Words / C2

SHIB-uh-leth/ˈʃɪbəleθ/

A shibboleth is a phrase, custom, or belief used as a test of belonging, often stale or unexamined (formal): a party shibboleth, the old shibboleths. Slogan is everyday and thinner; dogma is the close cousin. In the biblical story it was a password. Do not hang a shibboleth on the wall and skip the named key-holder.

Meaning

A custom, phrase, or belief used as a test of belonging, often outdated (formal).

Examples

• ““Optional embargo” is a shibboleth, not a policy.”
• “Slogan is everyday. Catchphrase is advertising. A precept is a guiding rule (already in C2). In-group talk can be exact. A phrase that lets you skip the embargo is a hole. Name a yes or a no. Belonging is not a waiver.”

Good to know

An in-group password or stale dogma. Everyday: slogan. Close: dogma. Contrast: precept (a real rule — already in C2). A password is not a policy.

Near in meaning

slogan

New