dialect
noun
di·a·lect
ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt 
often attributive
1
linguistics
a
: a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language
the Doric dialect of ancient Greek
a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong
b
: one of two or more cognate (see cognate entry 1 sense 3a) languages
French and Italian are Romance dialects.
c
: a variety of a language used by the members of a group
… such dialects as politics and advertising …—
Philip Howard
Philip Howard
d
: a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (such as social class)
spoke a peasant dialect
f
: a version of a computer programming language
2
: manner or means of expressing oneself : phraseology
Examples of dialect in a Sentence
They speak a southern dialect of French.
The author uses dialect in his writing.
The play was hard to understand when the characters spoke in dialect.
Recent Examples on the Web
Tell me more about the Fiuman dialect!
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2025
Many rank-and-file enlistees were also recent immigrants, and patriot regiments hummed with a cacophony of different tongues, accents, and dialects throughout the war.
—Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
Oh yeah, my dad speaks this specific dialect called Taishanese, and one of the waiters spoke it.
—James Factora, Them., 27 Oct. 2025
This, tech writer Jasmine Sun believes, is revealed in the emerging dialect of Silicon Valley tech workers.
—Darian Woods, NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dialect
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Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2025
Many rank-and-file enlistees were also recent immigrants, and patriot regiments hummed with a cacophony of different tongues, accents, and dialects throughout the war.
—Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
Oh yeah, my dad speaks this specific dialect called Taishanese, and one of the waiters spoke it.
—James Factora, Them., 27 Oct. 2025
This, tech writer Jasmine Sun believes, is revealed in the emerging dialect of Silicon Valley tech workers.
—Darian Woods, NPR, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dialect
Cite this Entry
“Dialect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialect. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dialect
noun
di·a·lect
ˈdī-ə-ˌlekt
1
: a regional variety of a language differing from the standard language
2
: a variety of a language used by the members of a particular group or class
peasant dialect
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