wordmu

get simple word definitions

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Inspiration

We kept tripping over two problems:

  1. “Dictionary” definitions that sounded like more dictionaries.
  2. That tip-of-the-tongue moment when you know the meaning but can’t recall the word.
    Wordmu was born to solve both—using the friendliest language possible and a single search box that works forward (give me the definition) and backward (what word means… ?).

What it does

  1. Unified Search – type a word or describe it in plain English.
  2. Smart Response – Gemini decides whether to return a definition or suggest candidate words.
  3. Everyday Explanations – no jargon, just clear, coffee-table language.
  4. Hear It Instantly – ElevenLabs pronounces the word and reads a sample sentence in a natural voice.
  5. Save & Track – bookmark tough words and watch your “streak ring” fill as you learn.

How we built it

  • One Bolt prompt captures the entire spec: flows, design, tone, success metrics.
  • Gemini handles intent detection, definitions, synonyms, and sample sentences.
  • ElevenLabs turns each result into studio-quality audio (< 2 s round-trip).
  • Front-end: glassmorphic UI, brand palette of white & navy-gray, dark text for readability.
  • State: simple in-browser store for history, favorites, and the daily streak ring.

Challenges we ran into

Hurdle How we cleared it
Latency – sub-2-second goal with two APIs in the loop Parallel Gemini + ElevenLabs calls, aggressive caching of repeat look-ups
“Everyday words” guarantee Added a post-processing pass that flags > 12th-grade vocabulary and forces a rewrite
Audio + Text sync Timestamp metadata from ElevenLabs drives a subtle progress ring so users see what they hear
Reverse lookup accuracy Fine-tuned the prompt to return top-3 candidates scored by meaning overlap rather than word frequency

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • ⏱️ 1.8 s average response time from query to playable audio.
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  • 📚 Every definition passes a Flesch-Kincaid 8th-grade readability test.
  • ♿ Fully accessible: captions, keyboard nav, screen-reader labels.

What we learned

  • Prompt wording beats code tweaks—clear constraints (“everyday words only”) changed Gemini’s output more than any post-processing hack.
  • Audio empathy trumps walls of text; users remember the pronunciation because they hear it.
  • Latency isn’t just engineering—it’s part of how calm or frantic your product feels.

What's next for Wordmu

  • Multi-language voices so learners can hear side-by-side pronunciations.
  • Browser extension for instant right-click look-ups.
  • Daily “Guess-the-Word” game powered by the reverse search engine.
  • Offline packs (caching top 5 000 words + audio) for low-connectivity regions.

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