🇳🇴 The best dictionaries for learning Norwegian

Norway's counterpart to the Swedish Lexin, hosted by OsloMet and produced for people learning Norwegian as a second language, with translations into a range of languages spoken by immigrant communities plus illustrated vocabulary themes. Definitions are written to be understood by learners rather than by lexicographers. Free public service. Coverage is everyday vocabulary at a beginner-to-intermediate level, so you will outgrow it — move to Ordbøkene and NAOB after B1.

The Norwegian Academy's dictionary is the closest Norwegian equivalent to the OED: extensive definitions, etymology, register labels and quotations drawn from real published writing. When Ordbøkene gives you a one-line gloss and you need to know how a word is actually used, this is the next stop. Free to search online. It documents the Bokmål and Riksmål written tradition, so it is not the reference to reach for if you are working in Nynorsk.

Run by Språkrådet and the University of Bergen, this is the authoritative free dictionary for Norwegian, carrying Bokmålsordboka and Nynorskordboka side by side so you can compare the two written standards on the same word. Every entry gives the sanctioned spelling and complete inflection, which is exactly what Norwegian learners get wrong most often. Free, fast and no account required. It is monolingual Norwegian, so absolute beginners will want Lexin alongside it.

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.

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.