Snappy Words

The site this week is www.snappywords.com, an online visual dictionary. What exactly does this mean? Rather than the traditional definition format that you are used to seeing when you search for a word in a dictionary, you will see a graphical representation of different words that explain the meaning.


When you first go to Snappy Words you will probably notice the web of words that appears. This word is generated randomly by the site when you pull it up. The word in the middle of the web is the main word, with the lines and colors that connect to the other words representing various things.

Even more fun is the fact that the word web is interactive. Click and drag to move the web around, scroll up or down to zoom in and out, and you can even click on a word and move it to a different location. You can even hover your mouse on any of the words in the web to see more information. To see the meaning of the various lines and colors, view the key that is found below the word display. If you're wondering what dictionary Snappy Words uses.... 

"The Snappy Words interface queries the WordNet lexical database developed by Princeton University and made available for students and language researchers. This dictionary groups synonyms into synsets through lexical relations between terms. These meanings and semantic relationships are revealed graphically by the interactive web technology made available by Snappy Words." -www.snappywords.com

To search for your own word just enter it into the search window that is found in the upper-right portion of the page. Now do I think this a replacement for the traditional dictionary? No, but I do think it is a fun change of pace that will stimulate some thought with your students. Once students have seen and used the site, maybe they could come up with their own "visual definition" of a word.