Meanings
plural comprachicos
- artsA person who deliberately mutilates a growing child in order to induce freakish physical traits.
But here in England a comprachico is equal to a murderer, a candidate for the hangman's noose.
1969, Günther Weisenborn, The Man Without a Face, page 101 more example
He is angry and equips himself accordingly—with a penknife to give the offender a comprachico countenance, a mirror to show him the effect, and a pair of nailed boots to give him his dismissal.
2016, George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such: Top Novelist Focus
Origin
Coined from Spanish roots by the French writer Victor Hugo in his 1869 novel L'Homme qui rit (The Man Who Laughs). The word is not generally known in Spanish.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish comprachico
- comprachicoTranslations
French comprachico
- comprachicoTranslations
German Comprachico
- ComprachicoTranslations
Cite this entry
comprachico. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comprachico
“comprachico.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comprachico. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “comprachico,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comprachico.
Source: comprachico on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.