word order

noun

: the order or arrangement of words in a phrase, clause, or sentence

Examples of word order in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Put that original version of Leir into any of these fancy language models and run it through a hundred thousand times—you’ll never come close to reproducing the word order the Sweet Swan of Avon came up with. — Ayad Akhtar, The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2024 The old models—LSTMs and RNNs—had word order implicitly built into the models. — Haomiao Huang, Ars Technica, 30 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of word order was in 1872

Rhymes for word order

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Browse Nearby Words

word on the street
word order
word-paint
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Cite this Entry

“Word order.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/word%20order. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.

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Kids Definition

word order

noun
: the order or arrangement of words in a phrase, clause, or sentence

More from Merriam-Webster on word order

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about word order

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