Spotlight Dictionary Malfunction

this is golden it was literally driving me up the wall and now i just type define xyz and it works like a charm. thanks a lot!

Fixed in macOS 26.1.

Appears to be a Spotlight bug. Bugs can be reported to Apple here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Some testing on my part shows that typing speed, uniformity and accuracy matter.

For example, typing the first two letters at my normal typing speed, then a pause, then continuing:

Typing the first three letters at my normal typing speed, then a pause, then continuing:

Typing those same first three letters more slowly, then a pause, then continuing:

Typing the whole word at my normal typing speed gives what I would consider the expected result:

Typing the word with a misspelling also gives the expected outcome:

Side note: this makes a very nice tautology, with the word malfunction demonstrating Spotlight's own malfunction.

Try typing "definition" after the word, then the Dictionary shows up.

So, cmd-space > "malfunction def" brings up the Dictionary and a snippet of the entry against that word.

Hit return to then open up Dictionary.

It's a little slow to realise you're trying to get a definition, so I'd love for Apple to allow / codes that we can tweak to more quickly get what we want. e.g. "/d malfunction" to default to the Dictionary, or "/a safari" to default to opening an App.

Let's hope that Apple is paying attention, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

For what it's worth, I see the same thing but I don't know how to fix it. As a side note, the word does not exist in the Dictionary app in when the Apple Tab is selected.