idiolect

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of idiolect Attackers can mimic the distinct idiolect of the target. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023 That’s where idiolect comes into play. Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 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 Sign up for the Backchannel newsletter Movies & TV Dialect coach Erik Singer takes a look at idiolects, better known as the specific way one individual speaks. Jason Parham, WIRED, 21 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idiolect
Noun
  • Similarly, when Mari speaks on the phone to her clients, her Miami dialect drops completely.
    Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Declan has been reading up on local lore, revealing that there are 13 different dialects in the area, which also boasts a church made entirely of bundled hay.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 25 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • There is a French idiom that says when something is so easy, it can be done with ‘les doigts dans le nez’ — the fingers in the nose.
    Liam Tharme, The Athletic, 23 Jan. 2025
  • While often used sarcastically to mock true believers, the idiom reflects Italy’s enduring ambiguity toward Fascism, even 80 years after its fall.
    Mattia Ferraresi, airmail.news, 1 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Brain rot is thus a strikingly capacious term, enfolding the psychological and cognitive decay wrought by screen addiction, the bacteria-like content that feeds the addiction, and the argot of a generation for whom much of this content is made.
    Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Many of the comments used the argot of the online far right.
    David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2024
Noun
  • An article in the Wall Street Journal outlines Generation Beta’s dilemma: In current teen slang—used by Generation Alpha—calling someone a beta isn’t exactly a compliment.
    Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The topics range from decoding teenage slang to the viral generation challenge.
    Kayla Grant, People.com, 20 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • And so there’s West Indian patois and language and music and food.
    Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025
  • There are countless examples like these, in which English scaffolding has adapted to the demands and the cultural heritage of its speakers, from Jamaican patois to Tok Pisin, of New Guinea.
    Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • So, securing organizational buy-in requires more than technical jargon or feature lists.
    Kerry Brown, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
  • However, even the most robust policies can fall short if they’re hidden in fine print or presented in dense legal jargon.
    Mohamed Lazzouni, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Since scammers may be non-native English speakers, poor grammar or unusual vernacular can also be a tip off of someone taking on a fake identity.
    Rachel Hale, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2025
  • Older internet vernacular involved quoting memes or making references to nerd culture, but brain rot offers strange sentence constructions and rhetorical tics with a broad range of possible applications.
    Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Brisk, truncated treatments are normally the parlance of pop mavens whose freshness dates rapidly expire and who seek to hide deficiencies.
    Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 15 Mar. 2025
  • Kathy Webster, Littleton Mark of a caring nation DEI is common parlance.
    DP Opinion, The Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Idiolect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiolect. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.

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