Mencken

American

[meng-kuhn] / ˈmɛŋ kən /

noun

H(enry) L(ouis), 1880–1956, U.S. writer, editor, and critic.

Mencken British

/ ˈmɛŋkən /

noun

H ( enry ) L ( ouis ). 1880–1956, US journalist and literary critic, noted for The American Language (1919): editor of the Smart Set and the American Mercury, which he founded (1924)

"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

Other Word Forms

Menckenian

adjective

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Mencken

Mencken said that “democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Mencken remarked on the politician who had some cannibals among his constituents that “he would promise them missionaries for dinner.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026

Mencken recalled it as a favorite of Sunday school kids in his boyhood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

Mencken once said, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2024

So many young men get their likes and dislikes from Mencken.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023