* Different dictionaries have different criteria: Some dictionaries include technical terms, slang, and proper nouns, while others focus on common words.
* The definition of "word" is ambiguous: Do we count different forms of a word (like "run," "running," "ran") as separate entries? What about hyphenated words?
* Language is constantly evolving: New words are created, and old words fall out of use. Dictionaries are constantly being updated.
However, here are some general estimates:
* Smaller dictionaries: Might contain around 50,000 to 100,000 words.
* Larger dictionaries: Could have anywhere from 150,000 to 500,000 words.
* The Oxford English Dictionary (OED): The largest English dictionary, with over 600,000 entries.
It's important to remember that these are just estimates, and the exact number of words in any given dictionary can vary.