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mongrel
[ muhng-gruhl, mong- ]
noun
- a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed.
Synonyms: mutt
- any animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds or varieties.
Synonyms: half-breed, cross
Antonyms: purebred, thoroughbred
- any cross between different things, especially if inharmonious or indiscriminate.
adjective
- of mixed breed, nature, or origin; of or like a mongrel.
mongrel
/ ˈmʌŋɡrəl /
noun
- a plant or animal, esp a dog, of mixed or unknown breeding; a crossbreed or hybrid
- taboo.a person of mixed race
- sport toughness and physical aggression
a tall southpaw with plenty of mongrel
adjective
- of mixed origin, breeding, character, etc
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Derived Forms
- ˈmongrelly, adjective
- ˈmongrelism, noun
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Other Words From
- mongrel·ism mongrel·ness noun
- mongrel·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of mongrel1
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Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
They are their own mongrel manifestations, and I love that difference.
On the one hand, Wilfred is a pot-smoking, hard-drinking, Matt Damon-loving, mongrel dog.
The dog was a mongrel, maybe 35 pounds, and the kid was trying to balance it in front of him on the frame of his bicycle.
He has called the president of the United States a “subhuman mongrel,” and only Hunter S. Thompson can do that.
Miscegenation would follow and a mongrel race would be the result.
Sam Bungey grew up in London, went to university in Dublin and co-founded Mongrel, a monthly magazine about Irish youth culture.
Yet how came it that even a low-caste mongrel of a Lascar should offer such an overt insult to a Brahmin!
Diard's mongrel position, which he himself made still more questionable, brought him great troubles.
With our door ajar we watched the ghastly struggle between the faithful mongrel and the assassin.
But he was such a forlornly muddy mongrel pup, and so eloquent of tail, that I spoke his name on an impulse, and put out my hand.
And a mongrel followed faithfully all the time unnoticed, and wondering, perhaps, at his master.
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About This Word
What does mongrel mean?
The word mongrel is most commonly used to refer to a dog that’s a mix of breeds or whose breed is unknown. It’s used in the same way as the word mutt, and, like mutt, can be negative or ironically affectionate.
However, mongrel is also a racist slur applied to people who are considered to be or who identify as mixed-race. The racist slur half-breed is used in the same way. Even when it’s applied to a person without regard to race, mongrel can still carry racist connotations, namely the implication that such a person’s behavior is like that of people whom racists consider inferior.
Less commonly, mongrel is applied to animals other than dogs (and other living things, like plants) to indicate that they are a result of crossbreeding. It has traditionally also been used in more general ways (as both a noun and an adjective) in reference to anything that’s the result of combining multiple unlike sources, as in English is a mongrel language. Such uses are usually derogatory, implying that such things are impure or deficient.
The word hybrid is a neutral way to describe plants and animals that are a result of crossbreeding or, in the case of nonliving things, some kind of combination.
Where does mongrel come from?
The first records of the word mongrel come from around 1425. It ultimately comes from the Old English gemang, meaning “mingle.”
Did you know … ?
What are some other forms related to mongrel?
- mongrelism (noun)
- mongrelly (adverb)
- mongrelize (verb)
What are some synonyms for mongrel?
What are some words that share a root or word element with mongrel?
What are some words that often get used in discussing mongrel?
How is mongrel used in real life?
When used as a term for a mixed-breed dog, mongrel can be used in a negative or ironically affectionate way. When applied to people, it can be an extremely offensive racist slur.
My dog, a collie-like mongrel, just managed to force himself through a bush into next doors garden and got himself stuck ffs
— Kira 🌻 FINALLY A YANFEI HAVER (@hangeiist) October 17, 2020
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