Idiom

/ˈɪdiəm/ · noun

Meaning

A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people..

Definitions by Sense

1. A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
2. A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context, etc.
3. An established phrasal expression whose meaning may not be deducible from the literal meanings of its component words.
4. An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.

Example Sentences

In English, idiom requires the indefinite article in a phrase such as "she's an engineer", whereas in Spanish, idiom forbids it.

Some of the usage prescriptions improved clarity and were kept; others that yielded discordant violations of idiom were eventually revised.

In the idiom of the day, they were sutlers, although today they'd probably be called vendors.

Many parents and teachers have become irritated to the point of distraction at the way the weed-style growth of "like" has spread through the idiom of the young.

She often spoke in idioms, pining for salad days and complaining about pots calling the kettle black.

You’re history, we say […]. Surely it is an American idiom. Impossible to imagine a postwar European saying, “You’re history. . . . That’s history,” meaning fuhgeddaboudit, pal.

the idiom of the expressionists

Synonyms for idiom

Antonyms for idiom

Related Words

Word Forms

• idioms
• idiomata
• used uncountably

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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