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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)

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Etymology

Origin of malaprop

First recorded in 1815–25; see origin at Malaprop

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

malaprop Malaprop

Zucker, who trained with the French guru Philippe Gaulier, doesn’t just pratfall and malaprop.

From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2024

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

“The Rivals” is the Brinsley play that gave the world Mrs. Malaprop, the character whose reliably errant instinct for language inspired the word “malapropism.”

From New York Times ● Jun. 26, 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

Sir Anthony.—In my way hither, Mrs. Malaprop, I observed your niece's maid coming forth from a circulating library!

From The Ontario High School Reader by A.E. Marty

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