peculiar institution
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of peculiar institution
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The sport may be our most peculiar institution, and if you don’t agree, please, try explaining our fall Saturday spectacle to anyone outside our borders as I have.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2023
After the Civil War it would be spoken of in only genteel euphemisms, like "the peculiar institution."
From Salon • Oct. 11, 2021
These “contrabands,” like centuries of enslaved people before them, challenged the pro-slavery federal government to confront the political reality wrought by its peculiar institution.
From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2020
It broke from the union over slavery, and its economy was indelibly shaped by that peculiar institution.
From Washington Post • Jul. 17, 2015
“I can’t help but believe that some of ’em must not ha’ been comftable with them words ‘a peculiar institution.’
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
