The best dictionaries for learning Bulgarian

We tracked down 3 of the best dictionaries for learning Bulgarian, including 2 you can use for free. Our top picks right now are Речник на българския език (IBL), Wiktionary and Forvo. Every entry below is hand-checked, and the ones that teach you come first — with free options ahead of paid ones wherever they are as good.

3 resources · 2 free

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' dictionary of Bulgarian, free online.

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Dictionaries Free IntermediateAdvanced
VocabularyReading
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The authoritative monolingual dictionary, from the Institute for Bulgarian Language. Defined in Bulgarian, which is a step worth taking early — Bulgarian's Slavic vocabulary is regular enough that definitions become readable well before literature does.

Wiktionary

Multi-language

Free multilingual dictionary with etymologies, IPA and full conjugation tables.

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DictionariesWebsites Free BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
VocabularyGrammarPronunciation
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Over 100 language editions; the English edition alone has millions of entries covering hundreds of languages, with IPA, declension and conjugation tables, etymologies and usage notes that commercial apps usually paywall. The etymology sections are quietly one of the best vocabulary-retention tools available. Being crowd-sourced, coverage is uneven and rare entries can be wrong — cross-check anything unusual against a native-language dictionary.

Forvo

Multi-language

Crowd-sourced pronunciations of nearly any word by native speakers.

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DictionariesTools Freemium BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
PronunciationListening
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Around 6 million words recorded by native speakers across 400+ languages, usually with several accents per word so you can hear regional variation. Free to search on the site; the paid tiers are aimed at API users and bulk audio downloads. Indispensable for names, place names and anything a TTS voice would mangle — many learners wire it directly into Anki for card audio.