Pinyin and word lookup on a page

Facts worth checking first

• What it does: Show Pinyin and detailed definitions for selected text to aid reading and learning.
• Page content, selections, and generation results stay on this device by default and are not uploaded to KnowIt.
• This tool calls a model with your own API key. KnowIt does not provide a model account.
• Lifetime license, ¥6.66.

Read the full FAQ

Design notes: Selection Word Inspector

1. It came from something small but real

There was no grand market research behind this feature, and no trend to chase. It came purely from a small habit of mine: when I'm reading a book or scanning the news and hit an obscure character or an idiom I've never met, I can't help stopping to look it up. That “can't help it” impulse is what made me realize that a need doesn't have to be widespread to deserve being taken seriously — it only has to be real.

2. Built for the few who like to be exact

Honestly, this tool will never have a large audience. In an age of fast reading, most people skip the hard word and move on, and that's fine as long as the gist survives. But there's always a small group with a natural curiosity about language — people who like to pick at the exact wording, who enjoy the settled feeling of having fully digested every term. This tool was made for those lovely few.

3. Make looking a word up cost nothing

If the point is to satisfy curiosity the moment it strikes, the process has to be fast. Reaching for a dictionary means switching apps and typing the word out, which breaks the rhythm of reading badly. The core idea here is “swipe once, and you know” — drag across the word with your mouse and the definition appears immediately. In the instant you want an answer, I want the distance to it to be as short as possible.

4. Respect every moment you choose to pause

With information coming at everyone this fast, being willing to stop for a single word is a precious kind of attention. I don't want to spend that patience on pop-up ads, sprawling encyclopedia entries, or showy animations. The interface stays clean and restrained: the pronunciation and the meaning, stated precisely, and then it steps quietly aside and hands the reading back to you.

5. A small tool, but an honest one

Rather than a powerful piece of productivity software, think of it as a quiet study companion. It won't interrupt you, but the moment you pause to ask, it's there. I believe a good tool doesn't have to please everyone — it only has to feel exactly right, in the moments it's needed, to the people who need it. That's enough.