locution
Americannoun
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a particular form of expression; a word, phrase, expression, or idiom, especially as used by a particular person, group, etc.
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a style of speech or verbal expression; phraseology.
noun
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a word, phrase, or expression
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manner or style of speech or expression
Related Words
See phrase.
Other Word Forms
- locutionary adjective
Etymology
Origin of locution
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin locūtiōn- (stem of locūtiō ) “speech, style of speech,” equivalent to locūt(us) (past participle of loquī “to speak”) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I could be wrong but …” is the locution of the democratic citizen.
From Slate • Jan. 2, 2026
The New Hampshire Democrat, who got elected six years ago by a margin of just 1,017 votes, uses an unmistakably New England locution to describe her state’s voters: “Wicked independent.”
From Washington Post • Aug. 21, 2022
And how about that use of "thumbing their noses"? With that aged locution, the good governor is, without doubt, speaking directly to his demographic.
From Salon • Sep. 18, 2021
It was his background as an educator that he credited for his repetitive locution style - or, as waggish journalists dubbed it, his "single transferable speech".
From BBC • Aug. 5, 2020
The scholar accepted the rural locution, the work perhaps of the imagination of childhood, and applied it at hazard without informing himself more particularly.
From Social Life in the Insect World by Miall, Bernard
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.