Dictionary on hover — no clicks, no tabs
Rest your mouse on a word and its meaning appears right above it. Move away and it's gone. Hover dictionaries are the fastest way to read in a second language — SnapDic makes them smart.
Mac app version 1.0.1 · macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon and Intel. Also free on the Chrome Web Store.
Every click you save keeps you in the story
Looking a word up the old way takes five steps: select, copy, open a tab, search, come back. By then you've lost the sentence. A hover dictionary turns that into zero steps — your eyes stay on the text.
That matters most for learners, who may meet a dozen new words on a single page. Less friction means more reading, and more reading is how vocabulary really grows.
Hover done right
- A short pause, not a twitch — the balloon waits until your pointer settles, so it doesn't flicker as you move
- Stays open while you read it — move into the balloon to scroll a long definition
- Hyphenated words like well-known are looked up whole
- Highlight for phrases — select up to four words for idioms
It stays quiet on words you already know
A hover dictionary that pops up on the and because gets in the way. SnapDic lets you choose how many common words to skip — from about 1,000 basic words for beginners to 5,400 for confident readers — so the balloon appears only when you're likely to need it.
Common words still get explained when they're part of something special: an idiom you highlight, or a tech term like Git.
Hover a word
ubiquitous
SAT · IELTS word · adjective · ≈C1
seeming to be everywhere at the same time
e.g. Smartphones are now ubiquitous.
via SnapDic exam vocabulary
Word forms explained
notarized
past tense of notarize · ≈C2
authenticate as a notary
e.g. We had to have the signature notarized.
via Open English WordNet
Highlight a phrase
break the ice
Idiom / phrase · social
To ease tension at the start of a meeting or social situation so people feel comfortable.
e.g. He told a joke to break the ice.
via SnapDic · see also: warm up, get the ball rolling
Choose how hover behaves
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hover on / off | Pause SnapDic for a page, a meeting or a game, and switch it back with one click. |
| ⌥ Option + hover (Mac) | Show meanings only while you hold the Option key — perfect if you rarely need help. |
| Skip common words | Look up more, balanced, or skip most — pick the level that matches your English. |
| Text in images (Mac) | Optional on-device OCR reads words in images and scanned PDFs. |
On the page, in the PDF, in the app
Web pages
News, blogs, forums, documentation and web mail.
Documents
PDFs, Pages, Word and Notes on your Mac.
Messages
Mail, Slack and chat apps — understand the reply before you answer.
Images
Screenshots and scanned pages with optional OCR on Mac.
Try the dictionary that reads with you
Download SnapDic for Mac free. Also free for Chrome.
Frequently asked questions
What is a hover dictionary?
A hover dictionary shows a word's meaning when you rest your mouse pointer on it, without clicking or switching tabs. SnapDic is a hover dictionary for Mac and Chrome.
Will the balloon keep popping up on easy words?
No. Choose how many common words to skip and SnapDic stays quiet on words you already know.
Can I read a long definition without it disappearing?
Yes. Move your pointer into the balloon and it stays open until you move out of it.
Does hovering work on touch screens?
SnapDic is designed for a mouse or trackpad. On a Mac you can also highlight a word or use Look Up a Word… from the menu.
Does it slow down my computer?
No. SnapDic only reads the single word under your pointer, after the pointer settles, and most answers come from built-in data in a few milliseconds.