Houyhnhnm

[ hoo-in-uhm, hwin-uhm, win- ]

/ huˈɪn əm, ˈʰwɪn əm, ˈwɪn- /

Save This Word!

noun

(in Swift's Gulliver's Travels) one of a race of horses endowed with reason, who rule the Yahoos, a race of degraded, brutish creatures having human form.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of Houyhnhnm

1726; apparently echoic; cf. whinny

Words nearby Houyhnhnm

Houston, houstonia, Houstonian, Houston, Sam, houting, Houyhnhnm, HOV, Hovawart, hove, hovea, hovel

How to use Houyhnhnm in a sentence

How is it, we ask of those more intimately acquainted with the metaphysics of the Houyhnhnm than we pretend to be?
Rookwood|William Harrison Ainsworth
The pony travelled like a glorified Houyhnhnm and we have brought a second male servant to take care of him.
The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II|Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Houyhnhnm's legs are very well; the horse slipped on his side and not on his knees, and has received no sort of injury.
The Newcomes|William Makepeace Thackeray
No end to the wild pranks, the Houyhnhnm horse-play they had with drunken Gundling.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Volume V. (of XXI.)|Thomas Carlyle

Amid the inextinguishable horse-laughter (sincere but vacant) of the Houyhnhnm Olympus.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Volume V. (of XXI.)|Thomas Carlyle