Privacy Policy

EnglishReference is a free dictionary. You don't need an account to use it, and we don't ask you for your name, email, or any other personal details to look up a word. This page explains the limited data the site does involve, and the rights you have over it.

What stays in your browser

Your preferences — Teacher/Student mode, light/dark theme, your first-language setting, and any vocabulary lists you save — are stored locally in your own browser (using localStorage and a preference cookie). This information never leaves your device and is not sent to or readable by us. Clearing your browser storage removes it.

Advertising and cookies

EnglishReference is supported by advertising through Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure ads, including, where enabled, personalised ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.

• Google's use of advertising cookies is described in Google's advertising policies.
• You can opt out of personalised advertising at Google Ad Settings, and manage other vendors at aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.eu (EU/UK).
• For visitors in the EU, UK, and Switzerland we ask for consent before any non-essential cookie is set, through Google's certified consent management platform. To change or withdraw your choice at any time, use Privacy settings at the foot of any page.

Analytics

We use two measurement tools, and they are not the same in what they collect:

• Cloudflare Web Analytics — page and visit counts only. It sets no cookies and builds no profile, so it runs for everyone.
• Google Analytics — cookie-based, so it loads only after you consent to storage on your device. Decline, and the script is never added to the page at all.

Beyond these and the advertising described above, we run no other third-party analytics or tracking pixels.

Server logs

Like almost every website, our servers automatically record standard request information — IP address, browser type, and the time and page requested. We use this only to operate the site, keep it secure, and diagnose problems. It is retained for a limited period and is not used to build a profile of you.

Browser extension

Our free Chrome extension, English Reference Dictionary, looks up a word you select on a web page and shows its entry in a small card. Chrome requires this policy to cover what the extension does with your data, so here it is in full.

What is sent. When you ask for a lookup — by clicking the icon, using the right-click menu, or pressing the keyboard shortcut — the extension sends the word or short phrase you selected to englishreference.com to retrieve its entry. That is the only thing that leaves your browser. The extension does not read or send the address of the page you are on, its title, or any of its other content, and it sends nothing at all until you ask for a lookup.

What is stored. Your preferences only — pronunciation, definition wording, theme, which triggers are switched on, and your chosen shortcut key. These live in the browser's own extension storage, and follow you between your Chrome profiles if you have Chrome sync turned on. No lookup history is kept, on your device or on our servers.

What is not there. No account, no sign-up, no advertising inside the extension, and no analytics, telemetry or error reporting of any kind. Requests from the extension carry no cookies, so a lookup cannot be connected to any session on this website. Nothing is sold or shared with anyone.

Two things worth being clear about. Requests for definitions appear in our ordinary server logs described above, which record the word requested along with the standard request information — the same as any page view. And if you follow a link from the card to this website, that is a normal visit to the site and the advertising and cookie terms above apply to it, as they would to any other visit.

Your rights (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA)

Depending on where you live, you have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data relating to you, to object to or restrict its processing, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell your personal information.

Because we don't hold accounts, most of your data is either in your own browser (which you control directly) or handled by Google as an advertising provider — use the opt-out links above to exercise choices there. For anything else, or to make a formal request, email us and we'll respond within the time your local law requires:

Children

EnglishReference is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Where ads are shown, we direct providers to treat traffic as non-personalised in contexts that require it.

How our entries are written

This is not about your data, but you have a right to know it. EnglishReference is built with machine learning: definitions, examples, collocations, usage notes and pitfalls are drafted by language models working from established reference sources, then filtered by automated checks and reviewed by us in batches. A person has not read every entry, and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise. Etymology essays, story collections and teacher guides are written by hand and carry a byline. The full account — what is generated, what is looked up, what is checked — is on our data & method page.

Changes to this policy

If we make a material change, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above. Questions? Email us: