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View synonyms for colloquialism

colloquialism

[ kuh-loh-kwee-uh-liz-uhm ]

noun

  1. a colloquial expression.
  2. colloquial style or usage.


colloquialism

/ kəˈləʊkwɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. a word or phrase appropriate to conversation and other informal situations
  2. the use of colloquial words and phrases
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • col·loqui·al·ist noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of colloquialism1

First recorded in 1800–10; colloquial + -ism
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Example Sentences

“Shut up,” the hacker responded, using a Farsi colloquialism.

Now “awfully sorry” is not a western colloquialism, and the girl looked at him attentively.

He must like to figure, to use a colloquialism,18 and his fondness for it must be genuine, almost an absorption.

For instance, the use of "most" for "almost" is distinctly, if not a vulgarism, at least a colloquialism.

Every proverb, every slang phrase and colloquialism, is what one might call a petrified inspiration.

Such a compliment has seldom been paid on so early an attempt at colloquialism in a new language.

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colloquialcolloquium