OtterDict is an English ⇄ Chinese dictionary and learning platform for English speakers learning Chinese. Our goal is to make lookup fast, clear, and pleasant: type Chinese or pinyin and immediately see the meaning, reading, and examples in a clean, uncluttered interface.
OtterDict is a tool for reading, writing, and finding your way into Chinese. The interface keeps an ink-wash spirit: black ink, hairline strokes, a calm and uncluttered layout that keeps the focus on the word you are looking up.
The dictionary
You can search in both directions, Chinese → English and English → Chinese. The search box matches Chinese characters (both Simplified and Traditional) and pinyin in every form, with diacritics (nǐ hǎo), numbered (ni3 hao3), or toneless (ni hao). Each entry shows tone-colored pinyin, stroke order, example sentences, and character etymology.
Study tools
Beyond lookup, OtterDict gives you several tools to study more effectively:
- OCR: snap or upload a photo of Chinese text and OtterDict recognizes the characters for you using the scan tool. The image is uploaded securely to OtterDict's storage and recognized automatically; guests' images are deleted right after recognition, and scan history is a Pro feature.
- Handwriting: draw Chinese characters stroke by stroke at handwriting input to look up characters you cannot yet read.
- Reading mode: paste a passage of Chinese text for assisted reading with inline lookup.
- Notebook and Review: save the words you meet, then review them with FSRS-based spaced repetition.
Pro
OtterDict is free for everyday lookup. The Pro plan unlocks higher limits on the advanced features and removes ads. Payments are handled by a payment provider acting as our Merchant of Record, which takes care of tax and invoicing on our behalf.
See the pricing page for details, or find answers to common questions on the FAQ page.