Trivia Time

Which classic film directly examines the role of proper diction in society?

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diction

American  

[dik-shuhn] / ˈdɪk ʃən /

noun

1. style of speaking or writing as dependent upon choice of words.

   good diction.

   Synonyms:

   language, usage

2. the accent, inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an individual speaker, usually judged in terms of prevailing standards of acceptability; enunciation.

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diction British  

/ ˈdɪkʃən /

noun

1. the choice and use of words in writing or speech

2. the manner of uttering or enunciating words and sounds; elocution

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diction Cultural  

1. The choice of words. Diction is effective when words are appropriate to an audience. A man might refer to his car as his “wheels” in casual conversation with a friend, but if he were writing an essay for a group of economists, he would write, “People base their decision to buy an automobile on the following considerations,” not “People base their decision to buy wheels on the following considerations.”

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Synonym Usage

Diction, phraseology, wording refer to the means and the manner of expressing ideas. Diction usually implies a high level of usage; it refers chiefly to the choice of words, their arrangement, and the force, accuracy, and distinction with which they are used: The speaker was distinguished for his excellent diction; poetic diction. Phraseology refers more to the manner of combining the words into related groups, and especially to the peculiar or distinctive manner in which certain technical, scientific, and professional ideas are expressed: legal phraseology. Wording refers to the exact words or phraseology used to convey thought: the wording of a will.

Other Word Forms

• dictional
  adjective
• dictionally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of diction

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English diccion, from Late Latin dictiōn- (stem of dictiō ) “word,” Latin: “rhetorical delivery,” equivalent to dict(us) “said, spoken (past participle of dīcere ) + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

Diction is the way you talk, that is, the way you enunciate or pronounce your words, and the words and phrases you choose to use. If you've seen the musical "My Fair Lady," you know the character Eliza Doolittle struggles with her diction as her mentor tries to teach her to become a lady. Because of her accent, she has the most difficult time properly pronouncing even the most simple phrases, but in the end, she succeeds in saying things like the key phrase, "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diction

He sings with an unusual drawl that connects to the diction of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, and his compact melodies and tightly structured chord progressions put his voice and lyrics in the foreground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

The quality of Ms. Stevenson’s voice is like crystal under velvet, clear-edged yet somehow soft, and her diction is as crisp as a fresh green apple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

Not helping matters were the show’s taped introductions to the segments—breathy readings, delivered with mushy diction, of incomprehensible poems by Monty Richthofen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

With the program and song texts only available to download on the cellphone, the audience was left in the dark without texts and, with amplification obscuring diction, not knowing what’s what.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2026

A “tall courtly black man with Shakespearean diction and the stare of an eagle,” Asa Philip Randolph, close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, headed the 35,000-strong Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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Related Words

• eloquence
• fluency
• inflection
• intonation
• phrasing
• pronunciation
• wording

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