Cupertino effect
Cupertino effect noun: the replacement, by a spell checker, of words that are real (such as proper nouns or alternate spellings), but missing from its internal dictionary, with words that are starkly incorrect in context.
Noun
Cupertino effect
- The replacement, by a spell checker, of words that are real (such as proper nouns or alternate spellings), but missing from its internal dictionary, with words that are starkly incorrect in context.
- Although computer dictionaries have improved, the Cupertino effect still creates havoc.2015, Arhlene A. Flowers, Global Writing for Public Relations, Routledge, →ISBN
- The failure of spell checkers to replace incorrectly spelled words with the actually intended words, resulting in miscorrections.
Origin of Cupertino effect
Named for the fact that some older computer spellcheckers did not include the form cooperation and would automatically replace it not with co-operation, but with Cupertino, a name of a city in northern California and headquarters of Apple Inc.
Words formed from Cupertino effect
Questions about Cupertino effect
- What does Cupertino effect mean?
- Cupertino effect means the replacement, by a spell checker, of words that are real (such as proper nouns or alternate spellings), but missing from its internal dictionary, with words that are starkly incorrect in context.
- What part of speech is Cupertino effect?
- Cupertino effect is a noun.
Words near Cupertino effect in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Cupertino effect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “Cupertino effect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cupertino_effect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.