anti-language

American

[an-tahy-lang-gwij, an-tee-] / ˌæn taɪˈlæŋ gwɪdʒ, ˌæn ti- /

noun

plural

anti-languages

Linguistics. a specific variety of a language that is used by members of a subculture to communicate with each other while hiding their meaning from outsiders; cryptolect.

adjective

opposed to or against language.

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.

Barthes writes in his book A Lover’s Discourse that “I love you” is an anti-language, a phrase “without nuance”, stripped of the usual “armoury of meaning”.

From The Guardian • Feb. 13, 2016

The sound is an anti-language, a gust of obliterating noise from below that is designed precisely to subvert the process whereby words arrive as ideas at their destination in people's brains.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023