Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sociofugal

/ˌsoʊ.si.o(ʊ)ˈfju.ɡ(ə)l/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: soc-i-o-fug-al
IPA: /ˌsoʊ.si.o(ʊ)ˈfju.ɡ(ə)l/

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

5

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a place, etc.: involving the arrangement of a group of people so that each person can maintain some privacy from the others.

Example Sentences

"By sociofugality I mean a design which prevents or discourages the formation of stable human relationships. […] Sociofugal buildings do not encourage interpersonal relationships and when group relationships occur they are of the shoulder-to-shoulder type found in a crowd or, when modified by discipline, in the regimented group. […] [S]ome of the luxury buildings found in private psychiatric hospitals seem to be derived not from psychiatric principles but from an attempt to ape general hospitals and hotels—both highly sociofugal buildings."

Etymology

From socio- (prefix meaning ‘society’) + -fugal (suffix meaning ‘travelling out from’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in 1957: see the quotation.

Word Breakdown

Prefix: socio-
Root: *sekʷ-
Suffix: -fugal

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌsoʊ.si.o(ʊ)ˈfju.ɡ(ə)l/
British English: /ˌsəʊ.si.ə(ʊ)ˈfjuː.ɡl̩/

Inflected Forms

more sociofugal (comparative) most sociofugal (superlative)

Derived Forms

sociofugality sociofugally

Antonyms

sociopetal

Questions

How do you pronounce sociofugal?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌsoʊ.si.o(ʊ)ˈfju.ɡ(ə)l/.
What does sociofugal mean?: Of a place, etc.: involving the arrangement of a group of people so that each person can maintain some privacy from the others.
Where does sociofugal come from?: From socio- (prefix meaning ‘society’) + -fugal (suffix meaning ‘travelling out from’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in 1957: see the quotation.

How to pronounce sociofugal

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