Dictionary

malapropism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• mălʹə-prä-pĭzʹ-əm (US)
• /ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/ (US)

Etymology

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 a classic example of a familiar comedic character archetype who unintentionally substitutes inappropriate but like-sounding words that take on a ludicrous meaning when used incorrectly.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The blundering use of an absurdly inappropriate word or expression in place of a similar-sounding one.
   • The script employed malapropism to great effect.
2. (countable) An instance of such use.
   • The humor comes from all the malapropisms.
   • The translator matched every malapropism in the original with one from his own language.

Forms

Deriveds

malaphor · malapropic

Hypernyms

catachresis[Appendix:Glossary · catachresis[Appendix:Glossary

Relateds

eggcorn · folk etymology · spoonerism · examples of malapropisms · mondegreen · misnomer · acyrologia · phantonym

Synonyms

malaprop

Translations (25)

ja マラプロピズム (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · ru малапропи́зм (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · de Wörtervertauschung (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · gd ain-eirmseachd (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · ga mífheilteachas (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · fi malapropismi (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · fr malapropisme (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · es yerro (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · de Verballhornung (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · es gazapo (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · fr abus de langage (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · hu paronimák felcserélése (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · es malapropismo (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · ko 말라프로피즘 (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · bo ཚིག་བེད་སྤྱོད་བྱེད་སྟངས་ནོར་བ (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · kmr xeletbêjî (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · de Malapropismus (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · kmr malapropîzm (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · nl verhaspeling (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · fr impropriété (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · pl malapropizm (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · ja 言い間違い (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · de Wortverwechslung (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · hu paronimák összekeverése (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression) · gv neuchooieid focklagh (the blundering use of a similar-sounding expression)