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Glite Dictionary
😜 A silly offense 😔 Gloomy mood
mopery

mopery

1 9.9
A joking word for a small, silly offense like standing around doing nothing
  • noun
  • /ˈmoʊpəri/
  • Slang
translation icon : delito menor
  • Forty years ahead, when Dick Mayfield is still in jail for wife-beating and mopery.

Examples

  • The police dismissed the complaints about mopery, as they were just kids hanging out.

  • To what the world's chancellors are preparing now, what passed between that man and me was the merest mopery: spitting on the high seas, stabbing a horse, and stealing his blanket.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • They were charged with mopery for loitering aimlessly in the park all day.

  • At the meeting, they joked that the new rule would prevent any mopery among the employees.

Synonyms

mopery with intent
vsmopery
  • Informal
9.9

A joking name for foolish, aimless behavior

is a vague humorous term for minor offenses or aimless loitering
mopery with intent to gawk
vsmopery
  • Informal
9.9

An act of standing in public and staring at people without purpose

is the broader humorous term for trivial offenses not only staring

Compounds

mopery with intent
  • Informal
9.9

A joking name for foolish, aimless behavior

mopery with intent to gawk
  • Informal
9.9

An act of standing in public and staring at people without purpose

How Serious

felony
  • Specialized
310 5.5
misdemeanor
  • Specialized
133 6.0
mopery
  • Slang
1 9.9

Surface Forms

mopery singular
moperies plural

Morphology

mopery = mope (opaque) = mope + ery

The suffix '-ery' typically denotes a place or practice, but the humorous or vague usage in 'mopery' is not a standard derivation.

Etymology

Mopery comes from mope ('to walk or stand around with no purpose') and the ending -ery (a state or act), so it became a joking name for a tiny offense like loitering.