misalliance

American

[mis-uh-lahy-uhns] / ˌmɪs əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

an improper or incompatible association, especially in marriage; mésalliance.

misalliance British

/ ˌmɪsəˈlaɪəns /

noun

an unsuitable alliance or marriage

"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 misalliance

1730–40; mis- ¹ + alliance, modeled on French mésalliance

Vocabulary lists containing misalliance

"The Wife of Bath's Tale," Vocabulary from the narrative poem

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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.

Misalliance Staged reading of George Bernard Shaw's drama about courtship, marriage, etc.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2016

Moylan, Pa., Hedgerow Theater: Manhattan's off-Broadway Circle in the Square has moved to the Main Line for the summer, is currently doing Shaw's Misalliance.

From Time Magazine Archive

Shaw is up to all these tricks in Misalliance, one of his wildly irrepressible comedies.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Misalliance, first produced in 1910, St. George Bernard Shaw goes forth to slay the dragon of family life with his own jawbone.

From Time Magazine Archive

This text was taken from a printed volume containing the plays "Misalliance", "The Dark Lady of the Sonnets", "Fanny's First Play", and the essay "A Treatise on Parents and Children".

From Fanny's First Play by Shaw, Bernard

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