Want an easy way to learn interesting new words, to improve your vocabulary? Do you use an iPhone?
Great, download this app: Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus. Now, let’s get ready for the first time you come across a word you don’t know.
You’ll have your iPhone nearby, and hopefully you have your Dictionary app in a place you can easily get to it.
Once you fire it up, you’ll see a search bar across the top, as in the screenshot below. You can type your search in, or tap the microphone icon on the right of the search bar and speak the word. 
Next you’ll see the word along with a small red speaker icon next to it, and if you tap that the app will pronounce the word for you (assuming you have your iPhone audio turned on). See screenshot below. 
If you want to see synonyms for the word, tap the box at the bottom of the screen labeled “Thesaurus.” You can then return to the Dictionary definition again by tapping the box labeled “Dictionary.” 
Next, comes the most important part.
If the word is one you want to learn you should tap the star icon at the bottom of the screen. This will add the word to your list of favorites, which you can then review from time to time. 
Reviewing your list of vocabulary words is the key to really learning them. If you only look up a word once you’ll probably forget what it means in a day or two.
But if you regularly add words to your app’s favorite list, you’ll probably remember to review the words that you’ve already saved. This method has worked very well for me, and I’m sure it would for you too, if you just create the habit of looking up words using the app.
Here’s another tip: if you subscribe to either the Economist or the New Yorker, you’ll find yourself often coming across interesting words that you’ll probably find useful.
For example, here’s my running list of vocabulary words I’ve compiled (mostly from reading those two publications):
barmy
chthonic
flounce
slaver
ululate
toady
gormless
loll
mawkish
gauzy
sidle
Some of the words I add to my list are words I know the definitions of, but want to remember to use in my writing —if appropriate. So I review my favorites list pretty regularly for that reason as well.
Hopefully, you now have a good sense of how the Merriam Webster iPhone Dictionary/Thesaurus app could be useful for learning new words in an easy and simple way.
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