DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

baseborn

[ beys-bawrn ]
/ ˈbeɪsˈbɔrn /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR baseborn ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of humble parentage.
born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
having a base character or nature; mean.

Words related to baseborn

base, common, contemptible, dishonorable, humble, ignoble, inferior, lower-class, mean, plebeian, unwashed, unworthy, bastard, misbegotten, spurious

Words nearby baseborn

baseball finger, baseball glove, baseballer, baseband, baseboard, baseborn, baseburner, basecoat, basedow's disease, basehearted, basel

Origin of baseborn

First recorded in 1585–95; base2 + born
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for baseborn

  • For they honor money; and the noble weds the baseborn, and the base the highborn; wealth has mixed the race.

    Greek Women|Mitchell Carroll

  • Baseborn—guilty-born—attainted by my father's crimes, I am unworthy your love or a place in your thoughts.

    Captain Kyd (Vol 1 of 2)|Jonathon Holt Ingraham

  • Her bloodstained practising had succeeded in foisting one baseborn plebeian of alien blood into the family.

    A Decade of Italian Women, v. II (of 2)|T. Adolphus Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for baseborn

baseborn
/ (ˈbeɪsˌbɔːn) /

adjective archaic

born of humble parents
illegitimate
mean; contemptible
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012