Which dictionary do you recommend?
In a comment on a long-ago post, territurtle asked about dictionaries
"What is your current recommendation? "
But I believe that the question was meant for Lazarus1907, who had also commented on my post:
Collins used to be my favourite for bilingual dictionaries, but recently they decided not to use the IPA, which I though it was something stupid. - lazarus1907 Sep 29, 2010
5 Answers
After you have a minimal vocabulary, I would recommend using the online rae dictionary, which is in Spanish. This helps to avoid the word substitution pitfall that bilingual dictionaries can easily lead to.
I have the Collins complete and unabridged. I warn you it's large and very heavy and I keep it on a chair by my desk, it really needs its own podium 
. It's pretty comprehensive on the whole. I have an old Larousse as well which still holds up pretty well.
The Collins is pretty useful if I'm doing translations, particularly literary stuff, but so are the dictionaries I have on the kindle and the Translation options here on Spanish Dict to be frank.
It's "horses for courses" really but I find online stuff increasingly useful as I find my way around. I think the Collins is mainly my security blanket these days
Diccionario CLAVE is my go-to dictionary because it has helpful example sentences for almost every definition of every word. This good for showing how the word is used in context, and can also help you figure out what the word means if you didn't get it from the definition, so you don't have to resort to a bilingual dictionary. And, in my experience, it often includes words that the DRAE doesn't accept. As for the DRAE, I tend to use it when I already have a pretty good idea of the word's meaning, but want to check on what its accepted uses are or where it is used. The DRAE lists countries where certain words are used, while CLAVE only indicates that some words are used in Latin America. The DRAE is good for getting an authoritative opinion on accepted usages, but I find I almost always have a better idea of how a word is used and what it means after looking it up in el Diccionario CLAVE. It also rarely sends me on the wild goose chases that the DRAE does (I look up a word and it is defined by part of itself (ex. a 'something-ador' is someone who 'somethings'). These chains go on for a surprisingly long time before you get to a useful definition!
I also recommend using the online versions because, I, at least, look up more words if I’m using an online dictionary. If you are reading Don Quixote by candlelight in a power outage, you’ll be out of luck, but the rest of the time I find that, when using a paper dictionary, I often simply don’t look words up because it’s somewhat disruptive to the flow of my reading (I have to mark my place in what I’m reading, get up, open the dictionary, find the word, etc.) and I’m a bit slow at finding words. (This is probably because, as I just admitted, I rarely use paper dictionaries). This very small hassle usually makes me just go with the general idea I get from the context. With online dictionaries, on the other hand, I can look up all the words I want a slightly more precise idea of in almost no time at all with minimal distraction and disruption of my reading.
I use an old "Grolier,Larousse" two volumes, for translating and the "pequeno La Rousse for definitions in Spanish.
RAE is always my final destination.
Over the years I have discovered several very old books of synonyms and antonyms,as well as a conjugator that has more forms than God has angels.
Developing a learning library is essential, I love going to these old books for definitions and usages.
I only use the Real Academia Española if I know what the word is in Spanish.
If I have the English word I check several online dictionaries, such as
