See malapropism in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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"3": "mal à propos"
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"name": "der"
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"etymology_text": "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 perhaps the best-known example of a familiar comedic character archetype who unintentionally substitutes inappropriate but like-sounding words that take on a ludicrous meaning when used incorrectly.",
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[
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"(uncountable) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one."
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{
"_dis1": "92 8",
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},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "malapropismi"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "abus de langage"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "malapropisme"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "impropriété"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Wörtervertauschung"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
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"feminine"
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{
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"code": "de",
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"feminine"
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},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Malapropismus"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "paronimák felcserélése"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "paronimák összekeverése"
},
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"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "mífheilteachas"
},
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"_dis1": "92 8",
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"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "iimachigai",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "言い間違い"
},
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"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
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{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "malapropîzm"
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{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "gv",
"lang": "Manx",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "neuchooieid focklagh"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "malapropizm"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "malapropízm",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "малапропи́зм"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "ain-eirmseachd"
},
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"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "gazapo"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
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"word": "malapropismo"
},
{
"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "es",
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"_dis1": "92 8",
"code": "bo",
"lang": "Tibetan",
"roman": "tshig bed spyod byed stangs nor ba",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "ཚིག་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་སྟངས་ནོར་བ"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The humor comes from all the malapropisms.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An instance of this; malaprop."
],
"id": "en-malapropism-en-noun-KBbJJarY",
"links": [
[
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"malaprop"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(countable) An instance of this; malaprop."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "10 90",
"sense": "instance of malapropism",
"word": "malaprop"
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{
"_dis1": "10 90",
"sense": "instance of malapropism",
"word": "catachresis"
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],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "mălʹə-prä-pĭzʹ-əm",
"tags": [
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},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/",
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"US"
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},
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"synonyms": [
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"tags": [
"rare"
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"word": "Malapropism"
},
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"_dis1": "0 0",
"tags": [
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"word": "malapropoism"
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],
"wikipedia": [
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"word": "malapropism"
}
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"English uncountable nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
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"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Irish translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Manx translations",
"Terms with Northern Kurdish translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Tibetan translations"
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"3": "mal à propos"
},
"expansion": "French mal à propos",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "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 perhaps the best-known example of a familiar comedic character archetype who unintentionally substitutes inappropriate but like-sounding words that take on a ludicrous meaning when used incorrectly.",
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"pos": "noun",
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"word": "examples of malapropisms"
},
{
"word": "acyrologia"
},
{
"word": "eggcorn"
},
{
"word": "folk etymology"
},
{
"english": "a word that is well-known to seem to refer to something other than its referent but is nonetheless usually correct",
"word": "misnomer"
},
{
"word": "mondegreen"
},
{
"english": "a word that invites catachrestic use because of its sound or appearance",
"word": "phantonym"
},
{
"word": "spoonerism"
}
],
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{
"categories": [
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"English uncountable nouns"
],
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{
"text": "The script employed malapropism to great effect.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one."
],
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],
[
"absurdly",
"absurdly"
],
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]
],
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"(uncountable) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
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},
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"English countable nouns",
"English terms with usage examples"
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"text": "The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The humor comes from all the malapropisms.",
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}
],
"glosses": [
"An instance of this; malaprop."
],
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]
],
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"(countable) An instance of this; malaprop."
],
"tags": [
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]
}
],
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"ipa": "/ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "mălʹə-prä-pĭzʹ-əm",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/",
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"tags": [
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"word": "Malapropism"
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"word": "malapropoism"
},
{
"sense": "instance of malapropism",
"word": "malaprop"
},
{
"sense": "instance of malapropism",
"word": "catachresis"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "verhaspeling"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "malapropismi"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "abus de langage"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "malapropisme"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "impropriété"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Wörtervertauschung"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Wortverwechslung"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Verballhornung"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Malapropismus"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "paronimák felcserélése"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "paronimák összekeverése"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "mífheilteachas"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "iimachigai",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "言い間違い"
},
{
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "xeletbêjî"
},
{
"code": "kmr",
"lang": "Northern Kurdish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "malapropîzm"
},
{
"code": "gv",
"lang": "Manx",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "neuchooieid focklagh"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "malapropizm"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "malapropízm",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "малапропи́зм"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "ain-eirmseachd"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "gazapo"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "malapropismo"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "yerro"
},
{
"code": "bo",
"lang": "Tibetan",
"roman": "tshig bed spyod byed stangs nor ba",
"sense": "the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression",
"word": "ཚིག་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་སྟངས་ནོར་བ"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"malapropism"
],
"word": "malapropism"
}
Download raw JSONL data for malapropism meaning in English (7.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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