ALTER_TEXT_SEARCH_DICTIONARY(7pg15)

✨ ALTER_TEXT_SEARCH_DICTIONARY ✨

okay bestie, so you know how text search dictionaries are like, a whole thing in PostgreSQL? this page is literally all about poking at one after it's already been made 💅. it's giving "glow-up for your dictionary" energy, and ngl it's iconic.

it lives in the PostgreSQL 15.19 docs, so like, that's the vibe we're on ✨.

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🎀 NAME 🎀

ALTER_TEXT_SEARCH_DICTIONARY — change the definition of a text search dictionary

like, you're literally editing a dictionary that already exists. main character energy fr fr 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY name (
    option [ = value ] [, ... ]
)
ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY name RENAME TO new_name
ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY name SET SCHEMA new_schema

four whole ways to do it, pick your fighter ��‍♀️✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY changes the definition of a text search dictionary. that's the whole assignment 💅. you can change the dictionary's template-specific options, or change the dictionary's name or owner. multiple paths, all valid, no cap 🔥

⚠️ and like, important: you must be the owner of the dictionary to use ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY. not your friend's cousin, not the group chat — you. periodt 👑

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🍓 PARAMETERS 🍓

• name — the name of an existing text search dictionary. it can optionally be schema-qualified (iykyk), so like myschema.mydict is totally a valid vibe.
• option — the name of a template-specific option to be set for this dictionary. think of it as, like, a specific setting that only your dictionary's template understands 🧚
• value — the new value to use for a template-specific option. and here's the cute part: if the equal sign and value are omitted, then any previous setting for the option is removed from the dictionary, letting the default be used. so ( StopWords ) with no = something is literally you saying "forget this setting, go back to default bestie" 🙈✨
• new_name — the new name of the text search dictionary. rebranding era 💖
• new_owner — the new owner of the text search dictionary. handing over the keys 👑
• new_schema — the new schema for the text search dictionary. moving houses 🏠

💡 little note: template-specific options can appear in any order. no pressure to alphabetize, bestie, it's not that deep 🌈

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⭐ EXAMPLES ⭐

changing the stopword list

the following example command changes the stopword list for a Snowball-based dictionary. other parameters remain unchanged. slay, minimal effort, maximum result 💅

ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY my_dict ( StopWords = newrussian );

changing language and nuking stopwords

the following example command changes the language option to dutch, and removes the stopword option entirely. two birds, one statement 🦋

ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY my_dict ( language = dutch, StopWords );

the iconic "dummy" trick

the following example command "updates" the dictionary's definition without actually changing anything. yes bestie, it's giving doing-nothing-but-make-it-look-like-something 😭

ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY my_dict ( dummy );

okay so why does this even work?? (the reason this works is that the option removal code doesn't complain if there is no such option.) wild, i know 💀

🌟 and here's the tea: this trick is useful when changing configuration files for the dictionary — the ALTER will force existing database sessions to re-read the configuration files, which otherwise they would never do if they had read them earlier. so it's basically a "hey wake up and re-read your notes" nudge to every session. no cap, lowkey genius 🔥

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👑 COMPATIBILITY 👑

there is no ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY statement in the SQL standard.

so like... it's a PostgreSQL-only vibe. the standard said no, Postgres said bet ✨💅

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• CREATE TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY (CREATE_TEXT_SEARCH_DICTIONARY(7))
• DROP TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY (DROP_TEXT_SEARCH_DICTIONARY(7))

make it, then change it, then (sadly) drop it. the whole life cycle bestie 🌈🦋

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okay that's the whole page! sourced straight from the PostgreSQL 15.19 documentation, dated 2026, and formatted with love (and a lot of emoji) for you 🫶💖 go forth and alter your dictionaries, you absolute icon 👑✨