Whorf

American

[hwawrf, wawrf] / ʰwɔrf, wɔrf /

noun

Benjamin Lee, 1897–1941, U.S. linguist.

Whorf British

/ wɔːf /

noun

Benjamin Lee. 1897–1943, US linguist, who argued that human language determines perception See also Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

"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.

To be fair to Whorf, even if his claims about Hopi were incorrect, there was significant merit in the questions he posed.

From Scientific American • Oct. 18, 2023

In the 20th century, the American linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf elaborated this idea into a broader vision of how language structures thought.

From The Guardian • Jul. 27, 2018

If it made them more logical then Whorf would be proven right!

From Slate • Dec. 10, 2013

Erickson sat on a stool and from the waist down, Whorf placed on her a white Christmas tree blanket.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2012

But 70 years on, it is surely time to put the trauma of Whorf behind us.

From New York Times • Aug. 28, 2010

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