noun
cacography
Cacography (noun) means spelling or punctuation that is poor, especially when it is seen as typical of a language or dialect.
noun
1
Spelling or punctuation that is poor, especially when it is seen as typical of a language or dialect.
2
Spelling mistakes made on purpose for comic effect, or the wrong use of a similar-sounding word.
"The soul of dialect is cacography, the deliberate misspelling of words for comic effect, which is the written equivalent of the malapropism."
— Onwuchekwa Jemie, editor, Yo' Mama! (2003)
3
Handwriting that is messy and hard to read.
"Germans write a "1" so it's easy to confuse it with a "7": mathematics and cacography can leave Margret and I not speaking to each other for a week."
— Mil Millington, The Guardian (2002)
"I don't even recognize the handwriting – kind of a scrawled, almost illegible cacography with the letters slanting haphazardly in all directions."
— Martin L. Buxbaum, Negotiations with the Sniper: Book One (2010)
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Etymology
Formed from caco- and -graphy, perhaps modelled on Middle French cacographie.
Synonyms
View more →Antonyms
Related words
Rhymes for cacography
geography
biography
demography
tomography
ideography
topography
lithography
iconography
mammography
discography
paleography
photography
See all rhymes for cacography →
Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of cacography?
"cacography" (noun) means spelling or punctuation that is poor, especially when it is seen as typical of a language or dialect.
What is another word for cacography?
Other words for "cacography" include scribble, scratch, scrawl.
What is the opposite of cacography?
Opposites of "cacography" include orthography, calligraphy.
What are the different meanings of cacography?
"cacography" has 3 main meanings: 1. Spelling or punctuation that is poor, especially when it is seen as typical of a language or dialect; 2. Spelling mistakes made on purpose for comic effect, or the wrong use of a similar-sounding word; 3. Handwriting that is messy and hard to read.
