Definition:
A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two or more other words. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- afterthoughtful (afterthought + thoughtful)
- agitprop (agitation + propaganda)
- alcopop (alcohol + pop)
- bash (bat + mash)
- Breathalyzer (breath + analyzer)
- camcorder (camera + recorder)
- clash (clap + crash)
- docudrama (documentary + drama)
- electrocute (electricity + execute)
- emoticon (emote + icon)
- faction (fact + fiction)
- fanzine {fan + magazine)
- flare (flame + glare)
- flirtationship (flirting + relationship)
- glimmer (gleam + shimmer)
- guitarthritis (guitar + arthritis)
- infotainment (information + entertainment)
- Jazzercize (jazz + exercise)
- moped (motor + pedal)
- motorcade (motor + cavalcade)
- palimony (pal + alimony)
- pornacopia (pornography + cornucopia)
- pulsar (pulse + quasar)
- sexcapade (sex + escapade)
- slanguage (slang + language)
- smash (smack + mash)
- smog (smoke + fog)
- sportscast (sports + broadcast)
- stagflation (stagnation + inflation)
- staycation (stay home + vacation)
- telegenic (television + photogenic)
- textpectation (text message + expectation)
- workaholic (work + alcoholic)
- "When a man fell into his anecdotage it was a sign for him to retire from the world."
(Benjamin Disraeli, Lothair, 1870) - "[Barack Obama is] a hope-ronaut. He's in a rarefied level of hope where the rest of us have to take tanks up with us."
(Stephen Colbert, Entertainment Weekly, Oct. 3, 2008) - "Blending is an area of word formation where cleverness can be rewarded by instant popularity: sexploitation from the seventies, the Chunnel from the eighties are common words now. . . . [U]npleasant as the phenomena they describe, the words guesstimate, testilying, pagejacking, spamouflage, compfusion, and explornography will probably elicit a smile."
(R. P. Stockwell and D. Minkova, English Words: History and Structure. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001)
Also Known As: portmanteau word, telescoping, lexical interlocking, semantic conflation
