Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sockdolager

[ˌsɑkˈdɑːɫ.ə.d͡ʒɚ]

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
sock-dol-a-ger
IPA
[ˌsɑkˈdɑːɫ.ə.d͡ʒɚ]
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A hard hit, a knockout or finishing blow, or conclusive argument.

American usage; Dated; Slang

noun

Something large or otherwise exceptional; a whopper.

American usage; Dated; Slang

noun

A combination of two hooks which close upon each other, by means of a spring, as soon as the fish bites.

American usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: [ˌsɑkˈdɑːɫ.ə.d͡ʒɚ]

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Questions

How do you pronounce sockdolager?
The recorded pronunciation is [ˌsɑkˈdɑːɫ.ə.d͡ʒɚ].
What does sockdolager mean?
A hard hit, a knockout or finishing blow, or conclusive argument.
Where does sockdolager come from?
Unknown, 1827 US, presumably fanciful variant of sock (“to hit”); compare contemporary fanciful American coinages. Various speculative etymologies have been suggested, such as corruption of doxology, due to this occurring at the end of church worship, hence “finality”.

How to pronounce sockdolager

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “sockdolager”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling ([ˌsɑkˈdɑːɫ.ə.d͡ʒɚ]) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “sockdolager”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “sockdolager” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.