malapropism
pronunciation
How to pronounce malapropism in British English:
UK [ˈmæləprɒpɪzəm]
How to pronounce malapropism in American English:
US [ˈmæləprɑpɪzəm]
-
- Noun:
- the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
Word Origin
- malapropism
- malapropism: [19] English owes the word malapropism to Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals 1775 whose grandiloquent impulses led her to use slightly (but ludicrously) the wrong word: amongst the most familiar of her errors are ‘contagious countries’ (for contiguous), ‘a supercilious knowledge in accounts’ (for superficial), and ‘as head-strong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile’. Sheridan based the name on malapropos ‘inappropriate’ [17], an anglicization of French mal à propos, literally ‘badly to the purpose’ (on mal, see MALIGN).=> malign, propose
- malapropism (n.)
- 1826, from Mrs. Malaprop, character in Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of large words (such as "contagious countries" for "contiguous countries"), her name coined from malapropos.