mongrel

noun

mon·​grel ˈmäŋ-grəl  ˈməŋ- 

1

: an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds (see breed entry 2 sense 1) or strains (see strain entry 1 sense 1)

especially : one of unknown ancestry

She owns several dogs, one of which is a mongrel.

2

: a cross between types of persons or things

the cinema is … a mongrel of virtually all the other arts

—Gerald Mast

mongrel adjective

mongrelization

ˌmäŋ-grə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

ˌməŋ-

noun

mongrelize

ˈmäŋ-grə-ˌlīz 

ˈməŋ-

transitive verb

Synonyms

• cross
• crossbred
• crossbreed
• hybrid
• intercross

Examples of mongrel in a Sentence

She owns several dogs, including a mongrel named Stella.

mongrels often suffer fewer health problems than purebreds

Recent Examples on the Web

Herzog has chosen to retain one of Ibsen’s thorniest speeches, a diatribe about social evolution in which Stockmann talks of the difference between mongrel dogs and pedigree breeds as an analogy for the uneducated masses and the elite intelligentsia. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

To continue playing the songs without that mongrel soul is just cash register stuff. —Matt Thompson, SPIN, 9 Jan. 2024

And though not all 10 shows (and various bonuses) on my mostly chronological list below fit that mongrel category, even the gravest of them seem to have gotten the memo that theater should not be a bore or a drag. —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2023

There is also a peculiar effect whereby different books read by the same narrator can seem to agglutinate into a single mongrel super-book. —Paul Grimstad, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, probably from mong mixture, short for ymong, from Old English gemong crowd — more at among

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mongrel

1 of 2 noun

mon·​grel

ˈməŋ-grəl,

ˈmäŋ-

1

: the offspring of parents of different breeds (as of dogs)

especially : one whose ancestors are unknown

2

: a person or thing of mixed origin

mongrel

2 of 2 adjective

: of mixed or uncertain kind or origin