wifebeater
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.50 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One who (usually as a repeated practice) beats his wife, or a husband prone to violence.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt.
Canadian usage; American usage; Colloquial; Countable; Derogatory; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Depp, 57, had sued the Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the Sun that originally carried the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”"
- "[A]s I walked down the bustling street toward campus with my friends, he came out of nowhere and gave me a pick-up line only a wifebeater guy could muster."
- "So, at the first sign of any sunny weather, overweight males all over the country are drawn to their "wifebeaters" like footy fans to the digibox, with every lager-drinking dad labouring under the illusion that he looks like that gardener from Desperate Housewives in his black vest."
- "Just then, a tall, lanky white man wearing a sleeveless tee or "wifebeater" as it is often referred to walked around the corner."
- "And then we were walking back alleys, trudging through the drifts of chip papers, the bottles and empty cans of wifebeater[…]"
- "But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong. Drink Stella in goblets like people do in its native country and, hey presto! It's no longer 'wifebeater'."
Etymology
From wife + beater. The sleeveless shirt acquired the nickname by association with men who commit domestic violence. The lager, being relatively strong, was thought to lead to drunken disputes.
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Colloquial
- Derogatory
- British usage