mésalliance

American

[mey-zuh-lahy-uhns, mey-zal-ee-uhns, mey-zal-yahns] / ˌmeɪ zəˈlaɪ əns, meɪˈzæl i əns, meɪ zalˈyɑ̃s /

noun

plural

mésalliances

a marriage with someone who is considered socially inferior; misalliance.

mésalliance British

/ mezaljɑ̃s, mɛˈzælɪəns /

noun

marriage with a person of lower social status

"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

Etymology

Origin of mésalliance

From French, dating back to 1775–85; see origin at mis- ¹, alliance

Vocabulary lists containing mesalliance

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One kind of clue in analysis is a mésalliance — a mismatch.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2019

The mésalliance here, I’m suspecting, is the mismatch between the intensity of feeling and the referenced event that provoked the feeling.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2019

Seems a puzzling mésalliance on the part of Mssrs.

From Forbes • Nov. 3, 2014

"I am joyous,—yes, very joyous,—for I have been brave enough to save the man I love from a mésalliance."

From A Romantic Young Lady by Grant, Robert

Our proud parents dreaded the danger of a mésalliance.

From Osceola the Seminole The Red Fawn of the Flower Land by Reid, Mayne

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