Dictionaryese

//ˈdɪkʃəˌnəɹɪˈiːz// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The style of language used in dictionary definitions, characterized by dry, straightforward, and occasionally awkward phrasing. informal, uncountable

    "For a concise dictionary the extent of the German vocabulary dealt with is commendable and fairly searching spot-checks in many fields have shown no serious gaps, but an English reviewer must be forgiven for commenting on the ‘dictionaryese’ of some of the English renderings."

Synonyms

All synonyms
lexicographese

Example

More examples

"For a concise dictionary the extent of the German vocabulary dealt with is commendable and fairly searching spot-checks in many fields have shown no serious gaps, but an English reviewer must be forgiven for commenting on the ‘dictionaryese’ of some of the English renderings."

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.