Meanings
plural Oxford commas
- mediaThe serial comma.
But I don't want your drama / If you really wanna / Leave out that Oxford comma
2014, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Word Crimes”3 more examples
It was Collins who invented the ‘Oxford comma’, for which he obtained supported from Herbert Spencer.
2002 [1978], Peter Sutcliffe, “Making the Press what it ought to be”, in The Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press, page 114Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma? / I've seen those English dramas too; they're cruel / So if there's any other way to spell the word / It's fine with me, with me
2008, “Oxford Comma”, in Vampire Weekend, performed by Vampire WeekendIt is a debate that has torn the nation in two, ripped friends and family apart, and entrenched deep and uncrossable lines throughout the land. Should the Royal Mint have used an Oxford comma on its Brexit 50p piece?
2020 January 27, Alison Flood, “Philip Pullman calls for boycott of Brexit 50p coin over 'missing' Oxford comma”, in The GuardianSynonyms: serial comma, Harvard comma
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe serial comma.
Origin
From Oxford University Press, where such use is the house style.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Oxford comma. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oxford%20comma
“Oxford comma.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oxford%20comma. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Oxford comma,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Oxford%20comma.
Source: Oxford comma on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.