misbegotten

English

Etymology

mis- +‎ begotten

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsbɪˈɡɒtn̩/
• IPA^(key): /ˌmɪsbɪˈɡɑtn̩/

Adjective

misbegotten (comparative more misbegotten, superlative most misbegotten)

1. (of a person) Born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
2. (by extension, figuratively) Ill-conceived.
   • 2012 March 22nd, Scott Tobias, “Cabin Boy” in The A.V. Club:

     Many of the strangest, most misbegotten studio films of the last 20 years have been comedies, perhaps because middle-aged executives have no comprehension of what the younger generation finds funny.

3. (by extension) Bad; worthless.

Translations

of a person: born out of wedlock — see illegitimate

by figurative extension: ill-conceived — see ill-conceived

Verb

misbegotten

1. past participle of misbeget

Noun

misbegotten (plural misbegotten)

1. (obsolete, sometimes derogatory) One born illegitimately (i.e., out of wedlock); a bastard.
2. (loosely, in the plural) A person born into infelicitous circumstances.
   • 1973, Philippa Foot, “Nietzsche: The Revaluation of Values” in Nietzsche: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Robert C. Solomon, Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, →ISBN, page 161:

     By preserving the incapable and “misbegotten”, and by insisting that they be the object of compassionate attention, it would cause even the strong to be infected with gloom and nihilism.

Translations

one born out of wedlock — see bastard

people, considered as a class, born into infelicitous circumstances

• French: misérables (fr) m pl or f pl
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• misbeget

• misbegetten

• misbegot

References

• OED (3rd ed., June 2002), “misbegotten, n. and adj.”