diction

CEFRC1

/ˈdɪk.ʃən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The words and style used when speaking or writing.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Enunciation, pronunciation.

Examples

  • Informal diction is always full of mystery and surrealism.

  • You need to improve your diction. You really are very hard to understand.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The effectiveness and degree of clarity of word choice and expression.

  2. Choice and use of words, especially with regard to effective communication.

More examples

In context

  • His poor diction meant that most of the audience didn't really understand the key points of the presentation.

  • the identification of the poetic impulse with sonorous diction

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The actor's clear blank made every word in the theater audible.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From late Middle English diccion (“something said; a word or phrase”) (an obsolete sense in Modern English), borrowed directly from Latin dictiō (“a saying, speaking, uttering”) or from Old French dicïon (“word”) (Anglo-Norman dictyoun), from Late Latin dictiō (“word”), both from dīcō (“to say, to talk”) + -tiō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, to point out”). The modern senses of “choice and use of words” and “clarity of word choice” were likely influenced by additional senses of dictiō.