Vocabulary from Gone Girl: Misogynistic

wondrous memeWelcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Visit Kathy’s blog for links to more word nerdy words.

I’m finally reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, and I’m intrigued. I love how Flynn uses alternating points of view to build tension between the husband and wife in this “marriage gone wrong” thriller. The opening line, from the POV of husband Nick, disturbed me:

When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.

Sounds like a murderer to me, but maybe that’s what Flynn wants me to think. I’ll have to read on and find out!

Gone GirlHere’s Nick again, speaking about his father’s Alzheimer’s:

… a slow decline into a sudden, steep drop that forced us to move our independent, misogynistic father to a giant home that stank of chicken broth and piss, where he’d be surrounded by women helping him at all times. Ha.

Great description, no? I had to look up misogynistic, but should have guessed at the meaning from the root gyn.

misogyny \mə-‘sä-jə-nē\ noun, from Greek misogynia, from misein to hate + gynē women; a hatred of women

Word Nerd Workout

Can you think of a misogynistic character, fictional or real? Tell us about him/her in the comments!

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Julia 

Click to spread the word on Twitter: Vocab from #GoneGirl: misogynistic = hating women via @juliatomiak 

Julia Tomiak
I believe in the power of words to improve our lives, and I help people find interesting words to read. Member of SCBWI.

9 Comments

  1. I took some Women Studies classes in college where I learned that word. I mispronounced it the first time I had to say it in class — so check that if you’ve never heard it. The ‘o’ is the ‘o’ as in ‘odd’ and the ‘g’ is soft.

  2. Misogyny has had a lot of use in Australia this past couple of years as sadly many people, including politicians and media personalities struggled with our first female Prime Minister.

  3. I only have to scan the headlines for some very disturbing examples of misogynistic. Almost 300 kidnapped girls to be sold into slavery in the name of religious extremism, for example.

    1. A very timely, and tragic, example. I heard on the news today that more girls have been abducted, and I wonder “how can this happen in the 21st century?”

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