Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged

I am pleased with the W3. But let me get to its disadvantages first. If you're used to reading without glasses, its small font will task your eyes (see photo for comparison). The typeface of the smaller M-W paperback dictionary, though also tiny, is bolder hence more legible. I understand why for some folks this is more than just a passing irritation. I use reading glasses so I can manage. At almost 6 kg it looks like it can crush a small animal. If you want a dictionary that you can easily grab and quickly find a word in, especially new words, the W3 is not the one you should buy, but something like the M-W Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition, or its paperback version. It's not as up-to-date as it should be. I knew this beforehand, so it's not a deal breaker.Here’s what I love about it. This issue bears all the signs of a premium, brand new book: decent binding, good paper, neat, and presentable. The board covers are wrapped in blue leather-like material for durability. It's printed in November 2023, in India, practically hot off the press. It was shipped in its thin advertising box that you can keep. I have a few dictionaries now, primarily because I'm fond of them: unabridged, college editions, hardcovers, and handy paperbacks. All of them are great for their purpose. Where the W3 excels is its brilliant coverage of English in the early 20th century, and in its in-depth definitions. This is particularly useful to me since English is my second language. For instance, I often hear politicians contending and one of them will say that his rival’s attacks are just politics. My abridged dictionaries will define politics as having to do with governance; also maneuvering and scheming. But the W3 will go on to give the meaning that clarifies the context for me. Politics 4 a (1): political affairs or business; specifically: competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership.. c: political activities characterized by artful often dishonest practices especially in securing success of political parties or candidates.For U$80 new at amazon, who also covers the shipping cost, I think the W3 is a good value. I sprayed specks of acrylic paint on its sides since I sometimes notice those super tiny bugs being attracted to books with plain white edges but seem to avoid speckled or painted edges. M-W has an online subscription of the Unabridged, which they regularly update. It's nice. But it lacks the full page illustrations, lists, tables, and those quaint drawings that makes the book an endearing tome. Bottom line, the W3 is still a useful dictionary for everyone, not just language enthusiasts. With the accretion of vocabulary from the 1960s to 2024 a fully updated Unabridged would be a beast of a book that won't likely see the light of day. The W3 may be the last of its kind. I'm glad to have it.

I have the OED and Merriam Webster's revered 2nd Edition (1952). The W2 is an amazing piece of scholarship, and is perhaps the best English dictionary around, including proper names from history, myth, science, etc. as well as a pronouncing gazetteer at the back. However, the Merriam Webster's 3rd (W3) has the most entries ( over 476,000) and includes a lot more scientific terms. It does not include proper names, but it very rich and dense in just about everything that could be considered an English word or a loan-word or a compound word (although I just today noticed it is missing viridarium and cupidinous, which are in W2). This huge tome is for geeks only, as it is massive and weighs a lot. I like to go through it and, with a red pen, underline interesting words. Please note that this dictionary is a bit more DESCRIPTIVE, not strictly PRESCRIPTIVE as the revered W2, which means it sometimes favors newer definitions and pronunciations. However, it is not fully descriptive, which is good, so you can always see how the word evolved over time, starting with the first definition. Love this book!

Very happy with this dictionary.

I loved this dictionary. Over the years, I have collected quite a lot of Merriam Webster Dictionaries: Collegiate, Learners’, Desk, Legal, Grammar etc. This is the magnificent one of all! I finally got it when Amazon had 3 for the price of two along with two books I bought.There are many illustrations in this dictionary as it’s usual the case with any M-W ones. There is one year’s coupon to subscribe to Merriam Webster online. There is also a short biography of Noah Webster, who started the dictionary. The rest is of course history…If anything, maybe it should have more usage examples…That’s one of the reasons I also like Oxford Dictionary series as they always have lots of examples though not necessarily enough illustrations. Merriam Webster ones seem to have more ‘American’ words, though.It comes with a thin cardboard box which I think maybe needs to be replaced by a slipcase so it could be taken out easily frequently. But well…you can always throw it away or flatten it to keep. Just some nitpicking…

The printing is too small. We often refer to our dictionaries. We also do crossword puzzles. We are readers.

I am a writer and I was looking for the best dictionary that I could find. I was reading a book on writing mysteries whrere one of the writers suggested the Webster's Third edition. I just got it and so far it has been the best dictionary that I have ever used. It is so comprehensive and it has gotten rid of the things that I don't use anyway.Thuis version has been criticised for not including proper names and geological references. I can't remember any time in my life where I looked up an historical figure of a location in the dicionary. That's what an encyclopedia is for. All that is useless in a dictionary, which is about defining words (obviously).Also some have criticized the fact that this version is descriptive and not prescriptive. Get over it. Curse words and improper words like ain't are used by millions of people in English speaking countries, not just America. Webster's decided to make a dictionary using words from the language as it is used, not how they think it should be used.Bottom line, if it's not in the Webster's Third, it's not a real word. Do yourself a favor and buy it.