lipogram

American  

[lip-uh-gram, lahy-puh-] / ˈlɪp əˌgræm, ˈlaɪ pə- /

noun

1. a written work composed of words chosen so as to avoid the use of one or more specific alphabetic characters.

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lipogram British  

/ ˈlɪpəʊˌɡræm /

noun

1. a piece of writing from which all words containing a particular letter have been deliberately omitted

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Other Word Forms

• lipogrammatic adjective

Etymology

Origin of lipogram

First recorded in 1705–15, lipogram is from the Greek word lipográmmatos missing a letter. See lipo- ², -gram ¹

Example Sentences

I had asked the students in my class to write a lipogram — a composition that forces the writer to omit certain letters in the alphabet in their writing.

From Washington Post • Apr. 10, 2023

I had worried that I had been tricked by it before, so I was suddenly determined to prove this student had cheated on his lipogram.

From Washington Post • Apr. 10, 2023