self-dict

A fully self-hosted, offline Node.js dictionary. Input a word, get back its definition(s), part(s) of speech, and synonyms — no API keys, no internet required.

Powered by WordNet via wordpos. The entire WordNet database (~30MB) is bundled as a local dependency after install.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+

Installation

npm install

The wordpos package ships the full WordNet database locally — nothing else to configure.

Usage

As a module

const { define } = require('./index');

const result = await define('ephemeral');
console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));

From the command line

node cli.js serendipity

Or, if installed globally (npm install -g .):

self-dict serendipity

Run the example script

npm run example

Output shape

{
  "word": "ephemeral",
  "types": ["adjective"],
  "definitions": [
    {
      "type": "adjective",
      "definition": "lasting a very short time",
      "example": "the ephemeral joys of childhood"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": ["short-lived", "transient", "transitory", "fugacious", "passing"]
}

| Field | Type | Description | |---------------|------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | word | string | The queried word (normalised to lowercase) | | types | string[] | Parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb | | definitions | object[] | Each has type, definition, and optional example | | synonyms | string[] | Deduplicated synonyms from WordNet synsets |

Error handling

try {
  const result = await define('xyzzy');
} catch (err) {
  // err.message → 'Word not found: "xyzzy"'
}

Throws a TypeError for bad input and an Error if the word isn't found in WordNet.

License

MIT