idiomatic

/ˌɪdiəˈmætɪk/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɪdiəˈmætɪk/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌi-dē-ə-ˈma-tik/ (ame, mw)

idiomatic — 形容詞

  • idiomaticpositive
  • more idiomaticcomparative
  • most idiomaticsuperlative

1. of language: phrased the way a fluent speaker would actually say it, with word c

1.形容詞C1
釋義

道地的

用詞遣字像母語人士會說的那樣

of language: phrased the way a fluent speaker would actually say it, with word choices and combinations that feel correct and not forced.

例句

Karim's essay was grammatically perfect, but his teacher said it still wasn't quite idiomatic English.

Karim 的文章文法完全正確，但老師說讀起來還不夠道地。

predicative: be (not) idiomatic English

Mayumi spent a year in Taipei to make her spoken Mandarin sound more idiomatic.

Mayumi 在台北住了一年，讓自己的口語中文聽起來更自然道地。

collocation: sound idiomatic

同義詞
  • natural

    broader; covers tone and rhythm as well as wording

  • native-sounding

    informal; emphasises the same effect from a learner perspective

  • fluent

    applies to a speaker's overall ability, not a single sentence

反義詞
  • stilted

    wording sounds forced or old-fashioned

  • unnatural

    general opposite for any awkward phrasing

文法句型

sound idiomatic

idiomatic English/Mandarin

用法筆記

Subject is almost always a stretch of language (a sentence, phrase, translation, or someone's English/Mandarin/etc.), not a person. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense praises phrasing that sounds native; sense 2 simply means a chunk of language contains an idiom.

常見錯誤

❌Stefan is very idiomatic in English.
✅Stefan's English is very idiomatic.
💡describes the language, not the speaker.
❌Please write an idiomatic sentence.
✅Please write a sentence in idiomatic English.
💡needs a language to qualify; bare 'idiomatic sentence' rarely makes sense.

2. describing a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the in

2.形容詞C1
釋義

慣用語的

屬於整句意思無法逐字推得的固定表達

describing a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words — for example, 'kick the bucket' meaning to die.

例句

Devika warned her students that 'spill the beans' is an idiomatic expression, not a cooking instruction.

Devika 提醒學生，spill the beans 是一個慣用語，不是在講煮菜。

an idiomatic expression

The textbook lists thirty idiomatic phrases that English learners often get wrong.

這本教科書列出了三十個英語學習者常用錯的慣用片語。

attributive: idiomatic phrases

同義詞
  • non-literal

    technical; emphasises that the words do not add up to the meaning

  • figurative

    broader; covers metaphor and other non-literal language too

反義詞
  • literal

    each word contributes its ordinary meaning

文法句型

an idiomatic expression/phrase

用法筆記

Object is a fixed expression whose meaning is non-literal. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 says language sounds native; this sense labels a phrase as a frozen idiom whose parts cannot be added up.

常見錯誤

❌The verb run has many idiomatic meanings.
✅The verb run has many idiomatic uses.
💡single words don't have idiomatic meanings; the combinations do.