Synonyms for idiom
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Dialect — A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period…
dialect, language, vernacular, tongue, locution, expression, accent, speech, lect, languoid
2. Phrase
3. Idiomaticness — A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people
idiomaticity, idiomaticness rare
Definitions
- n. 1
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
In English, idiom requires the indefinite article in a phrase such as "she's an engineer", whereas in Spanish, idiom forbids it.
- n. 2
A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context, etc.
In the idiom of the day, they were sutlers, although today they'd probably be called vendors.
- n. 3
A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people. A programming construct or phraseology that is characteristic of the language.
Related words
- Word family
- idiomacy idiomatic idiomatical idiosyncratic idiot
Forms
- Plural
- idioms → dialects, languages, vernaculars, tongues…
Choose the right word
Idiom refers to the construction of phrases and sentences, and the way of forming or using words; it is the peculiar mold in which each language casts its thought. The great difficulty of translation is to give the thought expressed in one language in the idiom of another.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- language Few people can speak a foreign language perfectly.
- tongue You can use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue.
- dialect He always makes fun of her because of her dialect.
- vernacular I write Berber in its Kabyle vernacular form.
- parlance Cindy thinks that my parlance is entertaining.
- idiomatic English has a lot of idiomatic expressions to offer.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| idiom | steady | |
| language | rising | |
| tongue | rising | |
| dialect | steady | |
| vernacular | rising | |
| parlance | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- lect
- 6 letters
- speech1, tongue1, phrase1, accent2
- 7 letters
- dialect3
- 8 letters
- language2, parlance2, locution, languoid, polyword, idiotism
- 9 letters
- idiomatic5
- 10 letters
- expression3, vernacular4
- 12 letters
- idiomaticity
- 13 letters
- idiomaticness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (accent2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- idiotisme