Dictionary

words of one syllable en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, plural, plural-only, qualifier:usually preceded by in) Simple, clear, straightforward language; blunt language.
   • The President used "words of one syllable" to convey his insistence that Poland be "free and independent". 1972 December 27, Alden Whitman, “Obituary: Harry S. Truman, Decisive President”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Sep 2012:
   • Felix propounded the story of the arrest, so far as might be, in words of one syllable. 1915, John Galsworthy, chapter 22, in The Freelands:
   • I am at present engaged in preparing a vest-pocket edition of the philosophical works of Schopenhauer in words of one syllable. 1894, John Kendrick Bangs, “A Midnight Visitor”, in The Water Ghost and Others:
   • So I explained in words of one syllable that I went there to pick edelweiss from the fire escapes. 1914, Samuel Hopkins Adams, chapter 24, in The Clarion:
   • Or, in words of one syllable, it's Cirque's sex show. 2003 November 19, Richard Corliss, “That Old Feeling: The Show at the Casino”, in Time: