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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 jargon (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 Over the past week, Wiseman has participated in his first Warriors practices, studied schemes and NBA jargon, and sat through several media sessions — all while trying to house hunt in San Francisco. — Connor Letourneau, SFChronicle.com, "An inside look at how Warriors plan to handle James Wiseman’s development," 21 Dec. 2020 What makes these new financial gurus special is their ability to remove the jargon from stock market investing. — Prathamesh Mulye, Quartz India, "A new breed of social media influencers is simplifying stock markets for Indians," 22 Dec. 2020 That verisimilitude extended to the jargon of spying in his novels, which had the ring of truth. — Ben Zimmer, WSJ, "‘Mole’: Le Carré’s Fiction Burrows Its Way Into the Real World," 17 Dec. 2020 Nonsense dressed up in statistical jargon is still nonsense. — Eric Litke, USA TODAY, "Fact check: Statistical analysis supporting pro-Trump Supreme Court case is 'ludicrous'," 11 Dec. 2020 Don’t assume candidates will understand your jargon — many will be coming from outside your industry. — Isaac Cheifetz, Star Tribune, "It's time to put some sizzle in your job ad," 21 Nov. 2020 Since the first draft of the model curriculum was published in 2019, it has been assailed as being anti-capitalist, biased in favor of or against certain groups, and full of politically correct and obscure jargon. — Nina Agrawal, Los Angeles Times, "California is still debating ethnic studies in public education. Can the state finally get it right?," 23 Nov. 2020 There’s already so much jargon behind our finances. — Washington Post, "I spent $130 in ‘Genshin Impact.’ If you might do this, maybe don’t play it.," 6 Oct. 2020 The men referred to themselves as a QRF – military jargon for Quick Reaction Force. — Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, "Trump glorifies drivers who swarmed Biden bus in Texas, as others see harassment and felony assault," 2 Nov. 2020 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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Time Traveler for jargon

Time Traveler

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

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Statistics for jargon

Last Updated

17 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Jargon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jargon. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

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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)

More from Merriam-Webster on jargon

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for jargon

Nglish: Translation of jargon for Spanish Speakers

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