a few months ago i had the local apple store load OS 10.12.1 on my mac mini, and since then the dictionary widget is broken. the widget tab loads in the dashboard array, but the function tab is blank (no "dictionary," no "thesaurus"); a word typed in the tab input window returns the result "(word) could not be found" i have deleted and reloaded the widget but this is no cure.
Mac mini (Late 2012)
Thanks. Your suggestion restored the lookup sources, but did not re-enable the drop-down option list within the widget that toggles between dictionary/thesaurus/etc. Removing the Dictionary widget, restarting macOS, then restoring the widget repopulated this selector, and all seems back to normal.
Thanks again.
after following the suggested "fix", the toggle function in the widget dictionary bar still does not function to allow me to select thesaurus (it's stuck on dictionary). even better, the dictionary itself is buggy, returning the definition for "digressive" when the queried word was "effluvia".
i'd suggest the apple corporation spend less time on the nugatory updates to garage band and imovie and spend a little more time stabilizing the OS, which is also not playing nice with several of my major brand, bread and butter software applications. you're supposed to be making the OS better, not making it an increasingly tattered tent for the sideshow applications targeted to the millennial urbanites.
Do you mean this?
or this?
If you would like to suggest something to Apple you can do so here…
I'm in the same boat with macOS 10.12.2 (16C68) + mid-2012 MacBook Pro ... not certain what triggered the issue in the first place, but I have also been unable to resolve on my own.
Open the Dictionary app in the Applications folder.You may have to select various dictionaries to download in order for the widget to work.
dictionary widget broken in OS 10.12.1
