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Why choose Longman dictionaries?
Easy to use and understand
Our learner dictionaries use commonly used words to make understanding easy, whatever your level.
Improve communication skills
Our learner dictionaries help you learn vocabulary and understand words in context.
Develop natural English
Our learner dictionaries use definitions and include whole, authentic English sentences.
What makes Longman dictionaries better?
Definitions
Unlike free online dictionaries our definitions use common words.
Clear definitions use the Longman Defining Vocabulary of 2,000 words.
Easy to understand definitions, whatever your level.
Meanings organised by frequency.
Common meanings come first.
A quicker way to find the meanings you are looking for.
Longman Corpus
We guide you to the right meaning - fast!.
Meanings are summarised with words or short phrases.
Helps you find words with multiple meanings.
Academic Word List
Academic Word List
Highlighted words from the Academic Word List help you focus on relevant, academic vocabulary.
Topic Vocabulary
Topic specific words are labelled.
Helps you find the exact meaning for the context you want.
Example sentences
Corpus-based examples show authentic and natural English.
Words are shown in context.
Collocations
Frequent, common word combinations are highlighted.
Collocations help improve fluency so you can express yourself naturally.
Synonyms have definitions and example sentences, helping learners expand their vocabulary.
Grammar explained
Key grammar explanations help you write and speak correctly.
Research shows you need to know roughly 9000 word families to understand a wide variety of authentic texts. Based on the latest research Longman have now created a list of the 9000 most frequent words in English – the Longman Communication 9000.
TheВ Longman Communication 9000В isВ divided into three bands of high, medium and lower frequency words.
TheВ Longman Communication 9000В represents the core of the English language. It shows you which words are the most important to learn for effective communication.
The Longman Communication 9000 has been developed from the Longman Communication 3000, which features the 3000 highest frequency words and is still used in some of our dictionaries.