saying
Americannoun
-
sayings
plural
idioms
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of saying
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (gerund); see say 1, -ing 1
Explanation
A short, common, and easy-to-remember phrase is a saying. When class ends right before your turn to give a speech, you might use the saying, "Saved by the bell!" A saying is basically the same as an aphorism, an adage, or a proverb, usually offering some kind of wisdom. If you accidentally break your sister's favorite teacup, you might think of the saying "To err is human, to forgive divine," which means that everyone makes mistakes but only truly remarkable people are able to forgive these mistakes. You should probably also remind yourself of the saying, "Honesty is the best policy."
Vocabulary lists containing saying
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
See Examples For:
Alfozan’s attorney, William Pernik, declined to comment, saying in an email he and his client were focused on preparing for a hearing scheduled for Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
“I don’t believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year,” Warsh said on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank annual meeting in Bangkok.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
She has admitted that herself, saying, “These seminal moments where you have to go in and tell the president what he wants to do is unconstitutional or will cost lives. I don’t have that.”
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Last year, Reeves announced the government-backed expansion, saying "a third runway is badly needed", and the government could not "duck the decision any longer".
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Father and Caesar are at odds, saying and feeling different things.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The following year, Pulte even produced a slim volume annotating some of his grandfather’s sayings and quotations.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
The song includes one of Arteta's favourite sayings - "make it happen".
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2026
The Soviet Union was a land of shortages, but there was no shortage of acerbic sayings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
Sheed recited one of Grandma’s many wise sayings.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
