slang
[noun]
Synonyms: dialect, argot, cant, jargon, lingo, patois, patter, vernacular

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Related Words: slanginess, slanguage

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English Thesaurus: dialect, accent, slang, terminology, jargon, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

slang /slæŋ/ noun [uncountable]
very informal, sometimes offensive language that is used especially by people who belong to a particular group, such as young people or criminals:
schoolboy slang
slang word/expression/term
—slangy adjective

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

slang
noun
ADJ. colloquial | current | army | rhyming
VERB + SLANG talk in, use
SLANG + NOUN expression, term, word
PREP. in ~ in army slang
~ for ‘Ruby Murray’ is rhyming slang for ‘curry’.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

dialect a form of a language that is spoken in one area of a country, with different words, grammar, or pronunciation from other areas:
Cantonese is only one of many Chinese dialects.
the local dialect
accent the way that someone pronounces words, because of where they were born or live, or their social class:
Karen has a strong New Jersey accent.
an upper class accent
slang very informal spoken language, used especially by people who belong to a particular group, for example young people or criminals:
Teenage slang changes all the time.
‘Dosh’ is slang for ‘money’.
terminology formal the technical words or expressions that are used in a particular subject:
musical terminology
Patients are often unfamiliar with medical terminology.
jargon especially disapproving words and phrases used in a particular profession or subject and which are difficult for other people to understand:
The instructions were written in complicated technical jargon.
‘Outsourcing’ is business jargon for sending work to people outside a company to do.
The letter was full of legal jargon.
metaphor a way of describing something by referring to it as something different and suggesting that it has similar qualities to that thing:
The beehive is a metaphor for human society.
simile an expression that describes something by comparing it with something else, using the words as or like, for example ‘as white as snow’:
The poet uses the simile ‘soft like clay’.
irony the use of words that are the opposite of what you really mean, often in order to be amusing:
‘I’m so happy to hear that,’ he said, with more than a trace of irony in his voice.
bathos a sudden change from a subject that is beautiful, moral, or serious to something that is ordinary, silly, or not important:
The play is too sentimental and full of bathos.
hyperbole a way of describing something by saying that it is much bigger, smaller, worse etc than it actually is – used especially to excite people’s feelings:
In his speeches, he used a lot of hyperbole.
journalistic hyperbole
alliteration the use of several words together that all begin with the same sound, in order to make a special effect, especially in poetry:
the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound in ‘sweet birds sang softly’
imagery the use of words to describe ideas or actions in a way that makes the reader connect the ideas with pictures in their mind:
the use of water imagery in Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’
She uses the imagery of a bird’s song to represent eternal hope.
rhetorical question a question that you ask as a way of making a statement, without expecting an answer:
When he said ‘how can these attitudes still exist in a civilized society?’, he was asking a rhetorical question.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

word a single group of letters that are used together with a particular meaning:
‘Casa’ is the Italian word for ‘house’.
I looked up the word in a dictionary.
name a word that you use for a particular thing, place, organization etc:
Iberia is the ancient name for the Spanish Peninsula.
What’s the name of that type of dog?
term a word or group of words that is used in a specific subject or area of language:
The medical term for losing your hair is ‘alopecia’.
People use the term ‘carbon footprint’ to talk about man’s polluting effect on the environment.
phrase a group of words that have a particular meaning when used together, or which someone uses on a particular occasion:
We don’t really have a phrase for ‘bon appétit’ in English.
Politicians keep using the phrase ‘family values’.
an Italian phrase book
expression a fixed phrase which is used in a language and has a particular meaning:
He uses a lot of obscure expressions that I don’t really understand.
What does the expression ‘wage slavery’ mean?
buzzword /ˈbʌzwɜːd $ -wɜːrd/ a word or group of words that people in a particular type of work or activity have started using a lot because they think it is important:
E-learning is the buzzword in educational publishing at the moment.
For anthropologists, ethnodiversity has been a buzzword for quite a while.
idiom /ˈɪdiəm/ a group of words that has a special meaning which you cannot guess from the meanings of each separate word:
‘Full of beans’ is an idiom which means feeling lively and energetic.
cliché /ˈkliːʃeɪ $ kliːˈʃeɪ/ a group of words that is used so often that it seems rather boring, annoying, or silly:
It’s a bit of a cliché, but good communication skills are the key to success.
the old movie cliché ‘we can’t go on meeting like this’
slang very informal words used especially by a particular group of people such as young people, criminals, or soldiers:
Grass is slang for marijuana.
prison slang
army slang
jargon words and phrases used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand – often used to show disapproval:
The instructions were full of technical jargon.
complicated legal jargon

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲