diction
DIK-shunnounMeaning the choice of words; also, how clearly words are spoken
Memory hook DICTIONary: choosing the words you SAY. Nell flips through her dictionary to pick the perfect word: not “shine” but “glimmer.” Her careful choice of words is her diction.
The poet’s diction was simple: short, everyday words that hit hard.
In context The essay’s ideas were fine, but its diction was wrong for a formal letter; words like “stuff” and “a bunch” made the writer sound careless.
Similar wording, word choice, phrasing, enunciation
From Latin dictio, “a saying, a way of speaking,” from dicere (to say).