Save words
while you read.

Sipword is a browser companion for building vocabulary from what you already read. Double-click a word, keep it with the sentence it came from, then meet it again later through spaced repetition — without leaving the page.

The Atlantic · 4 min Sipword is on

The architecture of habit

Habits are the invisible scaffolding of an ordinary day. We build them to spend less attention, and mostly they repay us. Yet somewhere inside that efficiency sits something enigmatic — a small refusal to be explained.

Sipped just now. Comes back Thursday, then in nine days, then in a month.

Go on — double-click any word on this page.Works on every word here

How it goes

Three quiet steps.
That's the whole thing.

No fifteen-screen onboarding. No daily goal. No streak that guilts you at 11pm. Read in the language you're learning, save the words that matter, and review them later.

STEP ONE

Read what you already read

Articles, newsletters, essays, documentation, long reads. Sipword stays out of the way until a word is worth keeping.

STEP TWO

Double-click a word

Sipword keeps the word, its meaning and pronunciation where available, the source, and the original sentence. Saved on your device first.

STEP THREE

Meet it again, later

An FSRS-based spaced-repetition scheduler brings words back as their memory gets weaker. Review a small due queue when you have a few minutes.

Review, without the ritual

A vocabulary review that
fits between things.

The review loop is short and contextual: a few due words at a time, each still attached to the sentence you met it in.

Counts
What's due, what's new, and what is settling into long-term memory. No streak required.
Session
Ends when the due queue ends. The goal is a small review habit, not another feed to clear.
Context
Every review keeps the sentence you met the word in, so the memory starts from real context rather than an isolated list.
What's in it

Six things, defined.

A small vocabulary tool built around one loop: capture from reading, keep the context, review at the right time.

sip·word/ˈsɪp.wɜːd/noun & verb

capture

v.

Double-click. No form, no "add word" button, no tab switch. The word arrives with its sentence attached.

"I sipped four words out of one paragraph without losing my place."

recall

v.

FSRS-based spacing adapts review intervals to each word. Easy ones move farther out; stubborn ones return sooner.

"It knew I'd forget meticulous before I did."

offline

adj.

Saving and reviewing work with no connection. Sync happens later, quietly, and resolves conflicts without asking you.

"Four stops underground, twelve words done."

private

adj.

Built local-first, with sync designed around privacy rather than advertising. Your vocabulary library is product data, not an ad profile.

"Export to CSV or Anki whenever you like, including on the free plan."

level

n.

Useful language metadata stays attached to the word where the data source supports it, helping you see what kind of vocabulary your reading produces.

"Turns out most of what I save is C1. Good to know."

voice

n.

Pronunciation stays next to the word where audio is available, so sound and spelling can be reviewed together instead of living in separate tools.

"Finally heard how persevere is actually stressed."

From the reading notes

Vocabulary grows
inside real reading.

Practical guides on capturing vocabulary from articles, keeping words in context, and choosing a review workflow that does not take over the reading itself.

Why this exists

I got tired of
copying words by hand.

I read in a language I'm still learning every day, and for two years I moved words out of Kindle and Instapaper into Anki by hand. Copy, paste, find the pronunciation, write the sentence back in from memory. Twenty minutes for a dozen words, and the sentence was always slightly wrong.

Every tool I tried wanted something else from me: a daily goal, a streak, a cartoon that was disappointed in me. I wanted the opposite — something that takes one click while I'm reading and then leaves me alone until it has a reason not to.

So I'm building it. It's a small tool with a small scope, and I'd rather it be finished than large.

— building Sipword alone, for now

Questions

Before you hand over
your email address.

Which languages does it handle?

Sipword is designed for reading in a language you're learning, not for one language forever. Today the target language is English; more languages are added as lookup, pronunciation and morphology support is ready for them.

What will it cost?

There will always be a free tier for a small active vocabulary library; a paid tier adds unlimited words and cross-device features. Right now Sipword is free, and prices will be published before anyone is asked to pay.

Can I get my words back out?

One click, to CSV, TSV or an Anki-compatible deck — on the free plan too. Your vocabulary is not the hostage in this arrangement.

Is it any use to a beginner?

Honestly, no. Sipword works from about B1. Below that, nearly every word on the page is new, and saving all of them just builds a pile you'll never review. Get the first two thousand words from a course, then come back.

What happens to my data?

Your words are saved on your device first and synced through our server in the EU (Frankfurt), so they follow you to your other devices. No ads, no trackers, nothing sold. What exactly is stored, for how long, and how to delete it is in the privacy policy at sipword.com/privacy.

How is this different from Anki?

Anki is a powerful, flexible spaced-repetition system and already supports FSRS. Sipword focuses on the step before review: capturing vocabulary from the page you're reading with its sentence and source intact. If Anki is your preferred reviewer, export and keep using it.