Comparison

Merriam vs Urban Dictionary

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Merriam

Access America's most respected dictionary, updated with new words and meanings. This app offers offline access, voice search, daily vocabulary challenges, and a thesaurus. It's designed for English language reference, education, and vocabulary enhancement.

Highlights
  • Offline dictionary access
  • Voice search for words
  • Daily Word of the Day
  • Vocabulary word games
  • Integrated thesaurus
  • Audio pronunciations
Features
Read full description

Get America's most useful and respected dictionary, optimized for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Continuously updated with the newest words and meanings, this is the premier iOS app for English language reference, education, and vocabulary building. Key Features: * Offline access: Complete access to definitions and synonyms whether or not you're connected * Voice Search: look up a word without having to spell it * Word of the Day: learn a new word every day * Word Games: fun, fast quizzes to test your vocabulary * Favorite Words and Search History: keep track of the words that are most important to you * Favorite Word Syncing Through iCloud: share your favorites between devices and on the Web * In-app purchase: an ad-free experience + access to Kids, Medical, and Legal dictionaries * For Tablets: browse the entire dictionary with a scrolling index * Apple Watch Extension: see the Word of the Day and find watch-sized definitions with voice search Expert Word Guidance: * Integrated Thesaurus: more than 200,000 word choices with examples of their use * Example Sentences: understand how a word is used in context * Audio Pronunciations: voiced by real English speakers, not text-to-speech robots Terms of Use: https://www.merriam-webster.com/terms-of-use

About

Urban Dictionary

Access a vast collection of user-submitted definitions for slang and non-slang words. Search, vote on definitions, and discover new words with daily updates. Share interesting terms easily with friends.

Highlights
  • Unlimited free searches
  • Slang and non-slang definitions
  • Vote on definitions
  • Share definitions
  • Today's Urban Word of the Day
  • Autocomplete suggestions
Features
Read full description

Urban Dictionary is the people-powered dictionary of slang, culture, and how people really talk. Explore definitions written and voted on by the community: • Discover the Urban Word of the Day • Search any word, phrase, or saying • Get suggestions while you type • Find something unexpected with Random • Tap linked terms to keep exploring • Save your favorite definitions • Hear words pronounced aloud • Vote on definitions • Share definitions with friends • Choose light or dark mode Language changes every day. Urban Dictionary helps you keep up—and define your world.

Screenshots

Merriam4 screens
Urban Dictionary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Merriam at 83% against Urban Dictionary's 39%. Merriam also leads on ratings volume (331K vs 3.5K) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Urban Dictionary's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Merriam sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.79 per month. Urban Dictionary asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Merriam holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merriam has 331K ratings behind it against 3.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Merriam's written reviews are positive against 39% of Urban Dictionary's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Merriam ships an update every 3 months, Urban Dictionary every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Merriam versus Urban Dictionary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMerriamUrban Dictionary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (331K ratings) — better4.5 (3.5K ratings)
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews — better39.5% of reviews
Number of ratings331K — better3.5K
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#57 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size255 MB25 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperMerriam-Webster, Inc.Urban Dictionary

Customer experience

Merriam

All ratings327,751 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews2,579 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative12.0%

Urban Dictionary

All ratings3,526 ratings
Positive87.4%
Neutral3.1%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews228 reviews
Positive39.5%
Neutral15.4%
Negative45.2%

User reviews

Merriam

From 331K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Comprehensive definitions
  • 👍 Helpful thesaurus
  • 🚀 Offline access
  • 👍 Word of the day feature

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads can be intrusive
  • 🐛 Difficulty closing ads
  • 🐛 Repetitive game questions
  • 🐛 Missing words in dictionary
  • 🐛 Unreasonable level progression in games

Urban Dictionary

From 3.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Entertaining and informative
  • 👍 Useful for understanding slang and new terminology
  • 🤓 Provides creative and humorous definitions

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or stops working
  • 🙄 Politically biased content
  • 🤢 Inappropriate or vulgar content
  • 🤔 Outdated or no longer supported

Bugs and requests

Merriam

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when searching for certain words
  • Widget does not update daily word
  • Scribble feature is buggy
  • Inconsistent ad behavior

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add spelling correction suggestions
  • Improve word game timer and scoring
  • Expand etymology information
  • Add more languages beyond English
  • Improve widget functionality

Urban Dictionary

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on newer iOS versions
  • Search bar issues on certain devices
  • Notification feature not working

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to submit own definitions
  • Implement dark mode option
  • Categorize content for better browsing
  • Add push notifications for word of the day

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Merriam

Subscriptions4
  • Premium Monthly$1.791 Month
  • Remove Ads$2.991 Year
  • All References + Remove Ads7 Days trial$5.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$9.991 Year
None

Urban Dictionary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Merriam free?
Merriam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Urban Dictionary free?
Urban Dictionary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Merriam or Urban Dictionary?
Merriam is rated higher. Merriam averages 4.8 out of 5 from 331K ratings, while Urban Dictionary averages 4.5 from 3.5K ratings.
Do Merriam or Urban Dictionary have ads?
Merriam shows ads; Urban Dictionary does not.
Which is updated more often, Merriam or Urban Dictionary?
Merriam ships an update every 3 months, and Urban Dictionary every 2 months. Most recently, Merriam was updated on October 31, 2026 and Urban Dictionary on October 23, 2026.

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