" button at the bottom right. To save the updated version, be sure to click the "Save" button on the bottom right of the preview page.