Embodiments of the present invention disclose a dictionary lookup method and an electronic device that implements the dictionary lookup method. The dictionary lookup method allows a user to quickly obtain meanings and translations of words from electronic dictionaries while reading a text on a display screen of the electronic device, wherein reading text is utilized by performing an optical character recognition comprising of determining a set of base forms of each inflected recognized word. Advantageously, in one embodiment the meanings (e.g., the base forms) and translations may be displayed in a balloon, in a pop-up window, as subscript, as superscript, or in any other suitable manner when the user touches a word on the display screen, in one embodiment.