Yes, this is the Concise OED, an abridged version of the most revered English dictionary, the one that an esteemed critic once called "England's 19th century epic." The content is excellent: precisely worded definitions, usually supplemented with derivatives and etymologies. However, I'd like to review not just the content but the software as well.

Great dictionary. Of course, an OED. An earlier reviewer complained that "testacious" listed its "entomology" and not its etymology. Sorry, but the spelling is "testaceous" and "entomology" is listed because the word is used "chiefly [in] entomology," that is, the study of insects. So the reviewer was unduly bugged by a very good dictionary.

I bought this app mostly because of the famous Oxford name. However I'm disappointed about the short content, the unworkable sound module and the bad user interface design. The printed Concise edition is more comprehensive and more definitions. The etymology in the printed edition is much better too. Number of entries written on this application is 64154, not 240 thousand in the description. It is definetely not the full printed edition of Concise Oxford Dictionary.

The only reason I'm giving this three stars is because it is an OED. The first word I looked up "testacious" listed its "entomology" (oops! embarrassing for supposed word experts!). If it were better edited and loaded faster, it might be word $9.99.

Great dictionary. Works well. Would love to see even more entries and detail. Release the full OED and I'd be really excited.

Generally well pleased, but confused about the number of entries. The store description claims 240k words. The app info screen puts the figure at 64154 entries plus 20000 sound files.

I purchased this mostly because of the OED reputation, but also because of the sound module.

Concerned by some of the issues brought up in other reviews, I did some investigation before writing this review. Non-issues/misconceptions: 1) Number of words: "240,000 words, phrases, & definitions" vs "64,154 entries." I contacted the developers via penreader.com and they told me that there are indeed 240,000 words in this dictionary, but the number of "entries" does not correspond to the number of words, because "entries" contain translations and examples and thus only exist for some words. I think we'd have to manually count all the words to really confirm this, but I'm willing to believe it as I've used this app to look up some pretty obscure words and they have all been found in this dictionary, every time. I also manually counted just the words starting with "x" in this app and that count was within 2 of the same count for a PC version of the COED11 to which I had access. Finally, the file size for the American Heritage dictionary app is larger because it contains pictures and COED doesn't. I don't need the pictures, and for a scholarly, authoritative, and extensive reference, I trust the COED's contents over AH. 2) Sound files: I have an iPhone 3g. At first I also thought the pronounciation sound files weren't working. Then I realized that I had to switch the phone from vibrate to ringer mode (switch on the side of the device) to hear the sounds play. Had to turn up the volume too, but the sounds work for me. Actual issues: 1) App is slow to start up (several seconds). 2) The keyboard sometimes fails to appear when app starts. It appears when I attempt to start typing, as if it had been there but was just invisible. 3) Suggestions for misspelled words are not provided, and that would be very useful. Hopefully these issues will be addressed in updates. Overall, the content is excellent, and the app is satisfactory.

I've always used this app. It has all the words! I appreciate the concise format but can see the appeal in some other dictionaries which offer rich content. Like many apps, it does take 3 seconds to load. This delay can be irritating, but the thing that bothers me the most is that typing is not as responsive as normal (native) keyboard usage, and the search is a half-breath delay as well. It may be an iphone thing? but for now I can only give 4 stars since it is snappier on my palm and blackberry. I wish these apps would offer a try before you buy usage; I would probably have purchased something else due to the sluggish response.

Those words and other synonyms would be equally accurate in describing what you get and could be inserted into the name as substitutes for "Consise" in naming this app. At this point there is little resemblance to it's namesake. Perhaps future revisions can include alternative accents in the audio pronunciation feature. When words aren't found you're out of luck and there is no link to an online alternative. Few/limited contextual sentences. Few/limited alternative meanings. It it, however, the best dictionary on iphone available offline. Look up caveat.

I am very satisfied with this dictionary, the definitions are precise and easy to understand. I think the best part is the ability to click other words in the definition of whatever word you're looking up in case you don't know what that word means either. I'd give it 5 stars but for some reason not all of the words listed in a definition actually bring you to their definition page when clicked, not sure why that is. This is the only dictionary I have purchased for my iPod Touch and I feel it was the right choice when deciding which one to pick between this and the other main competitors.

Five star app! Would love an option to enlarge font!

Extremely handy to have the OED available in your pocket when needed. Some of us don't have the Internet wherever we are all the time but we can have this. Worth the price.

Aaaargh! Otherwise, great app.

Love it! No frills, just clear and comprehensive.

It would be nice to combine applications from slovoed.com So I won't need to have 2 app icons I also have English-Russian dictionary from slovoed It would be very convenient just to click on Dictionaries button and have all 3 dictionaries there Thanks

This software is perfect for my iPod touch. I hope the next update they would add more voice speaking, there are still a lot of words I can't pronounce it without the voice help. Other than that, I still like this dictionary.

I once spent more than $300 on a device that helped me prounce words. I can't believe for such a small cost, this all fits on the IPHONE that I carry with me everywhere. This is an excellent app for folks like me that kant spll or prounce words.

failed the 'haecceity' test, but it is the OED. Too much money. Still, ok

This is so far the best ( #1 ) Dictionary with Audio/Voice out there ( I mean in iTunes Apps Store ) . But only have one problem is just have 20,000 word with sound is too little for $25.00 US Dollars. It's need update to at least 70,000 word with sound though, don't you think. [ If your want more money for the Update about that, is okay we can pay $5.00 USD or maybe more. ] So, Wake up, do something, we been waiting for that kind of Update for more than six month ago. Did your know that ? Fix it. Thanks.