Dictionary

wordoid en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English word Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *wéydos Proto-Hellenic *wéidos Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ēs Proto-Hellenic *-ēs Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs) Ancient Greek -ειδής (-eidḗs) Latin -oīdēslbor. English -oid English wordoid From word + -oid.

Meanings

1. A fabricated word coined to identify a new concept.
   • 2006, David Sims, in First Coffee for St. Valentine's Day, 2006 http://blog.tmcnet.com/telecom-crm/2006/02/14/first-coffee-for-st-valentines-day-2006.asp Well, I guess there's a new wordoid we all have to endure: infotainment.
   • 2003, Eirik Johnson, in A New Twist on Noise https://web.archive.org/web/20060913123513/http://linux.depaul.edu/archive/depaul-lug/2003-03/msg00309.html Meantime, virii is a perfectly good wordoid, that's right, wordoid. It isn't a word, it just resembles one closely enough that nobody cares!
   • 2005, Pyramus, in Little or Nothing http://cephalogenic.blogspot.com/2005/08/little-or-nothing.html I can't get away from the word, or wordoid, "miniscule".
   • 2003, Daniel J. Stern, in rec.autos.tech http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.tech/msg/6266d1cea8dd61ba "Gage", like "flammable", is a fabricated wordoid created on the assumption, not entirely without merit, that people are too stupid to read, understand and pronounce the properly-spelled word ("inflammable", in the latter case).
   • 2006, James A. Stewart, in Laurel And Hardy movie review https://web.archive.org/web/20060909082844/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/laurelhardycol.php As Leonard Maltin notes in commentary, a more modern character appropriated that little wordoid.

Forms

Relateds

neologism · portmanteau