idiolect

noun

id·​i·​o·​lect ˈi-dē-ə-ˌlekt 

: the language or speech pattern of one individual at a particular period of life

idiolectal

ˌi-dē-ə-ˈlek-tᵊl 

adjective

Examples of idiolect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s where idiolect comes into play. —Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023

Butler appears to have picked up Elvis’s idiolect, Howell says. —Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023

Sherif’s music exists in the space between autobiographical and his own idiolect. —Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2022

And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument. —New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020

His writing conveys an extraordinary ear for accent, rhythm, and idiolect. —Maya Jasanoff, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2019

Kathleen is relentlessly animated and quick-witted, with thick tangerine hair, steely eyes, and an endearing personal idiolect that suggests both an autodidactic reading in philosophy and economics and the gusty crudity of the merchant marine. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018

Sign up for the Backchannel newsletter Movies & TV Dialect coach Erik Singer takes a look at idiolects, better known as the specific way one individual speaks. —Jason Parham, WIRED, 21 June 2018

Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories Movies & TV Dialect coach Erik Singer takes a look at idiolects, better known as the specific way one individual speaks. —Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 8 June 2018

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Word History

Etymology

idio- + -lect (as in dialect)

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above