as in languages
the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field
the promotional team for the new computer used a dialect full of acronyms that the press found difficult to follow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 dialects
Sperm whales communicate using group-specific dialects orders of magnitude older than Sanskrit.
—
Ryan Huling, Time, 7 May 2026
The small cadre of community radio stations in coastal Bangladesh, using local dialects, provide an early-warning system against tsunamis, flooding, and cyclones.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
The British colonial name of New Cut was different from other nearby creeks—Wadmalaw, Bohicket, Leadenwah, Stono—all named in Indigenous dialects.
—Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026
Human communication with honeyguides in northern Mozambique occurs in local dialects.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Not between English and other languages but between the dialects spoken by different corners of the industry.
—Amber Nigam, Harvard Business Review, 11 Mar. 2026
Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but the Kurdish population has diverse religious, cultural, social and political traditions, as well as a variety of dialects of the Kurdish language.
—Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 5 Mar. 2026
How could food from India’s 23 states — with multitudinous subregions and over a thousand dialects — ever be distilled into the generic naan, dal, butter chicken, dosa and sambar?
—Kalpana Mohan, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
The event also featured a video about the three countries and fundraising for Sudan, poetry readings, a Kahoot game about the three dialects and prizes, henna and face painting, Syrian dance, a Sudanese wedding reenactment, a fashion show and ethnic food.
—Janice Neumann, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
Ryan Huling, Time, 7 May 2026
The small cadre of community radio stations in coastal Bangladesh, using local dialects, provide an early-warning system against tsunamis, flooding, and cyclones.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
The British colonial name of New Cut was different from other nearby creeks—Wadmalaw, Bohicket, Leadenwah, Stono—all named in Indigenous dialects.
—Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026
Human communication with honeyguides in northern Mozambique occurs in local dialects.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
Not between English and other languages but between the dialects spoken by different corners of the industry.
—Amber Nigam, Harvard Business Review, 11 Mar. 2026
Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but the Kurdish population has diverse religious, cultural, social and political traditions, as well as a variety of dialects of the Kurdish language.
—Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 5 Mar. 2026
How could food from India’s 23 states — with multitudinous subregions and over a thousand dialects — ever be distilled into the generic naan, dal, butter chicken, dosa and sambar?
—Kalpana Mohan, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026
The event also featured a video about the three countries and fundraising for Sudan, poetry readings, a Kahoot game about the three dialects and prizes, henna and face painting, Syrian dance, a Sudanese wedding reenactment, a fashion show and ethnic food.
—Janice Neumann, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dialects
Noun
-
Conrad Weiser was a Pennsylvania German who had roamed the frontier for decades, learning the Indian languages and befriending Indian leaders, including some who encountered Washington in Ohio.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
-
The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.—
Angelique Brenes,
PEOPLE,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
By the end of the learning unit, Burton said growth in the children could be seen as their vocabularies expanded to using words such as thermometer, blood pressure and punctured.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Shallow, misogynistic speech has seeped into the daily vocabularies of many, suggesting the toxic, anti-woman values that have long inspired such rhetoric are once again calcifying into a widespread and serious problem.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Western musical tradition is mostly sidelined in favor of kuduro, gqom, batida, and sounds too free of familiar musical idioms to be easily categorized.—
Will Lynch,
Pitchfork,
11 May 2026
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Dialects.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dialects. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
