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misalliance

American  
[mis-uh-lahy-uhns] / ˌmɪs əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

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


misalliance British  
/ ˌmɪsəˈlaɪəns /

noun

  1. 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

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.

See Examples For:

Farber set the tragedy in a bleak Scottish no man’s land, where a mournful cello underscores a doleful marital misalliance.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2021

This misalliance was not helped when Johnson was here in September and said the French were making too much of the sub spat, noting “Donnez-moi un break” and telling them to “prenez un grip.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2021

Already determined to be an actress, Martin handed over the offspring of this misalliance — baby Larry — to her parents, who raised him.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 7, 2016

In life they would be a screeching misalliance.

From Time Magazine Archive

A snob!—he, whose readiness to form what would certainly be regarded as a shocking misalliance ought to have stifled the charge, not merely vindicated him from it!

From Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story by Sir Max Beerbohm

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