Definery: Vocabulary Word Game
Definition quiz & etymology
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
A definition. Four words. One is right.
Then Definery does the thing most word games leave out: it tells you where the word came from. Desultory comes from the Roman circus rider who leapt between moving horses. Halcyon days were once literal: the halcyon was a kingfisher that sailors believed nested on the open sea at midwinter, calming the water while it brooded.
This is a vocabulary game for adults. The easy tier is deliberately thin — 93% of the word bank sits at medium or hard, from acquiesce and ephemeral up to abstruse, alacrity and sesquipedalian. It is not a spelling app.
HOW IT PLAYS
You are shown a definition and four words. Pick the one that matches. Two right answers in a row move you up a difficulty tier and two wrong move you down, so you are never stuck on words you already know.
Three modes:
Endless — play until you lose three lives.
Timed — as many as you can in sixty seconds, adjustable in Settings.
Practice — no lives, no penalties, nothing at stake.
THE ETYMOLOGY CARD
After every answer, right or wrong: pronunciation, part of speech, an example sentence, the word's origin and a line worth knowing. Feckless is Scots for "without effect", and the opposite, feckful, existed but never caught on. Juggernaut reached English from Sanskrit by way of a temple cart. Nadir and zenith are an astronomical pair borrowed from Arabic.
Save any word to keep it in your Word Bank.
THE WORDS
372 at launch, with more in every update. Every one carries its pronunciation, definition, example sentences, etymology and a note.
No two words in the same tier mean the same thing. Garrulous, loquacious and verbose are each defined so you can tell them apart, which means a wrong answer is genuinely wrong rather than a coin toss between synonyms. The four options in a question always come from the same difficulty tier, so a hard word is never given away by three easy ones.
YOUR WORD BANK
Every word you meet is tracked. Meet it twice and it is Learning. Answer it correctly enough times and it is Mastered. What you end up with is a personal glossary you built by playing — alphabetical, with definitions, yours to browse.
PROGRESS
Levels from Novice to Lexicon Master. A daily streak with a calendar. Seventeen achievements. Coins earned by playing and spent on hints — coins cannot be bought.
FREE TO PLAY, IN FULL
Every mode, every word and every feature is in the free version. Nothing is locked, there are no word packs to buy and no daily limit.
Definery Pro is one purchase that removes the ads. That is all it does. It is not a subscription.
NO ACCOUNT, NO CONNECTION
Nothing to sign up for and nothing to sign in to. The whole game works offline and your progress stays on your device.
Privacy Policy: https://barrelofsunshine.com/privacy-policy
Terms of Use: https://barrelofsunshine.com/definery-terms
Ratings & Reviews
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The developer, Barrel of Sunshine, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
- Location
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Location
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Barrel of Sunshine Ltd
- Size
- 61.9 MB
- Category
- Word
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Contains
Advertising
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Definery Pro $2.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Barrel of Sunshine Ltd.