Dictionary Quotes

340 quotes by 289 authors

Look up the word role in the dictionary and you'll see it means playing a part. That's why I call myself a real model. — Shaquille O'Neal
People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time. — Steven Pinker
My job involves searching for 'lost' quotations - that is, trying to find out who came up with a quotable saying that lingers in someone's… — Nigel Rees
Republican comes in the dictionary just after reptile and just above repugnant. — Julia Roberts
Most poets are elitist dregs more concerned with proving their skill with a dictionary than communicating ideas with impact. — Henry Rollins
I do love perusing the dictionary to find how many words I don't use - words that have specific, sharp, focused meaning. I also love… — Geoffrey Rush
When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary. — William Safire
The scholars and poets of an earlier time can be read only with a dictionary to help. — Carl Sandburg
Poetry consists in a rhyming dictionary and things seen. — Gertrude Stein
Every time I have to look up a word in the dictionary, I'm delighted. — Vivienne Westwood
Who is to say who is the villain and who is the hero? Probably the dictionary. — Joss Whedon
I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything. — Steven Wright
If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know? — Steven Wright
I am a part of the old school where I feel that purity of the language should be retained. But English is a constantly evolving… — Ashwin Sanghi
Hash, x. There is no definition for this word - nobody knows what hash is. Famous, adj. Conspicuously miserable. Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device… — Ambrose Bierce
When you look up 'hilarious' in the dictionary, there's a picture of you. — Jonathan Safran Foer
Everything starts somewhere, though many physicists disagree. But people have always been dimly aware of the problem with the start of things. They wonder how… — Terry Pratchett
My language limitations here are real. My vocabulary is adequate for writing notes and keeping journals but absolutely useless for an active moral life. If… — Grace Paley
Words fail me sometimes. I have read most every word in the Websterâ€™s International Dictionary of the English Language, but I still have trouble making… — Jennifer Donnelly
Patriotism, n. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as… — Ambrose Bierce

Who Wrote These Dictionary Quotes

289 authors contributed a total of 340 Dictionary Quotes, led by these top contributors: