private language

British

noun

philosophy a language that is not merely secret or accidentally limited to one user, but that cannot in principle be communicated to another

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

But the characters do, sharing a private language of family dysfunction and unexpressed anguish.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2024

These are worthy investments in children’s education, especially those who live in school districts that haven’t been able to launch dual-language programs, and those whose families can’t afford private language instruction.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 30, 2022

Two of Anderson’s younger brothers were twins, and as kids they invented a private language so elaborate that it drew the attention of a linguistic researcher.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2021

“For me, dance-making was about that private language I was creating with my dancers, and at some point, you perform that. But with Katherine, now there was always a public quotient to my private space.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2019

They do not understand, consequendy, what so pleases the television audience listening to a movie star discuss his divorce with bogus private language.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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