wordnik

What wordnik does

Wordnik is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 47-2198092) founded in 2009 by Erin McKean, operating an English-language dictionary and word-data platform aimed at developers, word-game builders, educators, and general word enthusiasts. The company aggregates lexicographic data from five sources — the American Heritage Dictionary, the Century Dictionary, Wiktionary, the GNU International Dictionary of English, and Wordnet — producing a corpus of 800,000+ words alongside more than 10 million example sentences, audio pronunciations, synonyms, antonyms, and etymologies. The organization is registered as a small entity with 1–10 employees, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and is led by founder Erin McKean.

The core product is the Wordnik REST API, which exposes endpoints for definitions, example sentences, pronunciations, word-of-the-day, random-word retrieval, and other lexical queries, supported by a Python SDK and a GitHub developer footprint. A separate Games Dataset delivers a downloadable package of approximately 200,000 words optimized for word-game and quiz applications. The consumer-facing Wordnik.com site complements the API with word lookup, community discussions, and word-of-the-day features. The technology stack is API-first and retrieval-based, with no disclosed AI/ML layer; the company instead depends on the breadth and curation of its aggregated dictionary corpus as its principal asset.

Revenue is generated through four small-scale streams: paid API subscription tiers (Basic, Hobby, Pro, Enterprise) with rate-limited commercial access; a $25-per-year Adopt-a-Word sponsorship program offering certificates, badges, and priority data updates; direct donations to support the non-profit mission; and merchandise sales via a Threadless storefront. Distribution is entirely self-serve digital with no traditional sales motion, and the organization has shifted from an open API model to paid tiers to offset data licensing costs. No revenue figures, funding rounds, institutional investors, or named enterprise customers are disclosed in available sources.

Name

wordnik

Legal name

Wordnik

Website

https://wordnik.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wordnik is a 501(c)(3) non-profit operating an English dictionary REST API and consumer website, aggregating data from five dictionaries across 800,000+ words and 10M+ example sentences for developers, educators, and word enthusiasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dictionary and Language Data API

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Spelling, Vocabulary & Word Study Programs (EDAMAJAD)

Keywords

• Dictionary API services
• Language data platform
• Lexical data API
• Word reference data
• Developer text API

Headquarters

HQ city

Highland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. API subscription plans: Paid API plans (Basic, Hobby, Pro, Enterprise) with different rate limits and usage allowances. Commercial applications beyond proof-of-concept stage are expected to upgrade to paid plans. The company shifted to a non-profit model and now charges for API services to support their mission.
2. Word adoption program: Users can adopt a word for $25 per year, with benefits including linking to their website/social profile, a downloadable certificate, stickers, adopter badge, and priority data updates.
3. Direct donations: Wordnik accepts direct donations to support their non-profit mission of documenting and sharing all words of English.
4. Merchandise sales: Sale of Wordnik branded merchandise including t-shirts through their Threadless storefront.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wordnik operates a non-profit English word data platform that aggregates definitions from five dictionaries (American Heritage, Century, Wiktionary, GNU International Dictionary, and Wordnet) covering 800,000+ words, plus 10,000,000+ example sentences and audio pronunciations. Its core product is a paid REST API for developers, complemented by a free consumer wordnik.com website for word lookup and an "Adopt a Word" donation program.

Product overview

Wordnik is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating a word exploration platform with three main offerings: the Wordnik.com consumer website for word lookup and community engagement, the Wordnik API providing programmatic access to dictionary data for developers, and a Games Dataset optimized for word game applications. The platform aggregates data from five dictionaries (American Heritage, Century Dictionary, Wiktionary, GNU International Dictionary of English, Wordnet) covering more than 800,000 words. The Adopt a Word program serves as a revenue-generating add-on supporting the non-profit mission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wordnik API REST API service providing programmatic access to English word data including definitions, synonyms, antonyms, example sentences, audio pronunciations, word-of-the-day, and random-word endpoints, covering 800,000+ words from five dictionary sources (American Heritage, Century, Wiktionary, GNU International Dictionary of English, Wordnet). Offered via Basic (free), Hobby, Pro, and Enterprise paid plans with varying rate limits for developers and commercial applications.
• Games Dataset Downloadable dataset of nearly 200,000 words and definitions optimized for use in word games, available to users with paid API plans for offline caching and offline use in applications.
• Wordnik.com Website Main consumer-facing web platform offering word definitions, word-of-the-day, random word features, community discussions, lists, and word adoption; users can search, explore, and contribute word-related content at no cost.
• Adopt a Word Donation-based word adoption program allowing users to support Wordnik's non-profit mission for $25 per year per word; adopters receive a downloadable certificate, stickers, a linked profile badge on wordnik.com, and their adopted word receives priority for data updates.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• American Heritage DictionarycoreTechnology or IntegrationWordnik integrates definitions from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as one of five dictionary sources, covering more than 800,000 words.
• Century DictionarycoreTechnology or IntegrationWordnik integrates definitions from the Century Dictionary as one of its five dictionary sources.
• WiktionarycoreTechnology or IntegrationWordnik integrates definitions from Wiktionary under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License as one of its five dictionary sources.
• GNU International Dictionary of EnglishcoreTechnology or IntegrationWordnik integrates definitions from the GNU International Dictionary of English as one of its five dictionary sources.
• WordnetcoreTechnology or IntegrationWordnik integrates definitions from Wordnet 3.0 (copyright 2006 by Princeton University) as one of its five dictionary sources.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Dictionary.com: Dictionary.com is a major consumer-facing English dictionary and thesaurus site with an associated API, competing for the same word-lookup and developer-integration use cases.
• Wiktionary: Wiktionary is a free, open-source multilingual dictionary project whose content Wordnik itself aggregates. It is the largest free alternative for word definitions and a structural ceiling on Wordnik's pricing power.
• Datamuse: Datamuse provides a word-finding API used by crossword, word-game, and writing-assistant developers — a comparable API-first linguistic-data product targeting the same developer audience as Wordnik.
• WordsAPI: WordsAPI offers a REST API providing definitions, synonyms, antonyms, examples, and pronunciations on a freemium model — directly competing with Wordnik on developer word-data delivery.

Emerging players

• Urban Dictionary: Urban Dictionary is a crowdsourced slang and modern-usage dictionary; while narrower in editorial rigor, it competes for the same casual word-lookup audience and benefits from strong community content contributions.
• OneLook: OneLook indexes dozens of dictionaries and provides word, phrase, and anagram search — a comparable aggregator play for developers and word-game enthusiasts.

Broad incumbents

• Cambridge Dictionary: Cambridge Dictionary is an established English-language dictionary publisher with web and API offerings, competing for the same developer and consumer word-lookup segment as Wordnik.
• Merriam-Webster: Merriam-Webster is a long-established English dictionary publisher offering a consumer site and a developer API, overlapping directly with Wordnik's definitions and API offerings at much greater scale.
• Oxford Languages / OED: Oxford Languages publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and related APIs, representing the premium, authoritative end of the same dictionary market Wordnik serves at lower price points.

Others

• Princeton WordNet: Princeton WordNet is a large lexical database of English that Wordnik already integrates as one of its five dictionary sources — it is both a data supplier and a foundational reference that any serious word-data platform depends on.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wordnik
• GitHubgithub.com/wordnik
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hollywood-digital-online

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about wordnik