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

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

In 1956, shortly before his death, Mencken went even further; “American journalism is predominantly paltry and worthless. Its pretensions are enormous, but its achievements are insignificant.”

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2025

Now, what were the names of books written by H. L. Mencken?

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

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