Word of the Day: MISPRISION
Contempt or criminal concealment
misprision (noun) - a mistake or wrong action; misinterpretation; contemptuous failure to prevent or concealment of a known offense; criminal neglect or execution of duty, especially by a public official [mis-prizh-uhn]
BREAKDOWN: MIS- (wrong) + PRIS- (to hold) + -ION (act or state)
“When I hear a man proclaiming himself an ‘average, honest, open fellow,’ I feel pretty sure that he has some definite and perhaps terrible abnormality which he has agreed to conceal--and his protestation of being average and honest and open is his way of reminding himself of his misprision.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
[Fun Word Friday introduces more advanced or technical words that are based on word roots. Yes, these words may still be tested on standardized exams. Try to use this word in a sentence today!]
Nice breakdown of the etymology here. The connection to comprise and reprise through that "pris" root really clarifies why those words mean what they do. I'd never thought about how misprision literally means holding something wrongly, whether that's a misunderstanding or actively concealing info. The Fitzgerald quote nails that psycological dimension where overt normalcy signals hidden abnormalilty.
The connection between the "pris" root meaning "to hold" and the legal concept of misprision is fascinating. A prison holds your body, but misprision is about what you hold back — specifically, your knowledge of a crime. It's like the inverse: one is being held, the other is withholding.
That Fitzgerald quote is brilliant too. He's using the older, broader sense of misprision (closer to "misunderstanding" or "contempt") rather than the strict legal definition. The idea that someone loudly proclaiming their normalcy is actually concealing something — that's a subtle psychological misprision, not a criminal one.
Great pick for Fun Word Friday. This one's got layers.