malaprop
ma·lap·rop
noun
1.
the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
Origin
From the name of Mrs. Malaprop, a character in the play The Rivals (1775) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. See malapropism for more.
Related words
Word family
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.