malapropism
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əBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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malapropism (ˈmæləprɒpˌɪzəm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one of similar sound, esp when creating a ridiculous effect, as in I am not under the affluence of alcohol |
| 2. | the habit of misusing words in this manner |
| [C18: after Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), a character who misused words, from | |
| 'malaprop | |
| —adj | |
| mala'propian | |
| —adj | |
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| Closed or obstructed. |
| lacking in adroitness; unskillful; awkward; bungling; tactless: |
malapropism
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A humorous confusion of words that sound vaguely similar, as in “We have just ended our physical year” instead of “We have just ended our fiscal year.”
Note: Mrs. Malaprop, a character in an eighteenth-century British comedy, The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, constantly confuses words. Malapropisms are named after her.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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malapropism
verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning. Although William Shakespeare had used the device for comic effect, the term derives from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's character Mrs. Malaprop, in his play The Rivals (1775). Her name is taken from the term malapropos (French: "inappropriate") and is typical of Sheridan's practice of concocting names to indicate the essence of a character. Thinking of the geography of contiguous countries, she spoke of the "geometry" of "contagious countries," and hoped that her daughter might "reprehend" the true meaning of what she is saying. She regretted that her "affluence" over her niece was very small
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