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Meaning of "malapropism" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD MALAPROPISM

After Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), a character who misused words, from malapropos.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF MALAPROPISM

malapropism  [ˈmæləprɒpˌɪzəm] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF MALAPROPISM

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Malapropism is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES MALAPROPISM MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Malapropism

A malapropism is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes". The word malapropism comes ultimately from the French mal à propos meaning "inappropriate" via "Mrs. Malaprop", a character in the Richard Brinsley Sheridan comedy The Rivals who habitually misused her words. Dogberryism comes from "Officer Dogberry", the name of a character in the William Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing. These are the two best-known fictional characters who made this kind of error—there are many other examples. Malapropisms also occur as errors in natural speech. Malapropisms are often the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals. The philosopher Donald Davidson has noted that malapropisms show how complex the process is by which the brain translates thoughts into language.

Definition of malapropism in the English dictionary

The definition of malapropism in the dictionary is 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. Other definition of malapropism is the habit of misusing words in this manner.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH MALAPROPISM


ableism
ˈeɪbəlˌɪzəm
altruism
ˈæltruːˌɪzəm
archaism
ˈɑːkɪˌɪzəm
atheism
ˈeɪθɪˌɪzəm
cronyism
ˈkrəʊnɪˌɪzəm
dichroism
ˈdaɪkrəʊˌɪzəm
egoism
ˈiːɡəʊˌɪzəm
heroism
ˈhɛrəʊˌɪzəm
Hinduism
ˈhɪndʊˌɪzəm
Judaism
ˈdʒuːdeɪˌɪzəm
monotheism
ˈmɒnəʊθɪˌɪzəm
mugwumpism
ˈmʌɡˌwʌmpˌɪzəm
multilateralism
ˌmʌltɪˈlætərəlˌɪzəm
negativism
ˈnɛɡətɪvˌɪzəm
pastoralism
ˈpɑːstərəlˌɪzəm
sectarianism
sɛkˈtɛərɪənˌɪzəm
speciesism
ˈspiːʃiːzˌɪzəm
survivalism
səˈvaɪvəlˌɪzəm
tribadism
ˈtrɪbədˌɪzəm
vampirism
ˈvæmpaɪərˌɪzəm

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE MALAPROPISM

malanders
Malang
malapert
malapertly
malapertness
malapportioned
malappropriate
malappropriated
malaprop
malapropian
malapropist
malapropos
malar
malar bone
malaria
malarial
malarian
malariologist
malariology
malarious

WORDS THAT END LIKE MALAPROPISM

apheliotropism
apogeotropism
atropism
chemotropism
diageotropism
diaheliotropism
diaphototropism
escapism
gamotropism
geotropism
heliotropism
hemitropism
hydrotropism
orthotropism
phototropism
pleiotropism
rheotropism
theanthropism
therianthropism
thigmotropism
tropism

Synonyms and antonyms of malapropism in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «malapropism» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF MALAPROPISM

Find out the translation of malapropism to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of malapropism from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «malapropism» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

飞白辞格
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

malapropism
570 millions of speakers

English

malapropism
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

malapropism
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

malapropism
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

malapropism
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

malapropism
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

শব্দের অপপ্রয়োগ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

impropriété de langage
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Malapropisme
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Malapropismus
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

malapropism
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

malapropism
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Malapropism
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

malapropism
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

malapropism
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

विकृती
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

sözcükleri uygunsuzca kullanma
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

sproposito
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

malapropism
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

malapropism
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

malapropism
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

malapropism
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

malapropisme
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

malapropism
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

malapropism
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of malapropism

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «MALAPROPISM»

The term «malapropism» is normally little used and occupies the 122.008 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
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100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
43
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «malapropism» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of malapropism
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «malapropism».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «MALAPROPISM» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «malapropism» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «malapropism» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about malapropism

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «MALAPROPISM»

Discover the use of malapropism in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to malapropism and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
How to Prepare for SAT II.: Literature
For example, a malapropism is the use of a word that is inappropriate for the CONTEXT, but that resembles a word that is appropriate. The effect, of course, of using the incorrect word can be amusing (as when Norm Crosby fills his routine with ...
Christina Myers-Shaffer, 2000
2
The Principles of Literature: A Guide for Readers and Writers
For example, a malapropism is the use of a word that is inappropriate for the context, but that resembles a word that is appropriate. The effect, of course, of using the incorrect word can be amusing (as when Norm Crosby fills his routine with ...
Christina Myers-Shaffer, 2000
3
Dummett: Philosophy of Language
This radical conclusion is the result of his analysis of malapropism, which is extended to give an account of James Joyce's linguistic virtuosity. According to Davidson, Joyce takes us back to the foundations of communication (Davidson 1991, ...
Karen Green, 2013
4
Natural Language Processing and Information Systems: 10th ...
The upper two collocative nodes form malapropism. The nodes going south-west and south-east are paronyms of each malapropism's nodes. Each paronym should be matched against the opposite malapropism's node, and any pair could  ...
Andrés Montoyo, Rafael Munoz, Elisabeth Métais, 2005
5
Tickling Catfish: A Texan Looks at Culture from Amarillo to ...
When we do, we come up with a malapropism. One of Ms. Chick White's students wrote a fine malapropism: "The man mustard his courage." If the man had disliked mustard, as I do, presumably he would have used another condiment on his ...
Jerry Craven, 1996
6
Confident Communication: Speaking Tips for Educators
AVOIDING. MALAPROPISMS. Watch for slang, and a malapropism or spoonerism. As for slang, any time in a speech you say, "You know," you are in trouble. "You know" is deadly to a speaker's credibility. Malapropisms are named after Mrs.
Douglas A. Parker, 2003
7
Three is a Crowd?: Acquiring Portuguese in a Trilingual ...
The malapropism is a one-off target-like rendition of another word. In these children's data, they occur rarely and once only for each target word. Because of their incidental nature, malapropisms are generally labelled as 'nonsystemic', ...
Madalena Cruz-Ferreira, 2006
8
Neurolinguistics and Linguistic Aphasiology: An Introduction
Fay and Cutler (1977) studied a particular type of speech error called a " malapropism". Malapropisms have three characteristics: the error is a real word; the error and the target are unrelated in meaning; and the error and the target are closely ...
David Caplan, 1987
9
Chaucer's Miller's, Reeve's, and Cook's Tales
Blake argues that astromye is rather an acceptable variant spelling, since it is retained in all manuscripts: if it were a malapropism 'it would be natural to expect at least some scribes to emend it' (p 1 10). He also notes similar shortened forms in ...
T. L. Burton, Rosemary Greentree, 1997
10
Perspectives on Black English
In many cases, further, the judgment "malapropism" may be the surest indicator of the relationship of the Creole lexicon to that of the "standard" language. The investigator frequently hears, from Antiguans, sentences like We don't have much  ...
Joey Lee Dillard, 1975

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «MALAPROPISM»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term malapropism is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Taking on board the learnings | Otago Daily Times Online News …
Occasionally this inner circle mix them up inadvertently and come out the other end with an extremely incomprehensible malapropism. It is the ... «Otago Daily Times, Jul 15»
2
You Oughta Know: an oral history of Alanis Morissette's Jagged …
*Morissette: I think the malapropism in “Ironic” was the only thing I regretted [laughs]. I was like, oh God, if I knew more than 10 people were ... «CBC.ca, Jul 15»
3
'Little Mermaid' is spectacular fun
... the fish with the Ariel-crush (played winningly by Henry Hodges) and Scuttle, the malapropism-spouting seagull played by Billy Sharpe. «Montgomery Advertiser, Jul 15»
4
Diane Chorley: Duchess Of Canvey
... means too many opportunities for gags have been lost, especially as script doesn't exactly zing with gags, the occasional malapropism aside. «Chortle, Jul 15»
5
Taking Indian Cricket to Hamsterdam
The slingers move in to the empty streets and the areas quickly become known as “Hamsterdam”, a corner boy's malapropism of “Amsterdam”. «Wisden India, Jul 15»
6
MOVIE REVIEW: 'Infinitely Polar Bear' tackles heavy topic with …
#The title of writer/director's Maya Forbes new dramatic comedy is a malapropism spoken by a child in the movie trying to say “bi-polar disorder. «Gwinnettdailypost.com, Jul 15»
7
'Trainwreck' review: Amy Schumer's big-screen debut almost gets …
And her muscle-bound, malapropism-spouting starter boyfriend (WWE star John Cena). And the homeless guy (Dave Attell) who panhandles in ... «OregonLive.com, Jul 15»
8
Exactly How the Negotiators Finally Secured the Iranian Nuclear Deal
To borrow a malapropism that probably best describes the ongoing saga of Iran nuclear talks, it was “déjà vu all over again” in Europe at the ... «Vanity Fair, Jul 15»
9
Volpone – RSC, Stratford-on-Avon, Review
The beating heart of this production is Henry Goodman who revels in the title-role, from his dribbling faked deathbed to the malapropism ... «Stratford Observer, Jul 15»
10
Ballet Theater's Met Season, a Mix of Sparkling Moments and …
In a magnificent malapropism, a woman of my acquaintance once described a man's wife as “a lodestone 'round his neck.” And that's what the ... «New York Times, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Malapropism [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/malapropism>. Apr 2024 ».
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