mongrel

[muhng-gruhl, mong-]

See more synonyms for mongrel on Thesaurus.com

noun

a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed.
any animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds or varieties.
any cross between different things, especially if inharmonious or indiscriminate.

adjective

of mixed breed, nature, or origin; of or like a mongrel.

Origin of mongrel

1425–75; late Middle English (once): heraldic term for a type of dog; equivalent to mong(e) mixture (Old English gemang; cf. mingle) + -rel

Related formsmon·grel·ism, mon·grel·ness, nounmon·grel·ly, adverb

Synonyms for mongrel

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1. mutt. 2. cross, half-breed. See hybrid.

Antonyms for mongrel

2. thoroughbred, purebred.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mongrel

bastard, mixture, cur, hybrid, cross, mutt, half-breed, crossbreed, mule, half-blood

Examples from the Web for mongrel

Contemporary Examples of mongrel

On the one hand, Wilfred is a pot-smoking, hard-drinking, Matt Damon-loving, mongrel dog.
The Weird Existential Genius of ‘Wilfred’
Rich Goldstein
June 25, 2014
The dog was a mongrel, maybe 35 pounds, and the kid was trying to balance it in front of him on the frame of his bicycle.
The Stacks: A Dog Dies, a Boy Grows Up
Pete Dexter
June 21, 2014
Miscegenation would follow and a mongrel race would be the result.
Up From History, Part 4
David Frum
February 4, 2013
Sam Bungey grew up in London, went to university in Dublin and co-founded Mongrel, a monthly magazine about Irish youth culture.
Waiting for Obama
Sam Bungey
March 22, 2010

Historical Examples of mongrel

I have my eye on a mongrel in Somerstown who keeps three boys.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens
These mongrel people will fight for their women when they will fight for nothing else.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
They are not so band-boxy as they were, but remind me of an old, mongrel dog I once owned.
The Strollers
Frederic S. Isham
You have only to stand up to them, and they curl up like mongrel curs.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Fertility of Varieties when crossed, and of their Mongrel offspring.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for mongrel

mongrel

noun

a plant or animal, esp a dog, of mixed or unknown breeding; a crossbreed or hybrid
taboo a person of mixed race
Australian and NZ sport toughness and physical aggressiona tall southpaw with plenty of mongrel

adjective

of mixed origin, breeding, character, etc

Derived Formsmongrelism, nounmongrelly, adjective

Word Origin for mongrel

C15: from obsolete mong mixture; compare Old English gemong a mingling

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

Word Origin and History for mongrel

late 15c., "mixed-breed dog," from obsolete mong "mixture," from Old English gemong "mingling" (base of among), from Proto-Germanic *mangjan "to knead together" (see mingle). With pejorative suffix -rel. Meaning "person not of pure race" is from 1540s. As an adjective from 1570s.