as in dialect
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Recent Examples of idiolect
In this way, the Delta method captures features that vary according to their authors’ idiolects.
—
Karolina Rudnicka, Scientific American, 9 July 2025
Attackers can mimic the distinct idiolect of the target.
—Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
Butler appears to have picked up Elvis’s idiolect, Howell says.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Sherif’s music exists in the space between autobiographical and his own idiolect.
—Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2022
And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument.
—New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
His writing conveys an extraordinary ear for accent, rhythm, and idiolect.
—Maya Jasanoff, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2019
Kathleen is relentlessly animated and quick-witted, with thick tangerine hair, steely eyes, and an endearing personal idiolect that suggests both an autodidactic reading in philosophy and economics and the gusty crudity of the merchant marine.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018
Karolina Rudnicka, Scientific American, 9 July 2025
Attackers can mimic the distinct idiolect of the target.
—Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
Butler appears to have picked up Elvis’s idiolect, Howell says.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Sherif’s music exists in the space between autobiographical and his own idiolect.
—Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2022
And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument.
—New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
His writing conveys an extraordinary ear for accent, rhythm, and idiolect.
—Maya Jasanoff, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2019
Kathleen is relentlessly animated and quick-witted, with thick tangerine hair, steely eyes, and an endearing personal idiolect that suggests both an autodidactic reading in philosophy and economics and the gusty crudity of the merchant marine.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idiolect
Noun
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The gambit that Shelley somehow comes to possess her fictional creation is sustained, as Ida alternates between a very American dialect and a more high-toned British accent.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Having a few weeks of rehearsal ahead of filming helped McEwen and Kidman to establish the similarities in their performances, as did work with Kidman’s dialect coach.—
Emily Zemler,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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If the assignment is to translate something from a foreign language, there are plenty of tools and resources that can do it for you, including by recognizing and figuratively translating idioms.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The centuries-old pot-kettle idiom points out hypocrisy — as when one person accuses another of a flaw that afflicts himself.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The filles, mostly from larger cities, arrived with their own urban argots.—
Ann Foster,
JSTOR Daily,
9 July 2025
-
The basic technology is complicated enough, but the subculture—with its own particular argot and decorum—is what’s truly forbidding.—
Will Gottsegen,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2025
Noun
-
In 1993, Green started compiling 500 years of English slang by sifting through mountains of primary sources.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Blending Milanese slang with French and Arabic, his rhymes should bring a fresh energy to the event.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Real Miami-Dade officers, often occupying background roles, interacted in character during those stretches as well, sustaining the casual banter and shared patois of a working unit.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
16 Jan. 2026
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Elliott spits her verses in patois, freeing up space on the track for the drums to get some before Cartel and M.I.A. slide through. 41.—
Steven J. Horowitz,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
In nations with universal health coverage, understanding health insurance jargon isn’t a matter of financial survival.—
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce,
The Conversation,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The latest addition to the genre, AMC’s The Audacity, captures all the absurdities, egos, and jargon of the tech scene as deftly as its predecessors.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The movement and field of preservation and architectural history has since broadened its purview to include the vernacular, the midcentury modern and even the postmodern, yet our data and policies in Chicago remain stuck in the past.—
Elizabeth Blasius,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Mar. 2026
-
The first episode of season three really served as a soft reboot for Red Dwarf, long before the term entered common vernacular.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In military parlance, this usually translates to one attack on a specific target that might involve multiple weapons.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
-
In baseball parlance, Naylor looked runnerish.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Idiolect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiolect. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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