Mencken

American  

[meng-kuhn] / ˈmɛŋ kən /

noun

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

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Mencken British  

/ ˈmɛŋkən /

noun

1. 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)

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Other Word Forms

• Menckenian adjective

Example Sentences

Much of this squares with Mencken’s character portrait of the “booboisie,” the unthinking type of American whose numbers seem to have exploded in recent decades, perhaps in interaction with contemporary historical events.

From Salon

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal

The problem, as Mencken implied, is that voters don’t really want their wishes fulfilled “good and hard.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Mencken, as the first president to install a bathtub in the White House.

From Salon