Malaprop, Mrs.

Cultural  

1. A character in The Rivals, an English play from the late eighteenth century by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Mrs. Malaprop constantly mixes up words that sound similar, declaring, for instance, “He is the very pineapple of politeness,” when she means pinnacle.

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Today, any comic jumbling of words like those produced by Mrs. Malaprop is called a malapropism.

Example Sentences

As Mrs. Malaprop, Mrs. Fiske has a role worthy of her farcial talents, and James T. Powers can exercise all his vocal tricks in the delineation of comical Bob Acres.

From Time Magazine Archive

Malaprop, Mrs., a character in Sheridan's "Rivals," noted for her blunders in the use of fine or learned words, as in the use of "allegory" for "alligator."

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin