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Glite Dictionary
Helen Wills Moody

Helen Wills Moody

1 6.0
An American tennis player who dominated women's tennis in the 1920s and 1930s
  • proper noun
: Helen Wills Moody
  • Helen Wills Moody won a total of 19 Grand Slam singles titles during her career.

Examples

  • In the 1920s and 1930s, Helen Wills Moody was a dominant presence at Wimbledon.

  • Helen Wills Moody dominated women's tennis, winning multiple championships in the 1920s and 1930s.

  • Sports historians often cite Helen Wills Moody as one of the greatest female tennis players of all time.

  • Many consider Helen Wills Moody one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

  • Did Helen Wills Moody win more Grand Slam titles than any other woman?

  • Known for her powerful serve, Helen Wills Moody became an iconic figure in the sport.

  • Helen Wills Moody was celebrated for her athleticism and grace on the tennis court.

Synonyms

Helen Wills
vsHelen Wills Moody
1 6.7

An American tennis player who won many major titles in the 1920s and 1930s

is the married name form used for the same person

Surface Forms

Helen Wills Moody main

Morphology

Helen + Wills + Moody

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person (a tennis player), and that referent is arbitrary rather than compositionally built from 'Helen', 'Wills', and 'Moody'. Proper names require world/cultural knowledge to map to the biography, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Helen Wills Moody is the full name of the American tennis star Helen Wills, who used the last name Moody after she married. Because she won many big tournaments in the 1920s and 1930s, the name now refers to that great 'tennis player'.