How to Use colloquialism in a Sentence

colloquialism

noun
  • His English is very good, but he has trouble understanding certain colloquialisms.
  • Every language has its dialects, and each dialect can have its unique spin on colloquialisms.
    — Victoria Song, The Verge, 24 Jan. 2025
  • The colloquialism refers to the rare nature of the actual blue moon.
    — Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 16 Aug. 2024
  • If nothing else, @amyklobuchar wins the first round of folksy colloquialisms that others might actually use.
    — Dave Orrick, Twin Cities, 26 June 2019
  • This exhibit starts with the abstract metaphor, or colloquialism, and works backwards.
    — Ray Mark Rinaldi, The Know, 27 Aug. 2019
  • There is even a colloquialism for those who curry favor among the moneyed on the island of Palm Beach.
    — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
  • The word ‘choon’ is likely a colloquialism for tune—much like an ice-cream truck, a tuk-tuk bakery is fitted with a tune to attract customers along its path.
    — Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023
  • There is a correct—and incorrect—way to spell this fond colloquialism, however.
    — Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2017
  • Her vetting crusades have brought about a new Washington colloquialism.
    — Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Every concert is filled with tens of thousands of fans wearing and exchanging beaded bracelets spelling out the names of Swift songs and colloquialisms all the way up their arms.
    — Time, 23 Aug. 2023
  • It’s been a year of chaos and colloquialisms, as the internet shaped not only our vocabulary but our entire political system.
    — Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2025
  • And, like any colloquialism popularized by an internet trend, celebs, brands and even the president himself cashed in on the sensation.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 28 Dec. 2024
  • Both Rabaiotti and Caruso were surprised to find the proud history of animal farting in colloquialism around the world.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 3 Apr. 2018
  • Yes, part of it is their accents — Rae is Scottish and Smyth is Irish — but their enthusiasm and colloquialisms are addictive.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Another challenge of interpretation is conveying the little things, jokes, slang terms or colloquialisms, that can get lost in the conversation.
    — Eli Meixler, Time, 13 June 2018
  • In 2021, Central Catholic was built different, as the colloquialism goes.
    — oregonlive, 4 Dec. 2021
  • Gundi means female thug, a Hindi colloquialism often used when referring to rebellious and independent women who live on their own terms.
    — Tasnim Ahmed, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2022
  • Berry’s gift for language has been widely and justly celebrated, and his ability to render folksy colloquialisms into back-alley poetry is still the standard to which rock lyrics aspire.
    — Jack Hamilton, Slate Magazine, 19 Mar. 2017
  • Black communities are usually at the creative vanguard, from Renaissance art movements to fashion and even colloquialisms.
    — Jasmine Browley, Essence, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Only then does the human take over, cleaning up language and capturing more subtle nuances, for instance translating colloquialisms and metaphors that machines still struggle to translate as well as humans.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Osama bin Laden reportedly dropped a few American colloquialisms right before 9/11.
    — Stephen A. Crockett Jr., The Root, 27 June 2018
  • Kid Fury and Todrick Hall bickering about white female pop stars using all the Black gay colloquialisms that have yet to be appropriated by said white women was gold.
    — refinery29.com, 8 May 2018
  • However, as some social media users pointed out, the phrase used by Foxx is a common Black colloquialism to describe betrayal from a person meant to be one of your biggest supporters.
    — Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2023
  • That snippet of Puerto Rican colloquialism — a tiny snapshot of everyday life on the streets of San Juan — traveled everywhere.
    — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2022
  • The video shows the pair, along with Pat’s brother Robert, reminiscing on the birthday girl’s life — and even includes some hilarious Oklahoma colloquialism!
    — Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, 16 May 2018
  • By eschewing the long-standing colloquialisms associated with the drug, the industry is essentially rebranding itself in an effort to appear more legitimate and professional.
    — Noelle Crombie, OregonLive.com, 18 Aug. 2017
  • The album, recorded in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, is riddled with references and colloquialism from the neighboring islands.
    — Marjua Estevez, refinery29.com, 11 May 2022
  • Early entrance exams were heavily biased toward American customs and colloquialisms, putting first-generation immigrants at a disadvantage.
    — Sarah Stoller / Made By History, TIME, 11 July 2024
  • The characters’ behavior and language have a colloquialism to them that is supplemented by popular Spanish music, celebrations and, importantly, a sense of melodrama that has always been a distinctive part of local storytelling.
    — Jamie Lang, Variety, 7 Oct. 2021
  • Occasionally, an American character uses distinctly British Isles colloquialisms in conversation, but that sort of thing is often tricky when writing characters from another culture.
    — Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'colloquialism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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