turn of phrase
turn of phrase noun: an expression which is worded in a distinctive way, especially one which is particularly memorable or artful.
Noun
turn of phrase (countable and uncountable, plural turns of phrase)
- An expression which is worded in a distinctive way, especially one which is particularly memorable or artful.
- "I should call it a most nice sort of surprise," remarked the girl with a quaintly un-English turn of phrase which he had already noticed and thought the most delightful thing in the world.1922, Dorothy Canfield, “Chapter 43”, in Rough-Hewn
- A distinctive way of wording things, a distinctive way of writing or speaking.
- This author has a beautiful turn of phrase.
Synonyms of turn of phrase
Forms of turn of phrase
| plural | turns of phrase |
|---|
Origin of turn of phrase
Compare trope, with same sense of turn to mean indirect language.
Questions about turn of phrase
- What does turn of phrase mean?
- Turn of phrase means an expression which is worded in a distinctive way, especially one which is particularly memorable or artful.
- What part of speech is turn of phrase?
- Turn of phrase is a noun.
- What is the plural of turn of phrase?
- The plural of turn of phrase is turns of phrase.
Words near turn of phrase in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: turn of phrase (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-au-turn of phrase.ogg.
Cite this entry: “turn of phrase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turn_of_phrase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.