as in offence
a socially improper or unsuitable act or remark
the solecism of asking one's hosts how much something in their house cost them
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of solecism
The result is global English but one without the imprecision and solecism implied by that label.
—
Colin Marshall, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2022
And a single word couldn’t be a dead giveaway either, no matter how much people would like to portray the use of pled rather than pleaded as an obvious Trumpian solecism, especially when Dowd himself has been documented using pled at least once.
—Ben Zimmer, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2017
But the songwriter Tony Hatch has said he was inspired by Times Square—a solecism forgivable from a Brit.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2017
Solecism slipped into solipsism into full-blown narcissistic projection.
—Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2017
Colin Marshall, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2022
And a single word couldn’t be a dead giveaway either, no matter how much people would like to portray the use of pled rather than pleaded as an obvious Trumpian solecism, especially when Dowd himself has been documented using pled at least once.
—Ben Zimmer, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2017
But the songwriter Tony Hatch has said he was inspired by Times Square—a solecism forgivable from a Brit.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2017
Solecism slipped into solipsism into full-blown narcissistic projection.
—Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for solecism
Noun
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Still, many in Kenya condemned the talks as a political blunder by President William Ruto, and called on him to reverse course.—
Declan Walsh,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2025
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The verdict came after a blunder by Miami-Dade state prosecutors, who felt the need to apologize to jurors for not identifying a purse on the couch next to where Knighton was sitting in Blount’s apartment when she was shot.—
Charles Rabin,
Miami Herald,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The lawsuit also alleges that another member had made the same mistake a few weeks later with no punishment.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
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Squandering these opportunities would be a huge mistake for any business that wants to continually drive CX improvements.—
Bernard Marr,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Some follow-up communication, apologizing for his indiscretion, is likely necessary.—
Judith Martin,
The Mercury News,
13 Feb. 2025
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The Pentagon in recent years has taken steps to remedy its past indiscretions against LGBTQ service members.—
Brooke Migdon,
The Hill,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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And that’s before factoring in an error in the data published on DOGE’s website that mislabels a contract as $8 billion, which was later corrected in the federal database to only be $8 million.—
Bloomberg News,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2025
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Gibney explores her long career, her occasional errors and her innovative work in diagnosing and understanding multiple personality disorder.—
Jason Bailey,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Solecism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/solecism. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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