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dictionaryese

noun
/ˈdɪkʃəˌnəɹɪˈiːz/UK/ˈdɪkʃəˌnɛɹiˈiz/CA

Etymology

From dictionary + -ese (suffix denoting jargon used in a particular context).

  1. derived from dictiōnārius
  2. derived from dictiōnārium
  3. inherited from dixionare
  4. formed as dictionaryese — “dictionary + -ese”

Definitions

  1. The style of language used in dictionary definitions, characterized by dry,…

    The style of language used in dictionary definitions, characterized by dry, straightforward, and occasionally awkward phrasing.

    • 'Cause to die' is immediately recognizable as dictionaryese, which is to say that dictionaries do not, in general, honor the condition that definitions must be couched in the syntax of surface English.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dictionaryese. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA