Library / English Dictionary

MONGREL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An inferior dog or one of mixed breed

Synonyms:

cur; mongrel; mutt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("mongrel" is a kind of...):

Canis familiaris; dog; domestic dog (a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mongrel"):

feist; fice (a nervous belligerent little mongrel dog)

pariah dog; pie-dog; pye-dog (ownerless half-wild mongrel dog common around Asian villages especially India)

Derivation:

mongrelize (cause to become a mongrel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Derogatory term for a variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin

Example:

the architecture was a kind of bastard suggesting Gothic but not true Gothic

Synonyms:

bastard; mongrel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mongrel" is a kind of...):

variation (an artifact that deviates from a norm or standard)

Domain usage:

depreciation; derogation; disparagement (a communication that belittles somebody or something)

Derivation:

mongrelize (cause to become a mongrel)

Credits