# mongrel

Pronunciation: US say "MONG-gruhl" /ˈmɑŋ.ɡɹəl/; UK/AUS say "MUNG-gruhl" /ˈmʌŋ.ɡɹəl/

## Noun

1. A person or thing of mixed type or unknown origin, especially a dog of no definite breed.
   - Simple: Someone or something that is a mix of different kinds, especially a dog.
   - _The farm's guard dog was a big, rough-coated mongrel with one torn ear._
   - _Critics dismissed the building as an architectural mongrel, half Gothic church and half shopping mall._
3. A thuggish, obnoxious, or contemptible person; also, often as poor mongrel, a person to be pitied. *(slang, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: A rough, rude, or hateful person. With poor before it, someone you feel sorry for.
   - _Police are hunting the mongrel who robbed a pensioner outside the post office._
   - _You've got to feel for the poor mongrel; he copped the blame for something he didn't do._
4. An offensive ethnic slur for a person of mixed race.
   - Simple: A very rude and hurtful word for a person of mixed race.

## Adjective

2. Of mixed breed, nature, or origin, in the way a mongrel is.
   - Simple: Mixed from different breeds, kinds, or places.
   - _Her family's recipes are a mongrel blend of Italian and Mexican cooking._
   - _The city's mongrel architecture puts glass towers beside old brick warehouses._

## Origin

Middle English mongrel was built from mong, meaning a mixture, plus -rel, a diminutive ending with a negative tone. Mong goes back through Old English ġemang ("mingling"), which also gave modern among, to Proto-Germanic *mang-, "mix."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mongrel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).