Why are my Spotlight results so awful?

Question

I use spotlight extremely frequently for looking up word definitions.

Sometimes I have noticed that I don't get the word's definition back at all. For example, just now I looked up "express".

I'm hoping to see the Oxford English Dictionary definition for "express".

Instead I got these results:

How can I make Spotlight actually just show me the dictionary definition of what I've typed?

Ideally I would also like to disable all the results that appear above the dictionary entry. I'm never interested in any of that Safari stuff. (Is it all even Safari?)

Not sure about how you can set the appearance order of categories but you can set the categories to appear in your Spotlight searches through System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results. — Alper, Oct 16 '22 at 21:21
@Alper the only categories enabled according to that are: Applications, Calculator, Conversion, Definition. I don't see how I could get rid of the Safari stuff. — minseong, Oct 16 '22 at 22:15
Have you read https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/22897/how-to-place-dictionary-definitions-higher-up-in-spotlight-results? I am not sure if the answer still works as I think Spotlight now changes the order based on your usage. — Gilby, Oct 16 '22 at 23:45

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 18 '22 at 12:33

Definitions are derived in order of preferences set in Dictionary app. By default, Apple Dictionary is before Oxford dictionaries.

In order to get a Oxford English Dictionary (or any other dictionary you prefer) definition:

Go to the Dictionary app preferences (⌘+,): in the opening window, there is "Drag reference sources into the order you prefer"; reorder dictionaries as you like and tick/untick as needed.

In Spotlight, write 'express'; then, use the keyboard shortcuts ⌘+L to open the definition from your most preferred dictionary in Spotlight window or ⌘+D to open it in the Dictionary app.

This is a better answer than mine! – Gilby Oct 17 '22 at 10:51 — Gilby, Oct 17 '22 at 10:51

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 16 '22 at 23:28

I suggest you stop using Spotlight for this purpose. To get more control over searching change to using Alfred.

Alfred is a very configurable search tool, usually initiated with option-space.

By default (and you can change it) dictionary definitions are shown with the keyword 'define'. After option-space, just type "define express".

Select (up-down keys and return) "express" in show it in the Dictionary app.

Why are my Spotlight results so awful?

2 Answers2