as in dialect
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Recent Examples of idiolect
Attackers can mimic the distinct idiolect of the target.
—
Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
That’s where idiolect comes into play.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Butler appears to have picked up Elvis’s idiolect, Howell says.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Sherif’s music exists in the space between autobiographical and his own idiolect.
—Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2022
And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument.
—New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
His writing conveys an extraordinary ear for accent, rhythm, and idiolect.
—Maya Jasanoff, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2019
Kathleen is relentlessly animated and quick-witted, with thick tangerine hair, steely eyes, and an endearing personal idiolect that suggests both an autodidactic reading in philosophy and economics and the gusty crudity of the merchant marine.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018
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Dialect coach Erik Singer takes a look at idiolects, better known as the specific way one individual speaks.
—Jason Parham, WIRED, 21 June 2018
Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
That’s where idiolect comes into play.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Butler appears to have picked up Elvis’s idiolect, Howell says.
—Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 8 Feb. 2023
Sherif’s music exists in the space between autobiographical and his own idiolect.
—Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2022
And then there’s his inborn ear for every shade of human babble, here a transcendent four-hander, there a screwball travelogue, everywhere argot and idiolect and argument.
—New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
His writing conveys an extraordinary ear for accent, rhythm, and idiolect.
—Maya Jasanoff, The New Republic, 22 Aug. 2019
Kathleen is relentlessly animated and quick-witted, with thick tangerine hair, steely eyes, and an endearing personal idiolect that suggests both an autodidactic reading in philosophy and economics and the gusty crudity of the merchant marine.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, WIRED, 18 June 2018
Sign up for the Backchannel newsletter Movies & TV
Dialect coach Erik Singer takes a look at idiolects, better known as the specific way one individual speaks.
—Jason Parham, WIRED, 21 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idiolect
Noun
-
There’s no universal language—only tribal dialects.—
Shekar Natarajan,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
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Because the characters are speaking a very distinctive local dialect, and that’s, of course, completely lost in translation.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
28 May 2025
Noun
-
Powered by nine proprietary learning methods, the platform integrates real-time cultural signals - from memes and slang to idioms and ancient lore.—
Nell Derick Debevoise,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
-
But the nature of all idioms is that their meaning cannot be deduced from their components; the phrase kicked the bucket does not put the English speaker in the mind of an actual bucket, just as the word death does not remind him terribly of the letter D.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Noun
-
Brain rot is thus a strikingly capacious term, enfolding the psychological and cognitive decay wrought by screen addiction, the bacteria-like content that feeds the addiction, and the argot of a generation for whom much of this content is made.—
Jessica Winter,
The New Yorker,
16 Dec. 2024
-
Many of the comments used the argot of the online far right.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
The New Yorker,
18 Aug. 2024
Noun
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Look into the slang and jargon your kids are using — a few of them can be linked to specific online spaces, or even to certain ideologies.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
-
The linguistic features of Gen Alpha slang are heavily shaped by digital culture.—
Marni Rose McFall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 May 2025
Noun
-
Elliott spits her verses in patois, freeing up space on the track for the drums to get some before Cartel and M.I.A. slide through. 41.—
Steven J. Horowitz,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
-
And so there’s West Indian patois and language and music and food.—
Vanessa Franko,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The rebrand became an immediate laughingstock, described by critics as out-of-touch corporate jargon.—
Roger Dooley,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2025
-
The war that Trump is waging is cultural, based not on complex legal jargon but on feelings.—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Outlets including The Wall Street Journal and CNN identified the vernacular for this courtesy: a gimme.—
Matthew Purdy,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
-
Studio Collins Weir Studio Collins Weir designed this space to build on the warm materialism of the architecture and play to the agrarian vernacular of the Mill Valley, California, project.—
Elizabeth Stamp,
Architectural Digest,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The number of rocket launches has increased dramatically in recent years, leading pilots and academics to warn about a growing danger in the air for flights that have only minutes to get out of harm’s way when a mishap — as explosions and other failures are called in industry parlance — occurs.—
Heather Vogell,
ProPublica,
15 May 2025
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Grace, in contemporary internet parlance, often means forgiveness.—
Dorothy Fortenberry,
The Atlantic,
12 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Idiolect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idiolect. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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