Meaning & use
Mondegreen
Last updated
A word or phrase resulting from the mishearing of a song lyric or spoken statement.
See it in a sentence
He thought the lyric was 'hold me closer, Tony Danza,' a classic mondegreen for 'Tiny Dancer.'
Many mondegreens become so popular that people insist on the misheard version.
A note on using this word
The word was coined by writer Sylvia Wright in 1954, who as a child misheard the ballad line 'laid him on the green' as 'Lady Mondegreen.'
Words with a similar meaning
misheard lyric
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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