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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Viewers speculated whether this was a blunder, power play or something else.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
27 May 2025
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Many of the nation’s biggest military blunders occurred because there wasn’t enough diversity in the armed forces.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
26 May 2025
Noun
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On one hand, speed always enables Chinese players to adapt faster and, if necessary, correct mistakes faster.—
Neil Winton,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
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Maybe teams won’t make the mistake the Avalanche did and move Rantanen too soon.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Noun
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And any Catholic who has made a confession to a priest knows that what is said in confession stays in confession, unlike a problematic yet pivotal indiscretion that happens in the movie.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
24 Apr. 2025
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Swiatek is also someone who comes across as eager to please, and her discomfort at the indiscretion, and the resulting perceptions of her, has been obvious.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
The Athletic,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Only one major-league third baseman, the San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado, has more errors than Muncy’s eight through his first 49 games of the season.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
27 May 2025
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The poll of 1,136 Democrats carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.89 percentage points.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Solecism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/solecism. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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