as in dialect
a word or phrase that is used mostly in informal speech; a colloquial expression
His English is very good, but he has trouble understanding certain colloquialisms.
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Recent Examples of colloquialism
My Spanish included Puerto Rican colloquialisms, Salvadoran sentence structure, and university-level Castilian vernacular.
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Katty Huertas, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
The word ‘choon’ is likely a colloquialism for tune—much like an ice-cream truck, a tuk-tuk bakery is fitted with a tune to attract customers along its path.
—Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023
Every concert is filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing and exchanging beaded bracelets spelling out the names of Swift songs and colloquialisms all the way up their arms.
—Time, 23 Aug. 2023
However, as some social media users pointed out, the phrase used by Foxx is a common Black colloquialism to describe betrayal from a person meant to be one of your biggest supporters.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for colloquialism 
Katty Huertas, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
The word ‘choon’ is likely a colloquialism for tune—much like an ice-cream truck, a tuk-tuk bakery is fitted with a tune to attract customers along its path.
—Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023
Every concert is filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing and exchanging beaded bracelets spelling out the names of Swift songs and colloquialisms all the way up their arms.
—Time, 23 Aug. 2023
However, as some social media users pointed out, the phrase used by Foxx is a common Black colloquialism to describe betrayal from a person meant to be one of your biggest supporters.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for colloquialism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colloquialism
Noun
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Jones and Brody learned Hungarian and worked with a dialect coach for the movie.Carole Horst, Variety, 17 Dec. 2024
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Turns out, dat good ole dialect is a put-on: James speaks like a professor.Rachel Flynn, People.com, 3 Dec. 2024
Noun
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About 70% of big businesses that have AI training focus on teaching concepts and terminology, according to Mercer’s data.Catherine McGrath, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2024
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Here’s a terminology detail: an AI accelerator can be a physical chip, like a GPU or an ASIC.John Werner, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Onto the page spilled more than ten thousand lines of the richest and most resourceful blank verse in the English language, arranged into ten books in 1667, then rearranged into twelve in 1674.Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
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Use neutral, factual language to ensure the message remains honest and unbiased.Tina Gada, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The versatile, always-all-in Mars is a worthy lodestar for Rosé and Rosie, an album that whirls through 21st-century pop idioms with aplomb even as its heroine ruminates on heartache and anxiety.Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 6 Dec. 2024
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Perhaps that’s why his debut album as Chanel Beads is filled with self-help idioms and reflections on internal conflicts.Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 3 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The future of communicating with buyers and customers is less about impressive vocabulary and more about genuine connection.Renae Gregoire, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
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McBride possesses a skill that few of his peers can claim: a vocabulary for critically analyzing screen acting and how its gestures and movements cohere with the director and cinematographer’s tools.Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 4 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Jone [Southern slang meaning make fun, joke around].Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 2024
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Previous generations of slang terms usually had one-to-one translations to, for lack of a better word, normal English.Evan Porter, Parents, 3 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near colloquialism
Cite this Entry
“Colloquialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colloquialism. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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