Baskerville effect

noun

The alleged self-fulfilling prophecy that there is an increase in rate of mortality through heart attacks on days considered unlucky because of the psychological stress this causes on superstitious people.

Similar
Hound of the Baskervilles effect
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounBaskerville effect (plural Baskerville effects)

plural Baskerville effects

  1. uncommonThe alleged self-fulfilling prophecy that there is an increase in rate of mortality through heart attacks on days considered unlucky because of the psychological stress this causes on superstitious people.

    Synonyms: Hound of the Baskervilles effect

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe alleged self-fulfilling prophecy that there is an increase in rate of mortality through heart attacks on days considered unlucky because of the psychological stress this causes on superstitious people.

Similar
Hound of the Baskervilles effect
Also see
hound of the baskervilles effect

Origin

Named after the Baskerville family from Arthur Conan Doyle's crime novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Baskerville effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baskerville%20effect

MLA

“Baskerville effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baskerville%20effect. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Baskerville effect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baskerville%20effect.

Source: Baskerville effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.