Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

moped

[moh-ped]
See more synonyms for moped on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a motorized bicycle that has pedals in addition to a low-powered gasoline engine designed for low-speed operation.
Show More

Origin of moped

1955–60; < German, ultimately < Swedish (trampcykel med) mo(tor och) ped(aler) pedal cycle with engine and pedals

mope

[mohp]
verb (used without object), moped, mop·ing.
  1. to be sunk in dejection or listless apathy; sulk; brood.
Show More
verb (used with object), moped, mop·ing.
  1. to make dejected, listless, or apathetic.
Show More
noun
  1. a person who mopes or is given to moping.
  2. mopes, depressed spirits; blues.
Show More

Origin of mope

First recorded in 1560–70; variant of mop2
Related formsmop·er, nounmop·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

broodsulkchafedespondgrumbleregretgrumplamentrepinegrieveyearnpinemoonidledespairsinkachelanguishbleedfret

Examples from the Web for moped

Historical Examples

  • The boy, whenever he was not doing anything, moped in the house.

    The Secret Agent

    Joseph Conrad

  • Poor, honest Fido, how lonesome he was and how he moped about!

  • Thereupon he drank and moped for a week, and then hanged himself.

    Under Western Eyes

    Joseph Conrad

  • And he gloomed and moped and was an object of private mirth to Judge Enderby.

    Little Miss Grouch

    Samuel Hopkins Adams

  • I am sure Marcus would say so; and then I am certain you would be moped to death.

British Dictionary definitions for moped

moped

noun
  1. British a light motorcycle, not over 50cc
Show More

Word Origin

C20: from motor + pedal 1, originally equipped with auxiliary pedals

mope

verb (intr)
  1. to be gloomy or apatheticthere's no time to mope
  2. to move or act in an aimless wayhe moped around the flat
Show More
noun
  1. a gloomy person
Show More
See also mopes
Derived Formsmoper, nounmopy, adjective

Word Origin

C16: perhaps from obsolete mope fool and related to mop ²
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 moped

n.

1956, from Swedish (c.1952), from (trampcykel med) mo(tor och) ped(aler) "pedal cycle with engine and pedals" (the earliest versions had auxiliary pedals). Cf. obsolete English mo-bike (1925), from motor bicycle.

Show More

mope

v.

1560s, "to move and act unconsciously;" 1580s, "to be listless and apathetic," the sound of the word perhaps somehow suggestive of low feelings (cf. Low German mopen "to sulk," Dutch moppen "to grumble, to grouse," Danish maabe, dialectal Swedish mopa "to mope"). Related: Moped; moping; mopey; mopish.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper