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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.

See Examples For:

The AI agents had traded information on their tasks in a clipped patois that took time to decipher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

“These are what we used as the backdrop for the concert scenes. Them spiritual to me,” Marley says in patois as the smell of palo santo dances around the rehearsal space.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

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 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

He’d keep me guessing with his storefront patois.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee


Vocabulary lists containing patois

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