Dictionaries are very essential in our everyday professional life. They provide us withrnvaluable lexical information and are crucial reference/resource materials across allrndisciplines. Thus, upholding of their standard/quality and use appears to be paramountrnimportant in order to suit the needs of intended users. However, little or no empiricalrnresearch has been done so far about the qualities and uses of Tigrinya dictionaries. Thernmain purpose of this study is then to assess and describe the standard and uses of somernselected Tigrinya dictionaries in the light of current theories and principles ofrnlexicography. The total sample subjects are six Tigrinya dictionaries, three compilers, andrnhundred five Tigrinya-major students and ten Tigrinya teachers, from Addis Ababa andrnMekelle Universities. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the dictionariesrnand the compilers, and systematic sampling technique to select the students, teachers, andrnthe main entries from the dictionaries. For an overall look at some aspects of therndictionaries, purposive technique was also applied. Regarding data collection instrument,rnquestionnaire (for the students and teachers), an interview (for the compilers), and arndocument/content analysis (for evaluation of the dictionaries) were used. The datarnobtained through these instruments were analyzed and interpreted in qualitative (in tables,rngraphs and descriptions) and quantitative (frequency distribution) methods as necessary.rnThe overall result of the study shows the selected dictionaries lack principles andrnmethods of lexicography. They are perceived nonstandard and are under utilized. Therncompilers of these dictionaries lack adequate experience and training on dictionaryrncompilation. The study, therefore, implies Tigrinya dictionaries have to maintain thernrequired properties/qualities of a standard dictionary. Compilers of such dictionaries needrnto attain necessary knowledge and skills of dictionary compilation, and training isrnrequired to users and the authors