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speaking in tongues

American

noun

a form of glossolalia in which a person experiencing religious ecstasy utters incomprehensible sounds that the speaker believes are a language spoken through them by a deity.

speaking in tongues British

noun

another term for gift of tongues

"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.

Smitten by him and enraptured by the practice of speaking in tongues, which was thought to be channeling the divine, Aimee married him in 1908.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2025

Neo-Charismatic Pentecostals, or Neo-Pentecostals, put an emphasis very much on the gifts of the Spirit: speaking in tongues, miracles, prophecy, things like that.

From Slate • Jan. 6, 2024

When secular folks hear or see someone speaking in tongues they inevitably ask, is this real?

From Salon • Apr. 27, 2023

When in December 2021 Andre Mendonca, an attorney and evangelical pastor, was confirmed for the role, a video of first lady Michele Bolsonaro shouting 'Glory to God' and speaking in tongues went viral.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2022

He closed his eyes and folded his hands together on his stomach and started mumbling under his breath like he was speaking in tongues.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

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