MONGREL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mongrel mean? 

• MONGREL (noun)
  The noun MONGREL has 2 senses:

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

2. an inferior dog or one of mixed breed

  Familiarity information: MONGREL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MONGREL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bastard; mongrel

Context example:

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

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An inferior dog or one of mixed breed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

cur; mongrel; mutt

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)

 Context examples 

The two mongrels were without spirit at all; bones were the only things breakable about them.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“I detest this mongrel time, neither day nor night. How late you are! Where have you been?”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He bade me say, however, that he would fight only with a true Englishman, and not with any mongrel who is neither English nor French, but speaks with the tongue of the one, and fights under the banner of the other.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As for me, I am an inveterate opponent of socialism just as I am an inveterate opponent of your own mongrel democracy that is nothing else than pseudo- socialism masquerading under a garb of words that will not stand the test of the dictionary.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The Newfoundland went first, followed by the three short-haired pointers, the two mongrels hanging more grittily on to life, but going in the end.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

To inquire what he might have done, if he had had any boldness, would be like inquiring what a mongrel cur might do, if it had the spirit of a tiger.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

With the exception of the two mongrels, they were bewildered and spirit-broken by the strange savage environment in which they found themselves and by the ill treatment they had received.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Three were short-haired pointers, one was a Newfoundland, and the other two were mongrels of indeterminate breed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)