Mencken

[ meng-kuhn ]

/ ˈmɛŋ kən /

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noun

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

OTHER WORDS FROM Mencken

Menc·ke·ni·an

[meng-kee-nee-uhn], /mɛŋˈki ni ən/, adjective, noun

Words nearby Mencken

menat, menazon, men-children, Menchú, Mencius, Mencken, Mencken, H. L., mend, mendacious, mendacity, Mende

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Mencken in a sentence

Hoosegow may not have improved on jail, Mencken pointed out, but was much more fun to say.
From ‘Scientist’ to ‘Spam,’ the Surprisingly Playful Origins of English Words|Ralph Keyes|April 1, 2021|Time
From H.L. Mencken: The Days Trilogy, Expanded Edition, edited by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers and published by The Library of America.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire|H.L. Mencken|October 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Copyright renewed 1969 by August Mencken and Mercantile Safe Deposit Trust Co.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire|H.L. Mencken|October 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As H.L. Mencken wrote, “There is little in New York that does not spring from money.”
When New York City Hit Its Stride|Allen Barra|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It means Paine, Thoreau, Emerson, Chesterton, Mencken, Orwell.
The Incredibly Stupid War on the Common Core|Charles Upton Sahm|April 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
H.L. Mencken, admittedly a fast man with a hyperbolic comparison, thought him more profound than Henry James.
The Forgotten Genius of Ring Lardner|Allen Barra|September 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mr. Mencken explains why the use of "sick" for "ill" is taboo in England, except among the very youngest Realists.
Confessions of a Book-Lover|Maurice Francis Egan
Mencken, p. 10, it is thus loftily described: "Catalogus per-rarus rarissimis libris superbiens."
Bibliomania; or Book-Madness|Thomas Frognall Dibdin
Mencken, p. 10, it would appear that a third volume, containing translations of some MSS.
Bibliomania; or Book-Madness|Thomas Frognall Dibdin
You are, let us say, the very epitome of the man Mr. Mencken and Mr. Lewis tell us about so charmingly.
Gladiator|Philip Wylie
It has been twice edited, by Mencken and by Riedel; both editions are said to be inaccurate.
The Grey Friars in Oxford|Andrew G. Little

British Dictionary definitions for Mencken

Mencken

/ (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