buzz ‧ word /ˈbʌzwɜːd $ -wɜːrd/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
a word or phrase from one special area of knowledge that people suddenly think is very important:
‘Multimedia’ has been a buzzword in the computer industry for years.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ word a single group of letters that are used together with a particular meaning:
‘Casa’ is the Italian word for ‘house’.
|
I looked up the word in a dictionary.
▪ name a word that you use for a particular thing, place, organization etc:
Iberia is the ancient name for the Spanish Peninsula.
|
What’s the name of that type of dog?
▪ term a word or group of words that is used in a specific subject or area of language:
The medical term for losing your hair is ‘alopecia’.
|
People use the term ‘carbon footprint’ to talk about man’s polluting effect on the environment.
▪ phrase a group of words that have a particular meaning when used together, or which someone uses on a particular occasion:
We don’t really have a phrase for ‘bon appétit’ in English.
|
Politicians keep using the phrase ‘family values’.
|
an Italian phrase book
▪ expression a fixed phrase which is used in a language and has a particular meaning:
He uses a lot of obscure expressions that I don’t really understand.
|
What does the expression ‘wage slavery’ mean?
▪ buzzword /ˈbʌzwɜːd $ -wɜːrd/ a word or group of words that people in a particular type of work or activity have started using a lot because they think it is important:
E-learning is the buzzword in educational publishing at the moment.
|
For anthropologists, ethnodiversity has been a buzzword for quite a while.
▪ idiom /ˈɪdiəm/ a group of words that has a special meaning which you cannot guess from the meanings of each separate word:
‘Full of beans’ is an idiom which means feeling lively and energetic.
▪ cliché /ˈkliːʃeɪ $ kliːˈʃeɪ/ a group of words that is used so often that it seems rather boring, annoying, or silly:
It’s a bit of a cliché, but good communication skills are the key to success.
|
the old movie cliché ‘we can’t go on meeting like this’
▪ slang very informal words used especially by a particular group of people such as young people, criminals, or soldiers:
Grass is slang for marijuana.
|
prison slang
|
army slang
▪ jargon words and phrases used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand – often used to show disapproval:
The instructions were full of technical jargon.
|
complicated legal jargon