All FAQs (Helpie FAQ)

An individual subscription for both the Macquarie Dictionary and Thesaurus is $59.99. An individual subscription for just the Macquarie Dictionary is $49.99. Pricing for institutional subscriptions starts at $119.99. Please visit our subscription page for further information. All prices are per annum and inclusive of GST.

We do not offer student discounts for individual subscriptions as many schools and universities with an institutional subscription already receive discounted pricing. Please check with your school or university library whether they have an account with us and can provide you with access.

We offer a 30% discount to publishers who are part of the APA and who take out a company-wide subscription. Please contact us for further information.

Macquarie Dictionary promo codes can offer discounted subscriptions or free subscription months. You can redeem your promo code by clicking here.

To sign into your Macquarie Dictionary subscription please press the ‘Login’ button beside the search bar and enter your username and password into the box on the next screen. Your username and password are your chosen login details that were set up at the time of your registration.

Please note, the username and password fields are case sensitive.

If you can no longer remember your password, use the ‘Forgot password’ button on the sign in box. A link to reset your password will be emailed to you directly.

If you are having trouble signing in, we suggest that you try the following:

• Try logging out and logging back in. Making sure that you press the ‘sign out’ option rather than simply closing the tab or browser as this can cause the site to assume that you are logged in under a previous user session.
• Clear your cache and browser history and then perform a hard refresh by pressing the Ctrl and F5 keys at the same time. This should refresh your browser and allow you to sign in.
• Try resetting your password by using the ‘Forgot password?’ link on the 'Sign in' box.

If you continue to have problems signing into your account please contact us. 

Check out our guide on Using My Account for more information.

If you have forgotten your password, press the ‘Login’ button beside the search bar on the home screen. Then, use the ‘Forgot password?’ link on the form. A link to reset your password will be emailed to you directly.

In My Account, under the 'Subscription' tab, you will find a running record of how many days are left in your subscription. We will also email you an expiry / renewal notification 30 days before your subscription is due to expire. 

You should receive a welcome email containing your registration details when you sign up, but this email may have gone directly to the SPAM or Junk folder. Please check these folders in your email account. If you still have not received it, contact us.

To earn a place in the dictionary, a word must prove that is has currency. That is to say, it has to turn up a number of times in a number of different contexts over a period of time.

The online dictionary is updated twice annually with new words, phrases and definitions. To see some of the additions from previous years, please visit our Word of the Year page.

We also make minor updates to entries, content, resources, and other technical material throughout the year.

If there is something you would like to see updated or added to the website, let us know.

Yes, updates to the websites are included as part of your annual subscription. 

If you are using the Dictionary Online, please see our search help to ensure you have searched the whole dictionary. We have a Wildcard search that can be used to perform a more efficient search of the dictionary.

If you are using a print dictionary, we suggest checking if the word is in the online dictionary as this is the most comprehensive and up to date version available. In every dictionary range there is the complete version from which smaller and smaller dictionaries are carved out. For each of these smaller dictionaries the editor has to make hard decisions about what to leave out for reasons of space. 

If you still can’t find the word you’re looking for, you can suggest that we add it to the Macquarie Dictionary using our Suggest a word feature.

Have a look at our section on Understanding an entry.

A. The Macquarie Dictionary is a record of Australian English – the English spoken by the Australian community. In some cases, the name of a product or service which started out as a trademark has, over time, been applied by that community more generally, to similar products or services. When it can be clearly established that this process has taken place, the term warrants an entry in the dictionary. Words such as this, which have senses which are derived from trademarks, have this information, where it can be ascertained, noted in the etymology.

It should be noted that the presence or absence of indication of this derivation should not be regarded in any way as affecting the legal status of any trademark.

You can search the Macquarie Thesaurus in the drop down menu beside the search bar

For more information, see our guides About keywords and Finding words. You can also see a List of keywords before you search the Macquarie Thesaurus.

Macquarie Dictionary Online web pages will print as they appear on the screen, which includes the search box at the top of the page. 

To print, you can either right-click and press 'print' or use the print screen function.

Content contained in the databases and other sections on this site, and in Macquarie print editions is the copyright of Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd.

Copyright is the exclusive right, granted by law for a certain term of years, to make and dispose of copies of, and otherwise to control, a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work. Symbol: ©

Users may view the content contained in this database and/or print editions and may print, download or email selected content for the purposes of research, private study, criticism or review under the 'fair dealing' provision of the Copyright Act 1968. Should you wish to copy in excess of the permitted limit, or reproduce content in a publication, please complete the rights queries form on the Pan Macmillan website, requesting permission for the use of this content. Please include the content you wish to use, as well as the manner, context and format proposed for its use. Macquarie will review your request.

If content is to be used for any purpose excluding research, private study, criticism or review under the 'fair dealing' provision of the Copyright Act 1968, you must obtain permission from Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd. Please include the content you wish to use, as well as the manner, context and format, title, RRP and print run (if applicable) proposed for its use. Macquarie will review your request.

Content from Macquarie Dictionary Online must be acknowledged and include the title, year the information is accessed, the publisher and the site web address.

Example: Macquarie Dictionary Online, 2016, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd, macquariedictionary

Content from print editions must be acknowledged and include the title, year of publication and the publisher.

Example: Macquarie Dictionary Concise Ninth Edition, 2023, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

Different referencing styles may be used as long as the information above is present.

The First Edition of the Macquarie Dictionary contained proofreading marks however they were removed for later publications.

Presently, you can find proofreading marks listed in the Australian Style Manual, published by the Australian government.

Usage stats are now available to you at the My Account portal. To view them, follow the steps below:

• Go to macquariedictionary
• Click login
• Enter your admin login details
• Click on the My Account link at the top right of the page
• Navigate to the Usage Stats tab
• Select the dates you’d like to view stats for in the filter. A general summary will appear. You can download and save these stats by clicking the green Export button

If you are experiencing issues accessing your stats please reduce the time frame you are filtering the stats by. If you continue to face difficulties, please contact us. 

Additional information about using My Account can be found here.

We do not offer the dictionary in ebook format.

The Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia: Second Edition is available as a fixed layout ebook.

If you are interested in a digital version of the dictionary that does not require an internet connection, please see our range of apps available for iOS. To see the full range, check out our Shop page or go directly to iTunes App Store.

Yes, we have two apps available for iOS operating systems, including the Complete and School Dictionaries. To see our range range, check out our Shop page or go directly to the iTunes App Store.

We did previously have apps for Android available for sale, however with the release of Android update 5.0 L we found compatibility issues with a number of devices.

Due to these compatibility issues all Android apps have been removed from sale. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot advise of any plans to be made with the Android range.

Please contact us if you have any further queries.