as in dialect
the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field
the medical patois that the hospital staffers used among themselves was incomprehensible to me
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of patois
But perhaps the most evident connection is a sense of individuality that’s preserved in the pockets of patois spoken across both the island and the bayou—the French Creole dialect is still alive and doing very well.
—
Essence, 20 June 2024
During a sketch set in a Caribbean church, comedian and first-time Saturday Night Live host Shane Gillis speaks confidently in Jamaican patois — generally a no-no for a white guy these days.
—Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2024
Most of Levy's stories run fewer than 12 pages and feel like very long flash fiction, written in a voice dense with the chaotic patois of the internet.
—Leland Cheuk, NPR, 14 May 2024
One complaint was Jar Jar’s accent, which some perceived as derived from Jamaican patois.
—Carlos Aguilar, New York Times, 3 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for patois 
Essence, 20 June 2024
During a sketch set in a Caribbean church, comedian and first-time Saturday Night Live host Shane Gillis speaks confidently in Jamaican patois — generally a no-no for a white guy these days.
—Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2024
Most of Levy's stories run fewer than 12 pages and feel like very long flash fiction, written in a voice dense with the chaotic patois of the internet.
—Leland Cheuk, NPR, 14 May 2024
One complaint was Jar Jar’s accent, which some perceived as derived from Jamaican patois.
—Carlos Aguilar, New York Times, 3 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for patois
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patois
Noun
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Director Brady Corbet denied the allegations, saying that stars Adrian Brody and Felicity Jones worked for months with a dialect coach to perfect their characters’ Hungarian accents, and that only the Hungarian portions of the film were adjusted manually using Respeecher technology.—
Zoe G. Phillips,
The Hollywood Reporter,
4 Feb. 2025
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In his interview with Red Shark News, Jancsó said AI was used to tweak certain parts of the Hungarian dialect spoken by stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones in The Brutalist for the sake of accuracy.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Wyle: Somewhere between a third and a half of these scripts get farmed out to Dr. Joe Sachs, who puts the medical terminology and who does what in the scene based on the hierarchy and the level of expertise of the character, and the internal friction between the characters.—
Max Gao,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2025
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This terminology highlights a proactive mindset where employees choose to advocate for improvement rather than disengage.—
Dr. Diane Hamilton,
Forbes,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Regular reading leads to positive impacts on your mental and emotional well-being, including slowing down cognitive decline, bolstering empathy and curiosity, improving your vocabulary and reducing stress.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA TODAY,
28 Jan. 2025
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Nobody had added any new vocabulary or material to this amazing instrument.—
Matthew Jacobs,
Vulture,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The Academy didn’t seem to mind, awarding the film 13 Oscar nods, the most for any non-English language film in history.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
8 Feb. 2025
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The social satire became the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Plus, since most of the app's content is in Mandarin, subtitles are suddenly rampant — as are posts from Americans who want to learn the language, including by exchanging translations of popular slang phrases with Chinese commenters.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
15 Jan. 2025
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Although challenges remain, future systems trained on greater amounts of non-English data could be capable of discerning subtle differences between dialects and understanding the meaning and cultural context of slang or Internet memes.—
Anne Neuberger,
Foreign Affairs,
15 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near patois
Cite this Entry
“Patois.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patois. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
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