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
My Spanish included Puerto Rican colloquialisms, Salvadoran sentence structure, and university-level Castilian vernacular.
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Katty Huertas, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
The word ‘choon’ is likely a colloquialism for tune—much like an ice-cream truck, a tuk-tuk bakery is fitted with a tune to attract customers along its path.
—Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023
Every concert is filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing and exchanging beaded bracelets spelling out the names of Swift songs and colloquialisms all the way up their arms.
—Time, 23 Aug. 2023
However, as some social media users pointed out, the phrase used by Foxx is a common Black colloquialism to describe betrayal from a person meant to be one of your biggest supporters.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for colloquialism 
Katty Huertas, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023
The word ‘choon’ is likely a colloquialism for tune—much like an ice-cream truck, a tuk-tuk bakery is fitted with a tune to attract customers along its path.
—Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023
Every concert is filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing and exchanging beaded bracelets spelling out the names of Swift songs and colloquialisms all the way up their arms.
—Time, 23 Aug. 2023
However, as some social media users pointed out, the phrase used by Foxx is a common Black colloquialism to describe betrayal from a person meant to be one of your biggest supporters.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for colloquialism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colloquialism
Noun
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This brings the show to 58 categories, and songs will only be considered if their lyrics are at least 60% written in Spanish, Portuguese or a native regional dialect.Kaitlyn Schwanemann, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
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His father worked as a sports journalist and his mother as a dialect coach.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Cap’n Don Johnson is alerted at the brig (terminology check?) and orders the ship to drop buoys, informing us that only 15 percent of overboard cases survive.Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
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That, and a diet of 1970s and 1980s ‘exploitation movies,’ or ‘genre titles’ to use contemporary terminology.Patrick Frater, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The language barrier has always been the catalyst for most problems when working with someone who speaks a foreign language.Expert Panel®, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
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The platform launches with a slate spanning 12+ languages and 10+ genres, featuring everything from video-on-demand content to free gaming, radio streaming, and 65 live channels.Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Working across styles and idioms including classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and film scoring—and breaking ground for African American achievement in the entertainment industries—Jones has garnered the highest levels of critical and commercial acclaim.Jem Aswad, Variety, 19 Nov. 2024
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The New York alto saxophonist, composer, vocalist and bandleader makes her Bay Area debut this weekend with a series of gigs, introducing a beguiling body of tunes shaped by her Chinese American heritage and deep engagement with various jazz, folk and pop idioms.Andrew Gilbert, The Mercury News, 6 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Regrettably, the catchy moniker has slinked into our vocabulary, and we are seemingly stuck with it.Lance Eliot, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
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The reports began introducing the rhetoric of climate change straight into the heart of the far right’s vocabulary.Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Fact checked by Sarah Scott Parents of tweens and teens like me are always in need of a brush up on current slang terms, such as lala bop, and rizz.Melissa Willets, Parents, 1 Nov. 2024
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Slang terms for marijuana Pot, Mary Jane, grass, reefer, green, hash, ganja and doobie are just a few of the ever-growing list of slang terms used in exchange for marijuana.Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near colloquialism
Cite this Entry
“Colloquialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colloquialism. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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