frankenword

plural frankenwords · alternative Frankenword

1. human sciencesA word formed by combining two (or more) other words.

   But what's noteworthy is the smorgasbord of new vocabulary, including 'frankenwords' (words joined to create new words) which deal with everyday situations.

   2005 December 15, Ruma Singh, “Know some good frankenwords?”, in Bangalore Times

   2 more examples

   Noun phrase identification is extremely time consuming and may incorrectly process new words that emerge during a debate, eg frankenwords invented during the genetically modified food debate.

   2007 February 1, M. Thelwall, R. Prabowo, “Identifying and characterising public science-related fears from RSS feeds”, in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, volume 58, number 3

   A combination of "salvation" and "sacrifice," the coinage "salvific" does not necessarily flow trippingly from the tongue, but the monograph hardly needs a frankenword to make the case for the enduring relationship between African-American letters and racial uplift.

   2009 Fall, Ann duCille, “Marriage, Family, and Other" Peculiar Institutions" in African-American Literary History”, in American Literary History, volume 21, number 3, →DOI

   Synonyms: blend, portmanteau, portmanteau word, portmantologism

plural Frankenwords

1. Alternative letter-case form of frankenword.

   To oldfashioned scholars talkathon and walkathon were doubly offensive Frankenwords

   2010 April 25, “Frankenwords”, in The Boston Globe

   1 more example

   "Frankenfood" carries connotations of mad scientists dabbling in Things Man Was Not Meant To Know and releasing their products into the environment to wreak havoc. In the same vein, might "Frankenfood" be a dangerous "Frankenword"?

   1994, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, volume 114, number 11, page 5