Cromulent

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing something as legitimate or acceptable despite doubts about its authenticity or origin; indicating adequacy or suitability often used humorously or ironically; referring to an expression or concept that is deemed valid within a particular context
2. Characterizing an item, idea, or term as being sufficiently proper or valid to meet required standards; conveying the notion of acceptability, often in a facetious manner; used to affirm the correctness or appropriateness of something ambiguous or debated
3. Pertaining to an entity judged to be acceptable or genuine, especially when its legitimacy might be questioned; implying appropriateness or adequacy usually with a playful or tongue-in-cheek tone; employed to endorse a notion or usage that might otherwise seem dubious

Etymology: David X. Cohen, an American television writer, invented "cromulent" as a joke for "Lisa the Iconoclast," a 1996 episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The word was made up on purpose, with no real root behind it. Its ending borrows from Latinate adjectives such as "corpulent" and "temulent," which descend from the Latin suffix "-ulentus," meaning "full of" or "abounding in." Cohen attached that familiar-sounding ending to a stem that means nothing, so the word sounds like a genuine dictionary entry while carrying no definite sense of its own. The joke works because the word's meaning is a sort of wink at its own form. In the episode, it is used to mean "acceptable," even when someone doubts it, and the listener is left to guess the sense from the sound alone. That gap between a convincing shape and an empty core is what makes the coinage funny.

Synonyms: acceptable, valid, legitimate, valid, authentic

Antonyms: invalid, illegitimate, unacceptable, fake, false