Thesaurus results for PATOIS

patois

noun

ˈpa-ˌtwä

Definition of patois

as in dialect

the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field the medical patois that the hospital staffers used among themselves was incomprehensible to me

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of patois That’s for sure when people speak patois, a vernacular version of English that’s based on a culture’s intonation. — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 4 June 2026 And so there’s West Indian patois and language and music and food. — Vanessa Franko, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025 There are countless examples like these, in which English scaffolding has adapted to the demands and the cultural heritage of its speakers, from Jamaican patois to Tok Pisin, of New Guinea. — Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024 Instead, viewers are immersed in Millie’s Kingston, with dialogue spoken almost entirely in Jamaican patois, where opportunities are limited, gang violence persists and whiteness is still put on a pedestal. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for patois

Recent Examples of Synonyms for patois

Noun

The conflicts are raw and unresolved, and Churchill forces theatergoers to make up their own minds about the characters’ furious dialect.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Documenting many varieties is a way to not just share the language, but to illustrate how dialects of Pennsylvania Dutch differ and maybe even fill in each other’s gaps.

— Eythana Miller, The Dial, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of dialect

Noun

Titles, descriptions and other metadata for older videos and podcasts may also be revised to reflect the new terminology, while the original recordings, transcripts and captions will remain unchanged.

— Josh Dinner, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
That terminology provides a way to identify how a medication is designed without turning the description into a judgment about treatment quality.

— Emma Clapp, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of terminology

Noun

But, unlike Felker and Bryan, the two don’t share a language or approach.

— Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026
Brian Romick, the president of Democratic Majority for Israel, put out an issue framework last month in an attempt to move the conversation from the language to the actual policy.

— David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of language

Noun

McCaffrey and the 49ers will return to the United States after their win and lesson in Australian slang to play the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.

— Ryan Canfield OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
The script itself is filled with the language of its time and place, including Berliner gutter slang and high-society clichés, casino speech and capitalist jargon, spoken Yiddish and literary German.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026