Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
- noun An example of such misuse.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act or habit of misapplying words through an ambition to use fine language.
- noun A word so misapplied.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The
blundering use of anabsurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar sounding one. - noun countable An instance of this;
malaprop .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Did you ever wonder where the word malapropism came from?
Bock The Robber 2010
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a type of slip of the ear in which people mishear a word and mispronounce it, then insist that the malapropism is correct.
Eggcorns: Folk Etymology Creating New Meanings Every Day 2006
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Mr. STARR: It's called a malapropism, John used to say.
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And it features the kind of malapropism-prone character who says “Toblerone” when he means “testosterone.”
London Theater Journal: Hitting Bottom - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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And it features the kind of malapropism-prone character who says “Toblerone” when he means “testosterone.”
London Theater Journal: Hitting Bottom - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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Two: a few days ago was the first anniversary of linguist Geoff Pullum's coining of the term 'eggcorns', a particular kind of malapropism that appears linguistically significant because it involves a switch to a wrong, but logical, alternative that is rapidly and widely assimilated into general language.
Archive 2004-09-01 Ray Girvan 2004
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Two: a few days ago was the first anniversary of linguist Geoff Pullum's coining of the term 'eggcorns', a particular kind of malapropism that appears linguistically significant because it involves a switch to a wrong, but logical, alternative that is rapidly and widely assimilated into general language.
Doing the tell Ray Girvan 2004
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The explanation behind House File 2028 says it would correct a "malapropism" in the legal description.
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The explanation behind House File 2028 says it would correct a "malapropism" in the legal description.
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The explanation behind House File 2028 says it would correct a "malapropism" in the legal description.
amagnano commented on the word malapropism
From dictionary.com:
Mrs. Malaprop, a character in an eighteenth-century British comedy, The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, constantly confuses words. Malapropisms are named after her.
December 12, 2006
skipdivided commented on the word malapropism
"We need a few laughs to break up the monogamy."
October 6, 2007
ecbrenner commented on the word malapropism
"Malapropisms are words that, because they are used incorrectly, produce a humorous effect. The term derives from the character Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play 'The Rivals' (1775). Mrs. Malaprop loves big words, but she uses them ignorantly to create hilarious solecisms and occasionally embarrassing double entendres. One of Mrs. Malaprop's famous similes is 'as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile.' -- Bryan A. Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage
January 29, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word malapropism
Bottom, from A Midsummer Night's Dream is famous for numerous amusing malapropisms.
July 26, 2009
Quintesabd commented on the word malapropism
Once, my professor entered my laboratory and saw some defective tube-lights thrown in one corner and immediately he growled out " Who kept these testtubes here?". We, the labmates looked there and saw no testtubes; suddenly we understood that it was a malapropism!!
November 30, 2016