paternalistic
/pətˌɝnəlˈɪstɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.46 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
the quality of being paternal, i.e. like a father, e.g. characterized by behaving in a benevolent yet intrusive manner towards underlings
adj
of, pertaining to, characteristic of or practicing paternalism
Example Sentences
Etymology
Etymology tree English paternal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English -istic English paternalistic From paternal + -istic.
Inflected Forms
more paternalistic (comparative)
most paternalistic (superlative)