How Stemmy Works: Select, Understand, Save, Review

Q: Can I change the keyboard shortcut?

Yes. Open chrome://extensions/shortcuts in Chrome and set your own keys for "Show the meaning of the selected word" and "Open the side panel".

Before you start

Stemmy is a free extension for Google Chrome on a computer. After you add it from the Chrome Web Store, a welcome page opens with a short practice sentence so you can try the first lookup right away. AI features need a free account (Google Sign-In or email). Each account gets 150 free AI uses in total, once; Ghost Card lookups and cloud voice draw on them.

1. Select a word

On any web page, select a word. A small Stemmy button appears beside the selection; click it and the card opens next to the text. If you prefer the keyboard, press Alt+Shift+D with the word selected, or click the Stemmy icon in the toolbar. In Chrome's PDF viewer, right-click the word and choose "Define with Stemmy".

Nothing happens until you ask. Stemmy does not scan or highlight pages on its own; the one exception is X-Ray, which you start from the right-click menu.

Illustration: the word mitigate highlighted in a report, with a Ghost Card showing its meaning in that sentence, its Latin roots and a play button for pronunciation. — **Meaning in this sentence.** Highlight a word, then click the Stemmy button beside it or press Alt+Shift+D. The Ghost Card shows the meaning that fits the sentence, the roots and the pronunciation. Illustration

2. Read the meaning for this sentence

The card leads with what the word means here, in the sentence you selected it from, followed by the general meaning and an example. A play button gives the pronunciation. "More about this word" opens synonyms and WordDNA: the root, where it comes from and the related words that share it.

If the word is already in your wallet, the card says so and offers "Forgot it? Review it today", which moves the word to the front of your queue instead of spending an AI use.

3. Save it to your Vocabulary Wallet

One click saves the word with its meaning, the sentence you found it in and the page it came from. The card confirms when Stemmy will ask you about it: the first review comes after about ten minutes, while the sentence is still fresh. Stemmy sorts saved words into categories for you, and the wallet can be searched and exported as JSON at any time.

Illustration: the Vocabulary Wallet side panel with mitigate saved at the top, its sentence and source page, a category label and a search for work. — **Saved with its sentence.** Each saved word keeps its meaning, the source sentence and the page link. Search them by word or category in the side panel. Illustration

4. Review when words are due

The toolbar icon shows how many words are ready. Open the side panel for today's review, or the dashboard for everything. Each card shows your own sentence as the cue; reveal the meaning, then rate it Again, Hard, Good or Easy. Every button says when the word will return, for example "10 min", "1 day" or "4 days", so the schedule is never a surprise. Stemmy uses the FSRS spaced-repetition scheduler and introduces at most twenty new words a day, so the queue stays short enough to finish.

Illustration: a review card for mitigate, the answer revealed, and the Again, Hard, Good and Easy buttons with Good selected before the next card slides in. — **Short reviews of what is due.** Reviews cover only the words that are due. Rate each one Again, Hard, Good or Easy, and stop whenever you like. Illustration

5. Answer from your inbox (optional)

Wallet Letters is an email you can switch on after your first few saves. It brings up to three due words, daily, every other day or weekly, each with "I remembered" and "I forgot" links. Clicking one records the answer and updates your schedule; the next time you open Stemmy, the words are already rescheduled. Every letter has a one-click unsubscribe.

Meet your words again

Stories. Short AI-written stories built from your saved words, due words first, so you read them in new sentences.
X-Ray. Right-click a difficult page and choose "Find hard words on this page" to see which words are worth learning before you read.
Immersion. An optional on-page button (off by default) that places your saved words into the article you are reading, where the meaning stays the same.
Sync. Sign in to keep the wallet the same across your Chrome browsers. Words saved before signing in can be copied into the account.

Illustration: X-Ray scanning a dense article and highlighting fiduciary, contingent, attrition and covenant, listed in a panel of words worth learning. — **X-Ray on a hard page.** On a difficult page, X-Ray shows which words are worth learning, so you can choose a few on purpose. Illustration

Questions

Do I need an account?

Saving words, reviewing them, the toolbar badge and export work before you sign in. Meanings, stories, categories and cloud pronunciation use AI, which needs a free account with its included uses.

What happens when the included AI uses are spent?

Once the included uses are spent, your wallet, reviews, the toolbar badge and export keep working, and looking up a word you already saved stays free; new AI meanings wait for a future allowance. Questions: hello@stemmy.app.

Does Stemmy translate words into my language?

No. Stemmy explains English words in English, in the sentence you are reading. It is built for readers who already read English and want to keep the words they meet.

What is sent off my computer?

For a meaning, the word and the sentence around it. For X-Ray and Immersion, text from the page you started them on. Your wallet, reviews and settings stay in your browser unless you turn on sync. The privacy policy lists everything.

Can I change the keyboard shortcut?

Yes. Open chrome://extensions/shortcuts in Chrome and set your own keys for "Show the meaning of the selected word" and "Open the side panel".

Select. Understand. Save. Review.