Word.ws English Dictionary

Oxford comma

Oxford comma noun: the serial comma.

Noun

Oxford comma (plural Oxford commas)

  1. The serial comma.
    • 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 114
    • Who 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 me2008, “Oxford Comma”, in Vampire Weekend, performed by Vampire Weekend

Examples of Oxford comma in a sentence

  • But I don't want your drama / If you really wanna / Leave out that Oxford comma2014, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Word Crimes”:
  • 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 Guardian:

Synonyms of Oxford comma

Forms of Oxford comma

pluralOxford commas

Origin of Oxford comma

From Oxford University Press, where such use is the house style.

Questions about Oxford comma

What does Oxford comma mean?
Oxford comma means the serial comma.
How do you use Oxford comma in a sentence?
But I don't want your drama / If you really wanna / Leave out that Oxford comma
What part of speech is Oxford comma?
Oxford comma is a noun.
What is the plural of Oxford comma?
The plural of Oxford comma is Oxford commas.

Words near Oxford comma in the dictionary

  1. oxfly
  2. oxford
  3. Oxford blue
  4. Oxford blues
  5. Oxford Clay
  6. Oxford comma
  7. Oxford commas
  8. Oxford County
  9. Oxford Falls
  10. Oxford glasses
  11. Oxford Grouper

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Oxford comma (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-Oxford comma.oga.

Cite this entry: “Oxford comma.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oxford_comma. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.