argot
Americannoun
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a specialized idiomatic vocabulary peculiar to a particular class or group of people, especially that of an underworld group, devised for private communication and identification.
a Restoration play rich in thieves' argot.
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the special vocabulary and idiom of a particular profession or social group.
sociologists' argot.
noun
Other Word Forms
- argotic adjective
Etymology
Origin of argot
1855–60; < French, noun derivative of argoter to quarrel, derivative Latin ergō ergo with v. suffix -oter
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.
In the argot of the credit bureaus, tradelines are just another word for all the accounts listed on a credit report — credit cards, loans and mortgages are all tradelines.
From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2023
But even here — under a tangle of rope and lace, designed by Rajha Shakiry, that seems to literalize the World Wide Web — the argot of social media invades.
From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2023
Characters speak in modern slang, Shakespearean verse, ’80s pop lyrics and that timeless argot of clumsy melodrama.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2022
Regardless of the language, the United Nations has its own argot, too.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 26, 2022
Every human pastime—music, cooking, sports, art, theoretical physics—develops an argot to spare its enthusiasts from having to say or type a long-winded description every time they refer to a familiar concept in each other’s company.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
