How to cite a dictionary entry in APA 7

Look up a word and cite it only when the definition itself matters to your point. Most dictionaries are cited by the company that publishes them.

Reference list format

Dictionary Publisher. (n.d.). Title of the entry in sentence case. In Name of the Dictionary. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Westbrook Dictionaries. (n.d.). Resilience. In Westbrook online dictionary. Retrieved March 12, 2025, from https://example.org/dictionary/resilience

• Author. The group that publishes the dictionary. Use the author’s name if the entry gives one.
• Date. Online dictionaries are revised over time. If the entry shows no date, write (n.d.).
• Entry title. The word or phrase, in sentence case, not italic and not in quotation marks.
• Dictionary. After “In,” the name of the dictionary in italics.
• Retrieval date. Because the entry can change, include the date you retrieved it.
• Publisher. When the author and the publisher are the same, name it only once, in the author position.

In-text citation

Use the author and the year, or “n.d.”: (Westbrook Dictionaries, n.d.).

Check before you submit

• A print dictionary. The publisher is the author. The edition and the page go in parentheses after the dictionary’s title, as in Dictionary name (2nd ed., p. 667), and there is no retrieval date. A print dictionary has a publication year in place of (n.d.).
• Ask your instructor. Many instructors would rather you cite a scholarly source than a dictionary.