mongrel

American  

[muhng-gruhl, mong-] / ˈmʌŋ grəl, ˈmɒŋ- /

noun

1. a dog of mixed or indeterminate breed.

   Synonyms:

   mutt

2. any animal or plant resulting from the crossing of different breeds or varieties.

   Synonyms:

   half-breed, cross

   Antonyms:

   purebred, thoroughbred

3. any cross between different things, especially if inharmonious or indiscriminate.

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adjective

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

mongrel British  

/ ˈmʌŋɡrəl /

noun

1. a plant or animal, esp a dog, of mixed or unknown breeding; a crossbreed or hybrid

2. taboo a person of mixed race

3. sport toughness and physical aggression

   a tall southpaw with plenty of mongrel

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adjective

1. of mixed origin, breeding, character, etc

Usage

What does mongrel mean? The word mongrel is most commonly used to refer to a dog that’s a mix of breeds or whose breed is unknown. It’s used in the same way as the word mutt, and, like mutt, can be negative or ironically affectionate.  However, mongrel is also a racist slur applied to people who are considered to be or who identify as mixed-race. The racist slur half-breed is used in the same way. Even when it’s applied to a person without regard to race, mongrel can still carry racist connotations, namely the implication that such a person’s behavior is like that of people whom racists consider inferior. Less commonly, mongrel is applied to animals other than dogs (and other living things, like plants) to indicate that they are a result of crossbreeding. It has traditionally also been used in more general ways (as both a noun and an adjective) in reference to anything that’s the result of combining multiple unlike sources, as in English is a mongrel language. Such uses are usually derogatory, implying that such things are impure or deficient. The word hybrid is a neutral way to describe plants and animals that are a result of crossbreeding or, in the case of nonliving things, some kind of combination.

Related Words

See hybrid.

Other Word Forms

• mongrelism
  noun
• mongrelly
  adverb
• mongrelly
  adjective
• mongrelness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of mongrel

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

Explanation

Some people have purebred dogs, but you might have a mongrel — a mutt that is part this, part that, and part the other thing (but to you he's a 100 percent dog and your best friend). Mongrel has the Middle English root word mong, which meant "mix." If you use the word mongrel to refer to the mixed ancestry of a dog or other animal, you may or may not intend to be insulting. If you refer to a human as a mongrel, you are definitely making a pejorative comment about that person's origins. In this use, it is considered an insult.

Example Sentences

The mongrel called Mona escaped from its pet carrier on the way to a plane, running off across the runway in Buenos Aires, pursued by three vans.

From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025

Eddie was joined by Boycie, a shih-tzu, in 2014; Conchita, a Maltese, in 2015; Arfur, a mongrel puppy, in 2017; Nancy, another mongrel puppy, in 2020; and Sausage, a wire-haired dachshund, in 2021.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2023

Soviet scientists picked Laika, a stray mongrel found on the cold streets of Moscow.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2022

Whether it’s her notation of Archie’s blokish colloquialisms, Clara’s Anglo-Jamaican patois, the banter of two ancient Jamaican grouches or of second-generation Bengali teenagers, the mongrel texture of metropolitan life rises vividly from the page.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2021

She was a tough-looking mongrel, part Staffordshire terrier, part German shepherd—part wolf, for all Malcolm knew—and now, by the look of things, spoiling for a fight.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman