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
  • To prepare, Reid worked with a dialect coach and learned the specific physicality associated with Natalia's condition.
    Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Apr. 2025
  • The interview was conducted in a mixture of English and Low German, a dialect widely spoken within the Christian Mennonite community.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 22 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Ultimately, Andrews and his actors find Chekhov by abandoning the paraphernalia of the writer’s universe and groping, in their own idiom, across a perilously empty stage, toward one another.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Which is fitting for a composer who, even when developing a homegrown idiom of his own, was criticized for sounding too European.
    Joshua Barone, New York Times, 17 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
  • Their motto is gambler’s slang for risking it all in one effort to win big.
    Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 3 Apr. 2025
  • Robert De Niro’s daughter poked fun at the actor for struggling to keep up with teen slang.
    Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 25 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • And so there’s West Indian patois and language and music and food.
    Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Keep it clear and engaging, avoiding technical jargon while combining data with emotional outcomes.
    Vikrant Shaurya, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The first half hour is filled with the weirdly neutral techno jargon of soldiers jabbering code words into their headphones to what I (as a know-nothing) am tempted to call Mission Control.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Window frames and doors were painted red in the regional vernacular.
    Ann Abel, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
  • The big picture: Kennedy's philosophy, built around skepticism of corporations and mainstream science and promoting chronic disease prevention, has its own vernacular.
    Maya Goldman, Axios, 20 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • In aerospace parlance, such low-flying spacecraft are referred to as Very-low Earth Orbit, or VLEO, satellites.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Even among digital natives – youthful, tech-savvy users who are well versed in the casual parlance of text messaging – a text plastered with shortcuts still felt undercooked.
    David Fang, The Conversation, 9 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Idiolect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiolect. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on idiolect

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!