Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1998
Flexitarian
flexible vegetarian
- Meaning
- A mostly vegetarian eater who occasionally eats meat or fish.
- Source words
- flexible + vegetarian
- Coined by
- Linda Anthony
- Year
- 1998
Background
Anthony, an Austin restaurant owner, is credited with the word in the Austin American-Statesman (1998). It was the American Dialect Society's "most useful word" of 2003 — a reliable sign a coinage has stuck.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.