charlie brown tree
/ˈtʃɑɹli bɹaʊn ˈtɹi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.21 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
2
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A Christmas tree considered unattractive and undesirable by normal standards, often small and sparse.
Example Sentences
- "There is a place in our Christmas for a Charlie Brown tree—as the Children's Tree."
- "As Regina put it, "It was the ugliest, skinniest Charlie Brown tree you ever saw.""
- "Trees grown in the wild are naturally sparser trees with fewer branches. In the industry these are sometimes referred to as "Charlie Brown trees," after the pathetic, droopy specimen that Charlie Brown selected for the Christmas pageant in his eponymous cartoon classic."
- "She liked to think of it as a Charlie Brown tree, worthy of pity, not just a plain old ugly tree."
- "By today's standards these "Charlie Brown" trees of my childhood were haphazardly decorated creations at best; but to my brother, sisters and I, they were some of the most beautiful creations we had ever laid eyes on."
Etymology
A reference to the animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) based on the comic strip Peanuts by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000), in which the title character Charlie Brown picks an unattractive Christmas tree to decorate. The selection of the tree represents a protest against the commercialization of Christmas.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtʃɑɹli bɹaʊn ˈtɹi/
- British English: /ˈtʃɑːli bɹaʊn ˈtɹiː/