Have dictionaries of English indeed affected their users’ predisposition towards women to such an extent that we can posit a causal relation between what they propose and some of the forms of occupational sexism that still exist? Applying a data-collection methodology that has not been previously resorted to in any studies into the portrayal of women in these dictionaries challenges such a claim: the real exposure to sexist content is actually smaller than previous work is suggesting.

Have dictionaries of English indeed affected their users’ predisposition towards women to such an extent that we can posit a causal relation between what they propose and some of the forms of occupational sexism that still exist? Applying a data-collection methodology that has not been previously resorted to in any studies into the portrayal of women in these dictionaries challenges such a claim: the real exposure to sexist content is actually smaller than previous work is suggesting.