Three ways to check a word you are not sure about

There are three different questions hiding behind the sentence "I am not sure this word is right", and they need three different answers.

Is the word the right word for this

If you are writing in a language where you can read it but not write it, the problem is usually the second half of knowing a word. You recognise it and you have no idea how to produce it.

A dictionary that shows you the word in a sentence fixes that, because the sentence is where the usage lives. SKSensei does dictionary, grammar, kanji and sentences together, at https://sksensei.com.

Is this the word the other side would use

The other version is the reverse problem. You know how to say it and you are not sure it is what a native speaker would actually say, which is a different question with a different answer.

AprenderPalavras is a universal translation dictionary organised around that: the translation, the context and the register, in your own language, at https://aprenderpalavras.com.

Is it slang, and where did it come from

And sometimes the word is fine in English and completely wrong in the community you are writing in. Slang has its own rules, and the rules are historical rather than logical, which is why the origin is the most useful thing a reference can tell you.

Taboords carries definitions with the origin and the register next to them, across gírias, siglas, relationship terms, psychology, subcultures and Japanese culture, at https://taboords.com.

The pattern is that each of these fails in a different direction, so the fastest fix is to identify which one you are actually stuck on before you open a reference.