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Münchhausen

[mynkh-hou-zuh n]
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noun
  1. Karl Friedrich Hi·e·ro·ny·mus [kahrl free-drikh hee-ey-roh-ny-moo s] /kɑrl ˈfri drɪx ˌhi eɪˈroʊ nüˌmʊs/, Baron von [fuh n] /fən/, 1720–97, German soldier, adventurer, and teller of tales.
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English Mun·chau·sen [muhn-chou-zuh n, muhnch-hou-, muhn-chaw-] /ˈmʌnˌtʃaʊ zən, ˈmʌntʃˌhaʊ-, mʌnˈtʃɔ-/.
Related formsMun·chau·sen·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for munchausen

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • From that moment Blenkinthrope was tacitly accepted as the Munchausen of the party.

  • “Well, I believe fully that we are all descended from the ape,” said Munchausen.

    A House-Boat on the Styx

    John Kendrick Bangs

  • A charming store of wit and humor of the Munchausen variety is to be found in the Bible.

    The Bible

    John E. Remsburg

  • Is there not the Megatherium for the literary, and the Munchausen for the travelled?

    General Bounce

    G. J. Whyte-Melville

  • These are (Paul says) lima beans Munchausen, and here we have could-be asparagus.

    West Of The Sun

    Edgar Pangborn

British Dictionary definitions for munchausen

Munchausen

noun
  1. an exaggerated story
  2. a person who tells such a story
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Word Origin

C19: after Baron Münchhausen, subject of a series of exaggerated adventure tales written in English by R. E. Raspe (1737–94)
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 munchausen

Munchausen

in reference to unbelievable stories (1850) is in reference to Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Münchhausen (1720-1797), German adventurer who served in the Russian army against the Turks; wildly exaggerated exploits attributed to him are told in the 1785 English book "Baron Munchausen, Narrative of his Marvellous Travels," written by Rudolph Erich Raspe (1734-1794). As a syndrome involving feigned dramatic illness, it is attested from 1951.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper