The search for a good offline dictionary for Linux

To me, not having access to a good dictionary feels a bit like forgetting to put on clothes. When Flaubert throws a big word at me, I marinate in my own confusion, helpless and vulnerable. Those of you who rarely disconnect from the internet might be surprised to learn that the dictionaries for many desktop dictionary apps live in the internet, not in the app, and stop working when offline. This seems so silly! The biggest dictionary in the world would be smaller than my node_modules. Since paper dictionaries are passé, and rarely have the word I’m looking for, when travelling, I tend to turn to my Kobo dictionary even if I’m at my computer. It rarely has the word I’m looking for, but at least it’s quick to find out that it doesn’t have it. After going through the rigmarole of selecting and adding dictionaries to KOReader, I thought, how hard can it be to use one of these on Linux? Let’s just say: this is my third attempt. As with most things Linux, it’s only hard if you don’t know…