the modesty reflex
The automatic British response of downplaying positive circumstances.
Read full entry →The public Definr lexicon
Browse invented words, original phrases, local slang and definitions for oddly specific experiences.
Browse by life domain
Food, home, shopping, travel, weather and the routines of ordinary life.
Relationships, etiquette, community, British culture and public life.
Working life, professions, school, university and study.
Devices, internet culture, entertainment and modern media.
Emotions, habits, health, wellbeing and personal routines.
Pets, wildlife, insects and encounters with the natural world.
Conversation, expressions, humour, writing and imaginative language.
Filtered dictionary
The automatic British response of downplaying positive circumstances.
Read full entry →A dramatic conversational build-up to an opinion that surprises absolutely nobody.
Read full entry →The comforting idea that no matter how bad things are, an even worse version probably exists.
Read full entry →A polite observation indicating that someone has made an extraordinary error in judgement.
Read full entry →The conversational signal that nobody wishes to acknowledge whose fault the situation actually was.
Read full entry →An expression of effortless reassurance hiding significant internal stress.
Read full entry →A uniquely British sideways manoeuvre performed with unnecessary apologies.
Read full entry →An entirely fictional location into which inconvenient advice is politely deposited and never revisited.
Read full entry →A perfectly clear rejection disguised as a tentative possibility.
Read full entry →An expression so understated that it somehow makes a disaster sound mildly inconvenient.
Read full entry →A verbal alarm signalling that the next sentence will be considerably less respectful than advertised.
Read full entry →A single-word review indicating that something is fundamentally awful while remaining impeccably polite.
Read full entry →A completely fictional social arrangement created purely to end an interaction on friendly terms.
Read full entry →A socially accepted deception in which your own desire to leave is disguised as concern for someone else's time.
Read full entry →The seemingly supernatural relationship between outdoor cooking and sudden rainfall.
Read full entry →A recurring national belief that the coming months will somehow be different from every previous year.
Read full entry →A brief period of misplaced optimism that inevitably ends with people shivering again.
Read full entry →The cheerful insistence that damp weather is simply part of the authentic experience.
Read full entry →A precautionary layer that is apparently essential during every British summer.
Read full entry →A surprisingly peaceful enclosure that shields its occupants from horizontal sand.
Read full entry →A silent promise to have fun no matter how aggressively unpleasant the weather becomes.
Read full entry →A traffic queue created entirely by people believing there wouldn't be any traffic.
Read full entry →The smug feeling that accompanies purchasing seasonal chocolate at peak value.
Read full entry →An unwritten festive cut-off date that every household believes is objectively correct.
Read full entry →The dictionary is still being written
Submit it directly for editorial review, without designing a card first.