Mumpsimus

//ˈmʌmpsɪməs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who obstinately adheres to old ways in spite of clear evidence that they are wrong; an ignorant and bigoted opponent of reform.
  2. 2
    a traditional notion that is obstinately held although it is unreasonable wordnet
  3. 3
    An obvious error that is obstinately repeated despite correction.

Synonyms

All synonyms
gooberignoramus

Etymology

Malapropism of Latin sumpsimus, form of sūmō (“I take”), from a story of an old monk who misrecited the Eucharist with quod in ōre mumpsimus instead of quod in ōre sumpsimus “which we have taken into the mouth”, and stubbornly continued using the incorrect form even after being corrected. Attested 1530 in The Practice of Prelates by William Tyndale, variously attributed to Richard Pace (1517) or Desiderius Erasmus.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.