How can I stop MacOS from giving me definition of misspelled words?

[MacBH928]

This is making me go crazy!
I do the 3-finger-tap on words to check definition and its my way of checking if the spelling is correct. The problem is MacOS gives the definition to the closest word although the spelling is wrong. I keep sending out misspelled words because of this. Look at the image, I purposely spelled "neoptisim" and when checking the definition it gave me the definition of "nepotsim"

please, no one say use the squiggly red line to check the definition.

 

[Slartibart]

it gave you nepotism, which is a thing. what else should it give you? And what is wrong with using the spellcheck for what is designed, and “look up” for finding the definition?

 

[chown33]

Is the line that ends with 'did you mean "nepotism"?' clickable?
If so, then my guess is that clicking it will replace the misspelled word.

I can't test this myself, because I don't know what OS version and app you're using.

 

[zevrix]

as others already mentioned, this does tell you there's no such word:

other than that it's, frankly, unclear how you can use this method for effective spell-checking. since you don't like the "squiggly red line", then it appears you have to manually check every word for its definition just to make sure it's not misspelled? looks to me it's easy to miss quite a few misspelled words using this method.

you also mentioned that "the problem is MacOS" does this to you. do you imply that earlier macOS versions behaved differently, or are you comparing macOS to a different system (or app) where you're using this method successfully?

 

[MacBH928]

it gave you nepotism, which is a thing. what else should it give you?

I am used to the behavior of not giving a definition if the word does not exist.

This from TheFreeDictionary.com

And what is wrong with using the spellcheck for what is designed, and “look up” for finding the definition?

Sometimes I need to write down words/names in latin letters that are not in English and having the red line bellow them annoys me and keeps me thinking there are spelling mistakes in the document.

Also, some apps do not have the squiggly lines , like Pixelmator. I just typed in random letters and didn't get any red lines.

Is the line that ends with 'did you mean "nepotism"?' clickable?
If so, then my guess is that clicking it will replace the misspelled word.

I can't test this myself, because I don't know what OS version and app you're using.

MacOS 12.7.6 . I tested it does not. Thanks for the help Chown33. Appreciate it.

as others already mentioned, this does tell you there's no such word:

View attachment 2432818

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Ok, I am stupid.

My eyes are trained to skip directly to the definition and skip any extra remarks/notifications. I seriously never paid attention to that. My brain logic works by "It gave me a definition -> the word exists" .

other than that it's, frankly, unclear how you can use this method for effective spell-checking. since you don't like the "squiggly red line", then it appears you have to manually check every word for its definition just to make sure it's not misspelled? looks to me it's easy to miss quite a few misspelled words using this method.

It works for me. Words I know the spelling of I do not check. Words I am suspicious of, I always double check. As mentioned about the red squiggly lines are problematic for me when writing none english words and the whole document has red lines when in reality there are no spelling mistakes just non-english terms. Now I get confused between the real misspells and the foreign words. And as mentioned above, some apps do not have spellcheck built in, like pixelmator.

When I am doing just English, I turn the spell checker on.

you also mentioned that "the problem is MacOS" does this to you. do you imply that earlier macOS versions behaved differently, or are you comparing macOS to a different system (or app) where you're using this method successfully?

Not sure about previous macOS, but I am used to get "no definition" when the word does not exist. See example of TheFreeDictionary.com above. Similar behavior by Merriam-Webster.com

 

[Slartibart]

The multilungual texts you are writing are in languages Apple provides dictionaries for? Do you have these languages activated to be spellchecked automatically? This will address the red underline problem - activate all languages you type in, and tick »Automatic by language«.

There is a problem with user installed dictionaries - seems there is some hit&miss in auto-switching with those (but if you‘re covered by the ones Apple supplies, you‘re golden).

Nota bene: In Word you probably also have do this: On the Review tab, go to Language, and then select Detect language automatically.

 

[MacBH928]

The multilungual texts you are writing are in languages Apple provides dictionaries for? Do you have these languages activated to be spellchecked automatically? This will address the red underline problem - activate all languages you type in, and tick »Automatic by language«.

There is a problem with user installed dictionaries - seems there is some hit&miss in auto-switching with those (but if you‘re covered by the ones Apple supplies, you‘re golden).

Nota bene: In Word you probably also have do this: On the Review tab, go to Language, and then select Detect language automatically.

hello. Thanks @Slartibart for helping me out. I think this method works if you type in the information using the original language letters but not when typing using English/Latin letters.

This is necessary as sometimes you need to write an English official document for none English people. Think of some one who is Indian filling for a UK Visa application where he needs to fill in his name, address, etc...

some examples:

 

[zevrix]

This is necessary as sometimes you need to write an English official document for none English people. Think of some one who is Indian filling for a UK Visa application where he needs to fill in his name, address, etc...

I understand your struggle. One day AI will take care of this.