mongrel

/'mʌɳgrəl/

Thân thiện

A small mongrel happily chases a ball in the park.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A dog of mixed breed: A mongrel is a dog that is not of any single recognized breed, but rather a mixture of two or more breeds.
   • A person or thing of mixed origin or composition: Used, often derogatorily, to describe something considered to be of irregular, inferior, or dubious origin, not being pure or genuine.

Usage

• The term "mongrel" is most commonly and neutrally used to refer to a mixed-breed dog. However, when applied to people, ideas, or things, it is almost always derogatory and offensive, implying impurity or inferiority.
• Example (Neutral, referring to a dog):
  • We adopted a friendly mongrel from the animal shelter.
• Example (Derogatory, referring to a thing):
  • Critics dismissed the building's design as a mongrel of conflicting architectural styles.

Advanced Usage

• "Mongrel nation": A highly offensive and controversial term historically used to describe a country with a diverse population, implying racial impurity.
  • The racist ideology promoted the myth of a "pure" race and condemned other nations as mongrel nations.
• "Mongrel language": A derogatory term for a language that has developed from a mixture of other languages.
  • Linguists reject the term "mongrel language," preferring "creole" or "pidgin" to describe languages with mixed origins.

Variants and Related Words

• Mongrelize (verb, often offensive): To cause to become mixed or of impure breed; to debase by mixing.
  • The racist pamphlet argued against immigration, claiming it would mongrelize the population.
• Mongrelization (noun, often offensive): The process or result of mongrelizing.
  • The concept of cultural "mongrelization" is rejected by anthropologists who see value in cultural exchange.

Synonyms

• Mixed-breed (noun, for dogs): A neutral term for a dog of mixed ancestry.
  • The veterinarian noted that mixed-breeds are often very healthy.
• Hybrid (noun): Something of mixed origin or composition. (Can be neutral or positive, especially in biology and technology).
  • The car is a hybrid of electric and gasoline power.
• Crossbreed (noun/verb): An organism produced by crossing two individuals of different breeds or varieties. (Commonly used in animal breeding).
  • The farmer developed a new crossbreed of wheat.

Antonyms

• Purebred (noun/adjective): An animal, especially a dog, of a recognized breed whose parents are of the same breed.
  • She bought a purebred Labrador retriever.
• Pedigree (noun/adjective): The recorded ancestry of a purebred animal.
  • The puppy came with extensive pedigree papers.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• No specific common idioms center solely on the word "mongrel." Due to its offensive connotations when applied to people, it is rarely used in fixed, idiomatic expressions in modern English. Its use is largely confined to the literal meaning (dogs) or as a direct insult.

Học thuật

Noun

1. an inferior dog or one of mixed breed
2. derogatory term for a variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin
   • the architecture was a kind of bastard suggesting Gothic but not true Gothic

Từ đồng nghĩa

• cur
• mutt
• bastard