misalliance

noun

mis·​al·​li·​ance ˌmi-sə-ˈlī-ən(t)s How to pronounce misalliance (audio)
1
: an improper alliance
2
b
: a marriage between persons unsuited to each other

Examples of misalliance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Despite the social chasm that separated the German nobility from the Nazi mass movement, common enemies and shared aversions provided one foundation for the misalliance. Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 15 June 2021 Farber set the tragedy in a bleak Scottish no man’s land, where a mournful cello underscores a doleful marital misalliance. Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2021 Ultimately, Malinowski concludes, the relationship between nobles and Nazis was a misalliance in which attraction prevailed over repulsion. Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 15 June 2021 Clare was the unfortunate evidence of that misalliance. Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021

Word History

Etymology

modification of French mésalliance

First Known Use

1738, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of misalliance was in 1738

Dictionary Entries Near misalliance

Cite this Entry

“Misalliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misalliance. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.

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