My favourite Urdu dictionaries
Engaging with a dictionary is the next step to leveling up your language skill. Dictionaries help to clarify difficult words, their usage, synonyms and related constructions. In every sense of the phrase, they broaden your horizons.
It’s important to use a solid, professional dictionary. Often, simply typing ‘X meaning in Urdu’ will direct you to substandard sites with dubious information.
I use a couple of dictionaries simultaneously, mixing and matching depending on what I need. Here’s a list of some of my favourites:
Rekhta Dictionary:
Indian-based Rekhta foundation, set up to promote and preserve Urdu in India and abroad, has a great tri-lingual dictionary available for use. It has entries simultanously in Urdu, Hindi and Roman Urdu/Hindi. In addition to this, Rekhta’s dictionary offers help with idioms and proverbs. The dictionary is well-constructed and easy to use. One downside I would contend however is there is a focus on poetic words and usages, rendering ordinary words and phrases to a marginal status.
Rekhta’s dictionary is available from a browser, as well as on Andriod and IOS.
https://www.rekhtadictionary.com/
2. The Urdu Dictionary Board’s Urdu Lughat
Administered by the Government of Pakistan’s ‘Urdu Dictionary Board’, this dictionary digitises already existing and extensive linguistic work on the language, allowing a broader audience to connect through digital mediums. It is an authoritative reference, drawing on the work of past luminaries.
This dictionary requires capacity to type and spell in Urdu.
The dictionary is available via a browser. It was previously available on phones as an app, but seems to have been taken down from all platforms as of early 2023.
http://udb.gov.pk/
3. Urdu Lughat
Not to be confused with the exactly-named previous dictionary, the ‘Urdu Lughat’ is a well designed and very helpful resource. Some of the things I appreciate about the dictionary are that it provides synonyms and related constructions, tells you the gender of words (very helpful!!!!!!), gives their linguistic origin and first appearance in written Urdu literature.
This dictionary requires capacity to type and spell in Urdu.
Unfortunately the dictionary doesn’t seem to have an app, so I bookmark the site on my mobile browser for easy usage.
http://urdulughat.info/
4. Urdu Dictionary English
This uncreatively named dictionary doesn’t seem too great from the cover, but it has actually turned out to be quite handy. It is available on Apple and Android platforms. What’s great about it is that it has both English to Urdu, and Urdu to English capability, and is a great source to find translations and synonyms for words in either language.
