1
as in vernacular
used in or suitable for speech and not formal writing
the new coworker's rudeness soon began—to use a colloquial expression—to rub me the wrong way
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in conversational
having the style and content of everyday conversation
a colloquial essay on what makes a marriage successful
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in colloquialism
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of colloquial
Jill Barton, The Conversation, 24 Jan. 2025
What is a Green Beret? Green Beret is the colloquial name used for members of the U.S. Army Special Forces.
—Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2025
Purple group — colloquial suffixes (CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED)
No perfect game, but that's nine wins in a row.
—Kris Holt, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024
To push the colloquial gold envelope even further, Swift added a chain belt.
—Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquial
Adjective
Gorsuch used his short opinion on the dry topic of debt collection to declare a more colloquial style.
—Jill Barton, The Conversation, 24 Jan. 2025
What is a Green Beret? Green Beret is the colloquial name used for members of the U.S. Army Special Forces.
—Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2025
Purple group — colloquial suffixes (CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED)
No perfect game, but that's nine wins in a row.
—Kris Holt, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024
To push the colloquial gold envelope even further, Swift added a chain belt.
—Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 3 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colloquial
Adjective
-
There’s very few vernacular places left in America.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Villa Aalto, with its modest rooms, charming front portico, traditional hip roofline, and wooden beams, speaks to the easy sincerity of his early designs: vernacular elements at odds with the Modernist dogmas of the day.—
Michael Snyder,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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This could involve helping systems learn colloquialisms and proper usages of terms.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Mar. 2025
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You would be forgiven for assuming this a playful colloquialism, perhaps revealing a tenderness to the hunt.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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These open-branching shrubs make an informal hedge that requires little pruning.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
25 Apr. 2025
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In an informal presentation Monday to the Planning and Zoning Commission, Evjen and his consultants said the project would cluster the condos and parking to provide acreage for a wide conservation easement around the pond.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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In so doing, Francis' steps did not always follow familiar paths.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Apr. 2025
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In addition to its brand new placements, OVO also returns to a familiar home: the Official Physical Albums chart.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Even names, idioms, and cultural references are sometimes exoticized or reduced to caricatures, reinforcing narrow or misleading representations.—
Diana Spehar,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
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At that time, writers like Ashbery and Frank O’Hara were helping to establish a new idiom in American poetry, something serious without self-seriousness: the new poetry was open to the city’s rhythms, irreverent but tender—and clearly, if not openly, gay.—
David S. Wallace,
The New Yorker,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The assault is alleged to have taken place in June at 2 Sisters 4 Brothers Restaurant and Lounge, a casual eatery and dance venue in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
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Dress up in the Madewell Linen Maxi Slip Skirt, or keep things casual with the Anthropologie Colette Linen Mini Skirt.—
Genevieve Cepeda,
Travel + Leisure,
2 May 2025
Noun
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In British fashion parlance, the signature single flower, attended occasionally by a bit of lace, is called a fascinator.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
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The maneuver, in military parlance, is known as a force multiplier.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This includes a lawyer, who will reply to social messages and even gossipy chitchat from their work account.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
18 Apr. 2025
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Duvall, who won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival, improvised much of her gossipy dialogue.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
19 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Colloquial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colloquial. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
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