malaprop

[ mal-uh-prop ]

/ ˈmæl əˌprɒp /

Origin of malaprop

First recorded in 1815–25; see origin at Malaprop

out·mal·a·prop, verb (used with object), out·mal·a·propped, out·mal·a·prop·ping.

Malaprop

[ mal-uh-prop ]

/ ˈmæl əˌprɒp /

Mrs., a character in Sheridan's The Rivals (1775), noted for her misapplication of words.

Have you heard the speculation, The rumor now in circulation: Perry runs with Newt this Fall Malaprop meets know-it-all.

The Song of Newt Gingrich: From Longshot To Hotshot To No Shot | |April 26, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Jephson is rather bitten by a taste for all that “teleopathy” business, as the old Malaprop calls it.

The Disentanglers |Andrew Lang
Not only Mrs. Malaprop, but also Sir Anthony, form an entirely wrong estimate of themselves.

History of English Humour, Vol. 2 (of 2) |Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
A pronoun is a substitute, or (as we once heard a lady of the Malaprop family say), a subterfuge for a noun.

The Comic Latin Grammar |Percival Leigh

Every one should be familiar with Miss Languish and Mrs. Malaprop.

Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson |Thomas Babington Macaulay
And depend on it, Mrs. Malaprop, that they who are so fond of handling the leaves will long for the fruit at last.

The Ontario High School Reader |A.E. Marty