How to Add a Free Thesaurus to Look Up on Your iPhone & iPad

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. Sign Up. *

I love using a thesaurus when I write, so the absence of this option from the iPhone's dictionary feature, Look Up, used to be a sore spot for me. Beginning with iOS 12, I no longer need a third-party thesaurus app, because a thesaurus is included in Look Up on iPhone and iPad for free! Let's get started learning how to add a thesaurus to Look Up, so you can find just the word you're looking for, be it a synonym or antonym. 

Related: How to Search a Safari Page on iPhone

Discover your iPhone's hidden features

Get a daily tip (with screenshots and clear instructions) so you can master your iPhone in just one minute a day.

Add a Thesaurus to the Dictionary Feature in Your iPhone or iPad

If you run across an unfamiliar word while reading in Books, replying to an email, browsing a Safari page, or using another app where Look Up is available, you can not only find the definition, but also reveal synonyms and antonyms for a word, here's how.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap General.
   
   
    
3. Tap Dictionary.
4. Make sure that you have the American English or British English Thesaurus checked.
   
   
    
5. Now go to an app, such as Safari, and tap and hold a word you'd like to look up.
6. Tap Look Up on the menu when it appears.
7. Here's the Dictionary definition of your word, as well as a Thesaurus section.
   
   
    
8. Tap the Thesaurus section under the definition, and you'll see the full entry, which sometimes includes antonyms.
9. Tap Done when you've found the synonym you need.
   
   

Top image credit: GaudiLab / Shutterstock.com