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solecism |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Solecism \Sol"e*cism\, n.[F. sol['e]cisme, L. soloecismus Gr soloikismo`s, fr soloiki`zein to speak or write incorrectly, fr so`loikos speaking incorrectly, from the corruption of the Attic dialect among the Athenian colonists of So`loi in Cilicia.] 1. An impropriety or incongruity of language in the combination of words or parts of a sentence; esp., deviation from the idiom of a language or from the rules of syntax. A barbarism may be in one word a solecism must be of more --Johnson. 2. Any inconsistency, unfitness, absurdity, or impropriety, as in deeds or manners. C[ae]sar, by dismissing his guards and retaining his power, committed a dangerous solecism in politics. --C. Middleton. The idea of having committed the slightest solecism in politeness was agony to him --Sir W. Scott. Syn: Barbarism; impropriety; absurdity. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: solecism n : a socially awkward or tactless act [syn: {faux pas}, {gaffe}, {slip}, {gaucherie}]
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