idiomatic

American  

[id-ee-uh-mat-ik] / ˌɪd i əˈmæt ɪk /

Also idiomatical

adjective

1. peculiar to or characteristic of a particular language or dialect.

   idiomatic French.

2. containing or using many idioms.

3. having a distinct style or character, especially in the arts.

   idiomatic writing; an idiomatic composer.

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Other Word Forms

• idiomatically adverb
• idiomaticalness noun
• idiomaticity noun
• nonidiomatic adjective
• nonidiomatical adjective
• nonidiomatically adverb
• nonidiomaticalness noun
• unidiomatic adjective
• unidiomatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of idiomatic

1705–15; < Late Greek idiōmatikós, equivalent to idiōmat- (stem of idíōma ) idiom + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

Headlined by conductor Marco Armiliato, soprano Lisette Oropesa as the heroine Elvira and tenor Lawrence Brownlee as her beloved Arturo, this was a musically idiomatic and expressive traversal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

I was confident I was being scammed in some way but the idiomatic language and contextual knowledge of Westminster was unsettling.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2024

“Signing is very idiomatic, it’s conveying concepts with your face and hands, so we ended up changing the script,” Barclay says.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2023

Fairy tales, idiomatic expressions, warrior tales all amplified human fear, and led to the systematic extermination of wolves across Britain and Europe.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 28, 2023

She sank into the desk chair, thinking cheng yu — idiomatic sayings, the Chinese had a lot of them too.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen