misalliance

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From mis- +‎ alliance, partly after French mésalliance.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

misalliance (plural misalliances)

  1. An unsuitable alliance, especially an unsuitable marriage. [from 18th c.]
    • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 97:
      A misalliance is more shocking to a Frenchman than to an Englishman, and Talleyrand was very French in his appreciation of the importance of family, and in his insistence upon outward correctness of behaviour.