Meaning of dictionaryese | Babel Free

Definitions

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

informal, uncountable

Equivalents

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.”

“'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.”

“Such an approach⟳ has two immediate advantages: it disposes of the need⟳ to present⟳ what is not fact as fact; and it goes some way to seeing off the need⟳ to employ⟳ dictionaryese, the crabbed and clipped prose-style that, in many reference-books, only ossifies its subject-matter.”

“Oxford American’s usage notes are among the best I’ve found: clear, consistent, sensibly prescriptive, and up-to-date (it’s the only dictionary to acknowledge that “nonplussed” is frequently misused to mean⟳ “unperturbed”). Its rendering of slang into dictionaryese—“shake⟳ one's booty” is defined as “dance⟳ energetically”—is a thing of beauty.”

“If I were defining "hella" without using substitutability, I would probably come⟳ up with something long-winded and full of dictionaryese, like⟳ "to an excessive degree."”

“<https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sodomy> runs down to "Sexual intercourse that is not the union of the genital organs of a man and a woman", but in dictionaryese that /could/ mean⟳ one specific sexual intercourse that they're choosing not to describe⟳.”

CEFR level