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patois

[pat-wah, pah-twah, pa-twa] / ˈpæt wɑ, ˈpɑ twɑ, paˈtwa /
NOUN
jargon
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONGEST


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bulgarian singer Dara has the night's best staging on Bangaranga - a nonsensical typhoon of tropical pop, based around a word from Jamaican patois that means "a joyful kind of disorder".

From BBC • May 15, 2026

The missives have largely mimicked the president’s own social media patois, with hyperbole, petty insults and a heavy reliance on the “caps lock” key.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2025

The patois changes from office to office and company to company, and the meanings behind certain terms shift from person to person.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2025

For Green, one of the biggest challenges of a film like “One Love” was getting the patois language right and making it feel real without watering it down.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 18, 2024

But I insisted, and so the thumping twangy bass noise resumed, and over it, a light baritone chanting in Caribbean patois to the rhythms of a nursery rhyme, or a playground skipping-rope jingle.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan




Vocabulary lists containing patois


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