as in dialect
a word or phrase that is used mostly in informal speech; a colloquial expression
His English is very good, but he has trouble understanding certain colloquialisms.
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Recent Examples of colloquialism
Black communities are usually at the creative vanguard, from Renaissance art movements to fashion and even colloquialisms.
—
Jasmine Browley, Essence, 3 Mar. 2025
Every language has its dialects, and each dialect can have its unique spin on colloquialisms.
—Victoria Song, The Verge, 24 Jan. 2025
There is even a colloquialism for those who curry favor among the moneyed on the island of Palm Beach.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
It’s been a year of chaos and colloquialisms, as the internet shaped not only our vocabulary but our entire political system.
—Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquialism
Jasmine Browley, Essence, 3 Mar. 2025
Every language has its dialects, and each dialect can have its unique spin on colloquialisms.
—Victoria Song, The Verge, 24 Jan. 2025
There is even a colloquialism for those who curry favor among the moneyed on the island of Palm Beach.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
It’s been a year of chaos and colloquialisms, as the internet shaped not only our vocabulary but our entire political system.
—Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquialism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colloquialism
Noun
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But Simeon Silverio, former publisher of the San Diego Asian Journal, said Bayani reflects only one of many Filipino dialects and would fail to represent the country’s diverse cultural groups, each of which has its own word for hero.—
Walker Armstrong,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Oct. 2025
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Even something as simple as the Chicago dialect and John Gacy’s individual odd, idiosyncratic way of speaking.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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This tactic can be especially useful for listing AI-relevant skills that may be written using specific terminology.—
Ethan Stone,
Ascend Agency,
29 Oct. 2025
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Last year, Jimmy didn’t even know any defensive terminology.—
Jon Conahan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In a similar vein, Timnit Gebru, a computer scientist writing during her time working at Google, warned of the dangers of large language models acting as stochastic parrots, which repeat language patterns without understanding, and in doing so replicate the biases embedded in their training data.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
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The dust-up stems back to the Spanish singer’s recent appearance on the New York Times’ Popcast, where she was asked about singing in about 13 different languages one her new album Lux and the challenges of communicating with a global audience.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Though the idiom of abuse has changed, the critics are as hostile as ever, while their targets react only with curious torpor.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Music unites the interconnecting stories in this saga and expands its passions, with a sumptuous score by composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens that taps into a wide range of American styles, idioms and amalgams, even as the second act turns more dissonant.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Linguists have argued that its limitless potential is what gives human languages their ability to generate an infinite number of possible sentences out of a finite vocabulary and a finite set of rules.—
Steve Nadis,
Quanta Magazine,
31 Oct. 2025
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Nana was proud of how, in eight months, the boy had gone from not speaking to having a vocabulary closer to developmental guidelines.—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Combining 1980s cumbia and salsa with urban and Andean sounds, lyrics that highlight Ecuadorian slang and identity, and a recognizable deep voice, Machaka stands out for his freshness and authenticity.—
Tere Aguilera,
Billboard,
29 Oct. 2025
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Today on the show, San Francisco slang.—
Darian Woods,
NPR,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Colloquialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colloquialism. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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