idiomatic

adjective

id·​i·​o·​mat·​ic ˌi-dē-ə-ˈma-tik How to pronounce idiomatic (audio)
1
: of, relating to, or conforming to idiom
2
: peculiar to a particular group, individual, or style
idiomatically adverb
idiomaticness noun

Did you know?

The speech and writing of a native-born English-speaker may seem crude, uneducated, and illiterate, but will almost always be idiomatic—that is, a native speaker always sounds like a native speaker. For a language learner, speaking and writing idiomatically in another language is the greatest challenge. Even highly educated foreign learners—professors, scientists, doctors, etc.—rarely succeed in mastering the kind of idiomatic English spoken by an American 7th-grader.

Examples of idiomatic in a Sentence

the new teacher's idiomatic approach to dealing with special-needs students is already showing signs of success
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But Jake Xerxes Fussell’s music, which draws heavily from nineteenth- and twentieth-century vernacular folk songs and archival field recordings, is idiomatic, and entirely his own. Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024 He’s expanded the book by more than 150 pages since its previous edition, from 2009: a tribute to the idiomatic ingenuity of the social-media age, or just the pissiness in the air. Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024 Yet even shows produced in English in other countries, like the UK and Australia, can become a little thick for an American ear trying to sort out the idiomatic quirks and other differences. Brian Lowry, CNN, 10 June 2024 To be sure, the pause in the action highlighted the brilliant work of the Royal Opera orchestra, under the fluid, idiomatic baton of Antonio Pappano. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2023 See all Example Sentences for idiomatic 

Word History

First Known Use

1712, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of idiomatic was in 1712

Dictionary Entries Near idiomatic

Cite this Entry

“Idiomatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiomatic. Accessed 14 Dec. 2024.

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