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
What started out as an advertising slogan for Apple more than 15 years ago has morphed into somewhat of a modern day colloquialism: There should be an app for that.
—
Katherine Fung, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
This could involve helping systems learn colloquialisms and proper usages of terms.
—Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
You would be forgiven for assuming this a playful colloquialism, perhaps revealing a tenderness to the hunt.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Black communities are usually at the creative vanguard, from Renaissance art movements to fashion and even colloquialisms.
—Jasmine Browley, Essence, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquialism
Katherine Fung, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
This could involve helping systems learn colloquialisms and proper usages of terms.
—Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
You would be forgiven for assuming this a playful colloquialism, perhaps revealing a tenderness to the hunt.
—Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025
Black communities are usually at the creative vanguard, from Renaissance art movements to fashion and even colloquialisms.
—Jasmine Browley, Essence, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colloquialism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colloquialism
Noun
-
Today, many of those words fill out the default dialect of an entire generation — regardless of race, region or class — living online.—
Moriah Humiston,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The Poison frontman, evoking the regional dialect of his native Pittsburgh, bursts with adrenaline on a typical day.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
With highly specialized terminology, of course.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The terminology for these classes is well-established and often recycled.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Arghavan runs a small language school that teaches French to Iranians who want to live in the Canadian province of Quebec.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 Apr. 2026
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That language isn’t in the new law.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The centuries-old pot-kettle idiom points out hypocrisy — as when one person accuses another of a flaw that afflicts himself.—
George Skelton,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
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If the assignment is to translate something from a foreign language, there are plenty of tools and resources that can do it for you, including by recognizing and figuratively translating idioms.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The propeller hat has become a signature look for the pig — a 4-year-old Vietnamese potbelly named Merlin — who has more than 1 million followers on Instagram, a surprisingly hefty vocabulary and a Guinness World Record.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
5 Apr. 2026
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The subject matter is deathly serious—international war, unfolding in real time, killing thousands—yet the visual vocabulary is preposterously trivializing.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Mogging is internet slang for dominating someone less attractive.—
Ashley Miznazi,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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But alcohol rations for sailors in general had been eliminated many years before Daniels’s ban, and the wine prohibition would have applied only to a small set of officers, too small a group to generate such popular slang.—
Aman Kumar,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Colloquialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colloquialism. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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