Complete Definition of "irregardless"

English

Etymology
Probably a blend of irrespective and regardless
Category:Portmanteaus

Adjective
wikipedia
en-adj|-

  1. context|proscribed|and|mainly|US|,|or|jocular regardless|Regardless.

#*1875, Knights Templar (Masonic order) Reed Commandery, No. 6 (Dayton, Ohio), Grand Excursion to New Orleans
#*: Dear loved ones were unceremoniously hurried off home, irregardless to any previous arrangement, where they could sit down and recount the incidents of the trip to those who had been left behind
#*1898, John Murray, Memorials of John Murray of Broughton: Sometime Secretary to Prince Charles Edward, 1740-1747, page 160, printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society
#*: Mr. M<sup>c</sup>g., far from being unsusceptable of flattery, irregardless of his own private interest, readily assented, and had a paper dictated to him to the following purpose:
#*1995 January, Katalin �. Kiss (editor), Discourse Configurational Languages, page 67, Oxford University Press, USA
#*: Object resumptive pronouns corresponding to arguments must always occur...irregardless of the presence and position of the full coindexed object nps.
#*2003 December 22, Judge Wallace, Jonathan C. Shaw v. Cal Terhune, No. 02-16829, U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
#*: the crime by definition<!--italics in original--> allowed for the prosecution of both defendants irregardless of which defendant physically pulled the trigger.
#*2005 February, Karim Murji and John Solomos, Racialization: Studies In Theory And Practice, page 38, Oxford University Press
#*:Again following Runciman, whether we agree with the biological race concept or not, its continued formal and informal salience confirms that competing racial understandings exist irregardless of whether they are valid truths or subjective speculations.

Usage notes
Although well attested, this term generally is regarded as nonstandard and an illiteracy for regardless or irrespective, consequently it is usually inappropriate in formal contexts.

Synonyms
italbrac-colon|regardless irrespective, regardless

Quotations
See irregardless/Citations.

Dictionary notes
First acknowledged by the w:Wentworth American Dialect Dictionary|Wentworth American Dialect Dictionary (1912) as originating in western Indiana
w:Webster's New International Dictionary|Webster�s New International Dictionary, Second Edition (1934) labels irregardless as erroneous or humorous.
The w:Shorter Oxford English Dictionary|Shorter Oxford English Dictionary labels irregardless as �chiefly N. Amer. (nonstandard or joc.)�.
This term is notably omitted from the w:Etymological Dictionary of the English Language|Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (1910), w:Fowler's Modern English Usage|Fowler�s Modern English Usage (1965), and Roget�s 21st Century Thesaurus (1992)

Category:Disputed usage
Category:English words affected by prescriptivism

ru:irregardless
vi:irregardless

Revision and Credits for"irregardless"
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