mope en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /məʊp/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /moʊp/ (General-American)
Etymology
Late Middle English (as a noun meaning "simpleton, fool"), probably related to mop (“young of an animal, moppet”). Alternatively, of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish mopa (“to sulk”), Danish måbe, themselves borrowed from Low German mopen (“to make faces, gape”), of uncertain ultimate origin, but compare Proto-West Germanic *mauwu (“protruding lip, pout”). Compare also German muffen, French moue.
Meanings
-
The act of moping
When she gets upset, she has a little mope, and then gets over it.
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(archaic) A dull, spiritless person.
putting gulleries on some or other till they have made by their humouring or gulling ex stulto insanum, a mope or a noddy
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
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(qualifier:pornography industry) A bottom feeder who "mopes" around a pornography studio hoping for his big break and often does bit parts in exchange for room and board and meager pay.
2011: LA Weekly, documenting uses dating to the 1990s The porn industry is many things. Subtle is not one of them. So when Porn Inc. went searching for a job title for people like Stephen Hill, the choice was "mope." It's based on the off-camera life of these fringe actors, hangers-on who mope around the studios hoping for a bit role, which if they're lucky might bring them $50 plus food — and the chance to have sex with a real, live woman.https://web.archive.org/web/20110310155324/http://www.laweekly.com/2011-02-24/news/porn-machete-murder/
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| mopes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |