Word.ws English Dictionary

pseudo-acronym

Syllables: pseu·do-ac·ro·nymUK/ˌs(j)uːdəʊˈækɹənɪm//ˌsudoʊˈækɹəˌnɪm/

pseudo-acronym noun: a term that is seemingly an acronym or (loosely) an initialism, but the letters of which do not stand for specific words.

Noun

pseudo-acronym (plural pseudo-acronyms)

  1. A term that is seemingly an acronym or (loosely) an initialism, but the letters of which do not stand for specific words.
    • Near-synonyms: orphan acronym, orphan initialism
    • Also noteworthy in passing are pseudo acronyms like IOU, (bar)BQ, L-(train), and PU, which look like acronyms but are rather alphabetic rebuses that use letter names punningly in a form of syllabic writing. A term like PX (for post exchange) is a combination of genuine and pseudo acronymy, the P a...1975, John Algeo, “The Acronym and Its Congeners”, in Adam Makkai, Valerie Becker Makkai, editors, The First Lacus Forum 1974, Columbia, S.C.: Hornbeam Press, →OCLC, part IV (Philology and the...

Synonyms of pseudo-acronym

Forms of pseudo-acronym

pluralpseudo-acronyms
alternative formpseudoacronym

Origin of pseudo-acronym

From pseudo- (prefix meaning ‘not genuine, false’) + acronym.

Words that rhyme with pseudo-acronym

Questions about pseudo-acronym

What does pseudo-acronym mean?
Pseudo-acronym means a term that is seemingly an acronym or (loosely) an initialism, but the letters of which do not stand for specific words.
What part of speech is pseudo-acronym?
Pseudo-acronym is a noun.
How do you pronounce pseudo-acronym?
Pseudo-acronym is pronounced /ˌs(j)uːdəʊˈækɹənɪm/ (UK).
What is the plural of pseudo-acronym?
The plural of pseudo-acronym is pseudo-acronyms.

Words near pseudo-acronym in the dictionary

  1. pseudo force
  2. pseudo forces
  3. pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson
  4. pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons
  5. pseudo-
  6. pseudo-acronym
  7. pseudo-acronyms
  8. pseudo-active
  9. pseudo-analytical
  10. pseudo-angiosarcoma
  11. pseudo-angiosarcomatous

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pseudo-acronym (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pseudo-acronym.wav.

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