idiom

noun

id·​i·​om ˈi-dē-əm 

plural idioms

1

: an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for "undecided") or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way)

2

a

: the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class : dialect

b

: the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language

3

: a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument

the modern jazz idiom

broadly : manner, style

a new culinary idiom

Did you know?

The Makeup of Idioms

If you had never heard someone say "We're on the same page," would you have understood that they weren't talking about a book? And the first time someone said he'd "ride shotgun", did you wonder where the gun was? A modern English-speaker knows thousands of idioms, and uses many every day. Idioms can be completely ordinary ("first off", "the other day", "make a point of", "What's up?") or more colorful ("asleep at the wheel", "bite the bullet", "knuckle sandwich"). A particular type of idiom, called a phrasal verb, consists of a verb followed by an adverb or preposition (or sometimes both); in make over, make out, and make up, for instance, notice how the meanings have nothing to do with the usual meanings of over, out, and up.

View more idiom examples, definitions, and origins

Synonyms

• phrase

Examples of idiom in a Sentence

She is a populist in politics, as she repeatedly makes clear for no very clear reason. Yet the idiom of the populace is not popular with her. —P. J. O'Rourke, New York Times Book Review, 9 Oct. 2005

And the prospect of recovering a nearly lost language, the idiom and scrappy slang of the postwar period … —Don DeLillo, New York Times Magazine, 7 Sept. 1997

We need to explicate the ways in which specific themes, fears, forms of consciousness, and class relationships are embedded in the use of Africanist idiom … —Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark, 1992

The expression “give way,” meaning “retreat,” is an idiom.

rock and roll and other musical idioms

a feature of modern jazz idiom

Recent Examples on the Web

Once the cast gained confidence — whether in the idiom, or in improv itself — the next challenge was, ironically, holding back. —Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 9 June 2025

This eight-week class, with lessons on English grammar, pronunciation and idioms, is for adult (18 years and older) intermediate and advanced English learners who can have a conversation in English but want to improve their pronunciation and comprehension. —Jake Richardson, Mercury News, 28 Apr. 2025

Unleashing Wood has ushered in an exciting new phase for a widely influential band that has defined a state-of-the-art jazz idiom deeply engaged with other genres. —Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 23 May 2025

Scientists analyzed recordings of three groups of chimpanzees living in the Ivory Coast and found that chimps can combine their hoots, grunts and calls in a similar way to how humans use idioms or change the order of words to build new phrases. —Evan Bush, NBC news, 11 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French idiome, from Late Latin idioma individual peculiarity of language, from Greek idiōmat-, idiōma, from idiousthai to appropriate, from idios

First Known Use

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Rhymes for idiom

• clostridium
• cranidium
• cymbidium
• iridium
• peridium
• presidium
• pygidium
• rubidium
• cryptosporidium

Kids Definition

idiom

noun

id·​i·​om ˈid-ē-əm 

1

: the choice of words and the way they are combined that is characteristic of a language

2

: an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole

the expression "give way," meaning "retreat," is an idiom

idiomatic

ˌid-ē-ə-ˈmat-ik

adjective

idiomatically

-i-k(ə-)lē

adverb