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jargon

noun
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jar·​gon | \ ˈjär-gən How to pronounce jargon (audio) , -ˌgän\

Definition of jargon

 (Entry 1 of 2)

1 : the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group sports jargon
2 : obscure and often pretentious language marked by circumlocutions and long words an academic essay filled with jargon
3a : confused unintelligible language
b : a strange, outlandish, or barbarous language or dialect
c : a hybrid language or dialect simplified in vocabulary and grammar and used for communication between peoples of different speech

jargon

verb
jargoned; jargoning; jargons

Definition of jargon (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : jargonize
2 : twitter, warble
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Other Words from jargon

Noun

jargony \ ˈjär-​gə-​nē How to pronounce jargony (audio) , -​ˌgä-​nē \ adjective

Examples of jargon in a Sentence

Noun medical jargon that the layman cannot understand an academic essay filled with jargon Verb the birds who began jargoning to greet the dawn
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun One reason may be that the Navy often communicates in technical jargon, scattering key details of its plans throughout lengthy documents that can be difficult to understand. — Jason Fagone, SFChronicle.com, "Report: Navy altered Hunters Point cleanup to cover, not remove, toxic soil," 14 Aug. 2019 These mutations are, in the jargon of evolutionary biology, neutral. — Quanta Magazine, "The Surprising Origins of Life’s Complexity," 16 July 2013 The jargon serves to cover up the continuities between the modern NFL and an era in which the suppression of player mobility was more frankly administered. — Conor Orr, SI.com, "Fate of the Union: What the NFLPA Can Learn From the Fight of '77," 18 June 2019 Five years ago, the start-up started slinging compressed mattresses in cardboard boxes straight to buyers’ homes — an alternative to cluttered mattress chains that tried to baffle consumers with jargon. — Sheila Marikar, New York Times, "Casper Dreams of Being Bigger Than Mattresses," 13 Sep. 2019 Some members openly questioned whether their work product was precise enough or had become overstuffed with jargon. — oregonlive.com, "Neighborhood associations agonize as Portland moves to purge them from code," 22 July 2019 Further mockery of business jargon and corporate training exercises ensues. — Oliver Staley, Quartz at Work, "Whatever happened to Six Sigma?," 3 Sep. 2019 Apollo 11 must pass a series of checkpoints, known in space agency jargon as go -- no go decisions. — Houston Chronicle, "Apollo Breaks Out of Earth’s Pull," 21 July 2019 The counter crew is friendly and the craftsmanship of the subs (heroes, in New York jargon) are impressive. — Michael Mayo, sun-sentinel.com, "Publix subs are good (but not with chicken tenders). These are better. Our critic rates local sub shops.," 13 June 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb That’s like the same thing that happened in 2008 when everybody was bedazzled by all these Wall Street jargon terms like collateralized debt obligations. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Corey Pein, author of ‘Live Work Work Work Die,’ on Recode Decode," 13 June 2018 That’s like the same thing that happened in 2008 when everybody was bedazzled by all these Wall Street jargon terms like collateralized debt obligations. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Corey Pein, author of ‘Live Work Work Work Die,’ on Recode Decode," 13 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jargon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of jargon

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

History and Etymology for jargon

Noun and Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French jargun, gargon

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Statistics for jargon

Last Updated

1 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for jargon

The first known use of jargon was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for jargon

jargon

noun
How to pronounce jargon (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of jargon

usually disapproving : the language used for a particular activity or by a particular group of people

See the full definition for jargon in the English Language Learners Dictionary

jargon

noun
jar·​gon | \ ˈjär-gən How to pronounce jargon (audio) , -ˌgän\

Kids Definition of jargon

1 : the special vocabulary of an activity or group sports jargon
2 : language that is not clear and is full of long words

jargon

noun
jar·​gon | \ ˈjär-gən, -ˌgän How to pronounce jargon (audio) \

Medical Definition of jargon

1 : the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity, group, profession, or field of study medical jargon
2 : unintelligible, meaningless, or incoherent speech (as that associated with Wernicke's aphasia or some forms of schizophrenia)

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More from Merriam-Webster on jargon

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for jargon

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with jargon

Spanish Central: Translation of jargon

Nglish: Translation of jargon for Spanish Speakers

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