Today’s Word

adjective·/ca-PTIV-at-ed/

Completely mesmerized and unable to look away or think about anything else.

Scroll

Every word tells
a complete story

A word arrives. Then a story draws you in. Then meaning quietly settles — not memorized, but felt. That’s the moment it becomes yours.

9:41

captivated

adjective

Completely mesmerized and unable to look away or think about anything else.

strongly attracted

/ca-PTIV-at-ed/

Feed

Quiz

Saved

Profile

9:41

captivated

adjective

Completely mesmerized and unable to look away or think about anything else.

strongly attracted

/ca-PTIV-at-ed/

Feed

Quiz

Saved

Profile

iPhone

9:41

captivated

adjective

Completely mesmerized and unable to look away or think about anything else.

Apple Watch

One word a day.
No rush. No pressure.

Vocab believes in learning that respects your time. No streaks that shame you, no notifications that nag. Just a beautiful word waiting quietly each morning.

Thousands of words
Etymology & examples
Spaced repetition
Widgets
Apple Watch
No subscriptions
No ads

$4.99

One-time purchase. Yours forever.

Download on the App Store

Learn more about Vocab

A new word appears each morning

Every day at dawn, Vocab presents you with a single carefully chosen word. Not ten. Not fifty. Just one — complete with its pronunciation, etymology, a vivid definition, and a memory hook designed to make it stick. The daily ritual takes less than a minute, and there is something quietly satisfying about giving your full attention to a single idea.

Learn at your own pace

Each word comes with layers you can explore or skip as you like: the story behind its origin, an example sentence that brings it to life, and a mnemonic hook that helps your brain hold on. Choose from four difficulty levels — from everyday elegance to the kind of words that make crossword editors smile — and the app adjusts to where you are.

It stays with you

Vocab uses spaced repetition — a proven learning technique that gently resurfaces words just as you are about to forget them. Short quizzes appear at the right intervals, reinforcing what you have learned without overwhelming you. Over weeks and months, words move from short-term curiosity to lasting vocabulary.

Learning should feel like kindness, not obligation.

Most language apps are designed to make you feel guilty for missing a day. Streak counters that reset to zero. Push notifications that guilt you into opening the app. Vocab takes a different path entirely.

There are no streaks that punish you for skipping a day — your progress glows like a warm ember that dims gently but never goes out. There are no notifications that nag, just a quiet word waiting whenever you are ready. And there is no subscription draining your wallet each month. You pay once, and the app is yours forever.

We built Vocab for people who believe that learning a new word should feel like discovering a small, beautiful thing — not completing a chore on a checklist. The kind of app you open because you want to, not because a red badge told you to.

Thousands of curated words

Every word is hand-picked and comes with its etymology, example sentences, and a memory hook. Browse by interest — from science to food to the wonderfully obscure — and at the difficulty that suits you.

Spaced repetition

Short quizzes adapt to what you know and what you are still learning. The SM-2 algorithm schedules reviews at optimal intervals so words stick in long-term memory.

Home screen widgets

See today's word every time you glance at your phone. Both home screen and lock screen widgets keep your daily word visible without opening the app.

Apple Watch

A companion app on your wrist. Glance at your word during a break, on a walk, or whenever a quiet moment appears. Learning fits into the spaces between.

Quizzes that stick

Take a daily challenge or a lightning round to test what you have learned. Quizzes feed into the spaced repetition engine, so the words you find tricky come back at just the right time.

Research any word

Curious about a word? Tap the research icon to look it up in Google Search or ask ChatGPT about it instantly — the prompt is pre-filled so you land right in a conversation.

Private by design

No accounts, no tracking, no data collection. Your progress, saved words, and quiz history never leave your device. The only network request Vocab makes is to fetch Today's Word — and even that is cached for offline use.

What is Vocab?

Vocab is a vocabulary-building app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It teaches you one beautiful word each day through etymology, examples, memory hooks, and spaced repetition quizzes — all wrapped in a calm, thoughtful design.

How much does it cost?

$4.99, once. That is it. No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads. You buy it and it is yours forever, including all future updates.

What devices does it support?

Vocab runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later. It includes home screen and lock screen widgets, plus a companion app for Apple Watch. One purchase covers all your devices.

Do I need an internet connection?

Vocab uses a light network connection to deliver Today's Word — a fresh word chosen for everyone each morning. Everything else works offline: the full word corpus, definitions, etymologies, and quizzes are all included in the download. If you're offline, Vocab falls back to a cached or local word, so you'll never be left without something to learn.

Is my data private?

Absolutely. Vocab has no accounts and no analytics. Your progress, saved words, and quiz history stay on your device and are never shared with anyone. The only network activity is fetching Today's Word — no personal data is sent. When you delete the app, all data disappears with it.

Can I research a word further?

Yes! Every word card has a research button that lets you look the word up in Google Search or ask ChatGPT about it. ChatGPT opens with the prompt already filled in, so you land right in a conversation about the word.

How do interests work?

When you pick interests — like Science or Food — they shape the words in your Feed, the endless scroll of cards you browse at your own pace. Today's Word is different: it is one curated word shared with everyone, personalized only by your chosen difficulty.

Today’s Word

captivated

Every word tellsa complete story

captivated

captivated

captivated

captivated

One word a day.No rush. No pressure.

Everywhere you are

Every word tells
a complete story

One word a day.
No rush. No pressure.