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• malaprop
  malaprop

  noun

  malapropism.
• Malaprop
  Malaprop

  noun

  Mrs., a character in Sheridan's The Rivals (1775), noted for her misapplication of words.

malaprop

¹ American  

[mal-uh-prop] / ˈmæl əˌprɒp /

noun

1. malapropism.

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Malaprop ² American  

[mal-uh-prop] / ˈmæl əˌprɒp /

noun

1. Mrs., a character in Sheridan's The Rivals (1775), noted for her misapplication of words.

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Other Word Forms

• outmalaprop
  verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of malaprop

First recorded in 1815–25; see origin at Malaprop

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

malaprop Malaprop

In 1978, the company teamed Mr. Saluga with Norm Crosby, the malaprop comedian, for a commercial set in a bar.

From New York Times ● May 16, 2023

NoHo Hank survived to malaprop another day and the scene-stealing Carrigan went on to appear in every glorious episode of “Barry,” deemed 2018′s best show by The Washington Post.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2022

He makes his appearance with the malaprop assumption that Churchill is “Church Hill,” and he squeezes the last drop of embarrassment out of this blunder and all those to come.

From The New Yorker ● May 18, 2016

A malaprop, by the way, is defined as an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 29, 2015

You’re officially the malaprop king, Nick, he says.

From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander

Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals features Mrs Malaprop exclaiming, "he is the very pineapple of politeness!"

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2020

Malapropisms take their name from the character Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan’s 1775 play “The Rivals.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2017

Once again, the text is a bilingual -- or sublingual -- mash-up of Spanish and English that makes Mrs. Malaprop of “The Rivals” seem like a Rhodes scholar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2015

But is saying “epitaphs” when you really mean “epithets,” as Mrs. Malaprop did, really a sign of ignorance?

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2012

A delightful woman, a real Mrs. Malaprop, had lately been at Athens and much enlivened the British Legation both by her remarks and her credulity.

From Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers