mal‧a‧prop‧is‧m /ˈmæləprɒpɪzəm $ -prɑː-/ noun [countable] literary
[Date: 1800-1900; Origin: Mrs Malaprop character who uses words wrongly in the play The Rivals (1775) by Richard Sheridan, from French mal à propos 'not appropriate']
an amusing mistake that you make when you use a word that sounds similar to the word you intended to say but means something completely different

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲