idiomatic

id·i·o·mat·ic
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UK, contemporary/ˌɪd.iː.əˈmat.ɪk//ˌɪd.iː.əˈmæt.ɪk/Canada, US/ˌɪd.i.əˈmæt.ɪk/New Zealand/ˌəd.iː.əˈmɛt.ək/

adjective

Pertaining or conforming to idiom, the natural mode of expression of a language.

“An idiomatic phrase that warns us against Pollyannaism is "don't count your chickens before they're hatched".”

UncommonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectiveidiomatic (comparative more idiomatic, superlative most idiomatic)

comparative more idiomatic · superlative most idiomatic · alternative idiomatick

  1. Pertaining or conforming to idiom, the natural mode of expression of a language.

    The inclusion or omission of definite articles follows idiomatic norms in each language and depends on context and intent.

    1 more example

    In English, the only idiomatic position for a pronoun as the object of a phrasal verb is before the particle, whereas a noun as object can fall either before or after the particle; thus only he picked them up but either he picked his tools up or he picked up his tools.

  2. Resembling or characteristic of an idiom.

    An idiomatic phrase that warns us against Pollyannaism is "don't count your chickens before they're hatched".

  3. Using many idioms.
  4. entertainmentRelating to parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments.
  5. computingFollowing the conventions of the language, or doing things in the common way for the language, rather than code that is ported from another language and therefore may not follow the common conventions.
nounidiomatic (plural idiomatics)

plural idiomatics · alternative idiomatick

  1. Synonym of idiom.

    A preprocessing (or text normalization) module is necessary as a front end, since TTS [text-to-speech] systems should in principle be able to read any text, including numbers, abbreviations, acronyms, and idiomatics in any format.

    2003, Thiery Dutoit, Yannis Stylianou, “Text-to-Speech Synthesis”, in Ruslan Mitkov, editor, The Oxford Handbook of Computational Linguistics, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 325

    Synonyms: idiom

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of idiom.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveof or relating to or conforming to idiom

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἰδιωματικός“related to an idiom”
  2. Englishidiomatic

From Ancient Greek ἰδιωματικός (idiōmatikós, “related to an idiom”), from ἰδίωμα (idíōma, “idiom”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan idiomàtic
  • idiomàticpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Chinese Mandarin 象成语
  • 象成语resembling or characteristic of an idiom
Czech idiomatický
  • idiomatickýpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Danish idiomatisk
  • idiomatiskpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Dutch idiomatisch
  • idiomatischpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Finnish idiomaattinen, idiomaattinen
  • idiomaattinenpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiomaattinenresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • idiomaattinenusing many idioms
French idiomatique
  • idiomatiquepertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
German idiomatisch
  • idiomatischpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Greek ιδιωματικός
  • ιδιωματικός (idiomatikós)pertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Italian idiomatico
  • idiomaticopertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Japanese 熟語
  • 熟語 (jukugo)pertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Norwegian idiomatisk, idiomatisk
  • idiomatiskpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiomatiskresembling or characteristic of an idiom
Polish idiomatyczny, idiomowy
  • idiomatycznypertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiomowyresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • idiomatycznyusing many idioms
  • idiomatycznyparts or pieces of or styles of playing music
Portuguese expressão idiomática, idiomatismo
  • expressão idiomáticapertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiomatismopertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiotismopertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • expressão idiomáticaresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • idiomatismoresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • idiotismoresembling or characteristic of an idiom
Romanian idiomatic
  • idiomaticpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Russian идиомати́ческий, идиомати́чный
  • идиомати́ческий (idiomatíčeskij)pertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • идиомати́чный (idiomatíčnyj)resembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • идиомати́чный (idiomatíčnyj)using many idioms
Scottish Gaelic gnàthasach, gnàthasach
  • gnàthasachresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • gnàthasachusing many idioms
Slovak idiomatický, idiomatický
  • idiomatickýpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • idiomatickýresembling or characteristic of an idiom
  • idiomatickýusing many idioms
  • idiomatickýparts or pieces of or styles of playing music
Spanish idiomático
  • idiomáticopertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
Tagalog kawikaanin, kawikaanin
  • kawikaaninpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • kawikaaninresembling or characteristic of an idiom
Welsh idiomatig, priodweddol
  • idiomatigpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language
  • priodweddolpertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with idiomatic

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

idiomatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiomatic

MLA

“idiomatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiomatic. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idiomatic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiomatic.

Source: idiomatic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.