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Mutt can now be used with either affection or disdain to refer to a dog that is not purebred, but in the word's early history, in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century, it could also be used to describe a person—and not kindly: mutt was another word for "fool." The word's history lies in another insult. It comes from muttonhead, another Americanism that also means essentially "fool." Muttonhead had been around since the early 19th century but it was not unlike an older insult with the same meaning: people had been calling one another "sheep's heads" since the mid-16th century.
Examples of mutt in a Sentence
Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 31 May 2026
Not that hard to leave the little mutts at home for the grocery store trip.
—Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
But in Croisette conversations about potential runners, riders and rovers, one mutt kept wagging its tail.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 22 May 2026
For starters, there are the cost savings of getting one of these not-so-in-demand mutts.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mutt
Cite this Entry
“Mutt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mutt. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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