WordWeb is an extremely useful piece of freeware dictionary and thesaurus software.

It installs on your Windows PC or as an Android App (however, it’s not available for Macs) and runs in the background. Then, each time you want the definition or the spelling of a word, a simple hotkey combination will bring up the software and give you the answer.

It can also look up words from in almost any program running on your PC. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references.

There is a paid version, but the free version includes:

• definitions, antonyms and synonyms
• proper nouns
• related words
• pronunciations
• 5,000 audio pronunciations & 65,000 text pronunciations
• 150 000 root words
• 120 000 synonym sets
• dictionary/thesaurus in different varieties of English‏‎

There is also a Pro version available with more features for $29, £16 or € 19, but the freeware version is extremely useful as it stands.

Useful Links

WordWeb Free – link to the main page where you can download the software