manqué
/mɑnˈkeɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.24 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Unfulfilled due to the vagary of circumstance, some inherent flaw or a constitutional lack.
Example Sentences
- "“[…] and all things considered, I don't much regret that this affair with Miss Amory is manquée, though I wished for it once—in fact, all things considered, I am very glad of it.”"
- "The rivals now were but rival nurses; and never did a lot of women make more fuss over a child than all these bloodthirsty men did over this Amazon manquée."
- "At first, I planned to take a degree in psychiatry as many manqué talents do; but I was even more manqué than that; a peculiar exhaustion, I am so oppressed, doctor, set in; and I switched to English literature, where so many frustrated poets end as pipe-smoking teachers in tweeds."
- "The four possible combinations of values can be named Truth and Falsity (with capital initials) and truth-manqué and falsity-manqué (with lower-case initials)."
- "Roe v. Wade (1973): How a Legal Landmark Manqué Became a Constitutional Cause Célèbre"
- "Perhaps there was a feeling of moral triumph over a celebrated man, who was a noble man manqué because of his character flaws, whereas Fyodorov was a nobleman manqué for purely biological and social reasons, his illegitimacy."
Etymology
Existing in English from the eighteenth century. Borrowed from French manqué, past participle form of manquer (“to lack, to be lacking in”).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: manqué
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mɑnˈkeɪ/
- British English: /ˈmɒŋkeɪ/