malapropism
/ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.39 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The script employed malapropism to great effect."
- "The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language."
- "The humor comes from all the malapropisms."
- "M. Jules Lemaître has reproached Shakespeare for his love of Malapropisms. Those of Dogberry and many of his other low comedy parts are highly diverting buffoonery."
- "That old wound to his pride and self-esteem was not yet closed. He had come thinking he could talk of it, even wanting to talk of his fettered condition, and—behold! he was shrinking away from this reminder by Aunt Juley, renowned for her Malapropisms."
- "But nobody will ever know the private history of a char. They keep nearly all their secrets to themselves. For this reason I am sure that, whatever novelists and dramatists pretend, they are not natural chatterboxes. Not all have black eyes or drunken husbands who occasionally arrive for a private quarrel or, in times of hardship for the hero, become comic brokers’ men. Their Malapropisms are few. They are frequently sturdy, silent, careful, and as dignified as wealthy aunts, who, by the way, are also with as little reason made ridiculous in some books and plays."
Etymology
From the name of Mrs. Malaprop, a character in the play The Rivals (1775) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan + -ism. As dramatic characters in English comic plays of this time often had allusive names, it is likely that Sheridan fashioned the name from malapropos (“inappropriate; inappropriately”), from French mal à propos. Mrs. Malaprop is a classic example of a familiar comedic character archetype who unintentionally substitutes inappropriate but like-sounding words that take on a ludicrous meaning when used incorrectly.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/
- British English: /ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
examples of malapropisms
folk etymology