Oathlet
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A minced oath. dated
"The visitors were prepared with a meek, uncomplaining, expected fourpenny fee to the janitor; no murmur, no half-vented oathlet at a verger, no smothered blessing—in italics—of the dean and chapter, but the hush-money was held out with a perfect quiet, as though it was indeed hushed by the breathing silence of the cathedral itself!"
- 2 A pledge or promise that does not carry the full level of commitment of an oath. nonce-word
"At his restoration "fat Louis" was fully and sympathetically aware of his subjects' need to let bygones be bygones. The elderly M. de Barentin was stumblingly explaining to Louis how it was that he had not — strictly speaking —in actual fact — sworn an oath of allegiance to Napoleon Bonaparte. “I quite understand,” Louis broke in.“At our age one only does things by halves. You didn't swear an oath to Bonaparte, you swore an oathlet.""
Example
More examples"The visitors were prepared with a meek, uncomplaining, expected fourpenny fee to the janitor; no murmur, no half-vented oathlet at a verger, no smothered blessing—in italics—of the dean and chapter, but the hush-money was held out with a perfect quiet, as though it was indeed hushed by the breathing silence of the cathedral itself!"
Etymology
From oath + -let.
More for "oathlet"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.