Jargon Meaning
/ˈdʒɑː.ɡən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA technical terminology unique to a particular subject.
nounA language characteristic of a particular group.
Sentence Examples
The talk was peppered with scientific jargon that no one understood.
If you explain everything in medical jargon, it's impossible that everyone understands immediately.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The computer programmers used very technical ____ that confused the new interns.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The computer expert used so much ____ that the average user could not understand what he was saying.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English jargoun, jargon, from Old French jargon, a variant of gargon, gargun (“chatter; talk; language”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sometimes it pays to overcomplicate your simple messages. Make a list of ten-dollar words, scientific terms, and obscure niblets of jargon and find ways to use them. Your reputation and authority will soar."
— 2018 June 13, Michael Schein, “Author Simon Sinek Is Full Of Hot Air (And Other Reasons You Should Follow His Lead)”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2020:
"That’s one of the biggest hurdles of managing a router and your network security in general, it’s a massive chore that is fraught with technical jargon, hurdles and screens saying ‘no’, ‘invalid’ or ‘not available’."
— 2022 May 17, Rob Andrews, “Synology SRM 1.3 Software Review Part 4 – The Safe Access Application”, in NAS Compares, archived from the original on 21 May 2022:
"They [the Normans] abandoned their native speech, and adopted the French tongue, in which Latin was the predominant element. They speedily raised their new language to a dignity and importance which it had never before possessed. They found it a barbarous jargon; they fixed it in writing; and they employed it in legislation, in poetry, and in romance."
— 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 11:
"In fact all the competing theories have developed their own specialized jargons and have a tendency to be difficult to penetrate."
— 2014, Ian Hodder, Archaeological Theory Today:
"Human ill-nature needs but some Homoiousian iota, or even the pretence of one; and will flow copiously through the eye of a needle: thus always must mortals go jargoning and fuming […]."
— 1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book IV (Varennes):
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The computer programmers used very technical ____ that confused the new interns.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The computer expert used so much ____ that the average user could not understand what he was saying.