How to Use portmanteau in a Sentence

portmanteau

noun
  • The idea was called a rockoon—a portmanteau of rocket and balloon.
    — David Howard, Popular Mechanics, 30 Aug. 2020
  • The portmanteau refers to more than the 52-year-old actress’s high-profile roles.
    — Carina Chocano, Town & Country, 23 Oct. 2019
  • Brody is the reason for the Chrismukkah season (well, at least the use of the portmanteau).
    — Sophie Dodd, PEOPLE, 21 Dec. 2025
  • The word is a portmanteau or a combination of two words — glamorous and camping.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 11 Sep. 2022
  • Think of today’s most popular jorts — a portmanteau for jean shorts — as wide-leg denim… for warmer weather.
    — Andrea Bossi, Refinery29, 29 Jan. 2026
  • But many have kept it simple and just posted the picture with its revolting portmanteau of a caption.
    — Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2019
  • Its name is a portmanteau of their two cultures, Yemeni and Mexican.
    — Aviva Bechky, Houston Chronicle, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Her business name is a portmanteau of her name and his, and her logo features a puzzle piece, a nod to Skyler’s autism.
    — Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Soon my entire feed was pugs and poodles and beagles and portmanteau blends with absurd names like golden doodle and cavapoo.
    — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
  • The name is a portmanteau of Kismet, or fate, and kinetic, the energy of movement.
    — John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 6 Feb. 2023
  • But the pop savant soon realized the goofy portmanteau spoke quite seriously to her current state of mind.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Other names for the practice include nibbling, pick-up meal, alchemy, kitchen sink, deja vu and the fun portmanteau, plannedovers.
    — G. Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 21 July 2022
  • Her name is a portmanteau of Van Gogh and Madonna; her true identity is unknown.
    — Meagan Fredette, refinery29.com, 7 July 2018
  • SuTi — a portmanteau of the founders’ first names — currently offers two products.
    — Kevin Gray, Dallas News, 19 May 2021
  • Fierce sunlight bleaching the stones of the old city, blinding the passengers as porters in white kaffiyehs and djellabas stack their portmanteaus on donkey carts.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Feb. 2026
  • The winery was the first to use the word Meritage — a portmanteau of merit and heritage — on its Bordeaux-style red wines.
    — Washington Post, 5 May 2022
  • For guests who don’t want to go home after work, the industry has created the latest portmanteau — the workcation.
    — Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2020
  • The word 'fappening' is a portmanteau of the words 'fap' (masturbate) and 'happening'.
    — Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, 11 Jan. 2021
  • Like laze, this portmanteau sews together two words—volcano and smog—to describe the acidic haze that commonly forms due to volcanic emissions.
    — Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian, 25 May 2018
  • This was suspect enough in the early aughts, even if Bennifer was the first modern-day celebrity couple to inspire a portmanteau.
    — Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 26 July 2021
  • One of my biggest concerns was balancing work and vacation, and not tipping the portmanteau scale too far in one direction.
    — Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2021
  • Luvi is a portmanteau of his children's names, Lulu and Violet.
    — Todd A. Price, NOLA.com, 22 May 2018
  • The town crafted the portmanteau name Anaheim — Ana for the river, and Heim, the German word for home.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Recent studies have found that contrails (a portmanteau of condensation and trails) may contribute as much as or more than all flights to the warming of the planet.
    — Alex Davies, Wired, 2 Mar. 2020
  • The BioSync suspension—stretchy mesh panels connecting the shoulders to the hipbelt—proved to be more than just cute portmanteau.
    — Joe Jackson, Outside Online, 21 May 2019
  • The term is a portmanteau of oligarch and siloviki, a Russian word for the country’s military and security elite.
    — John Hyatt, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2022
  • Fans of the lead characters created the portmanteau Sameena, casting scenes from the movies as Taylor Swift songs.
    — Isaac Feldberg, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Pitch a tent at one of the many campgrounds or cozy up in a hillside yurt at Treebones, which has been offering glamorous camping since well before someone coined the clever portmanteau.
    — Sarah Feldberg, SFChronicle.com, 3 July 2019
  • Kaiem itself is a portmanteau of the names of her grandmother, Nakai, and her mother, Emma, whose entrepreneurship inspired the brand.
    — Meghan McCormick, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2021
  • Alysa Liu is half-Chinese and half-white, colloquially known as Wasian (the word comes from a portmanteau of white and Asian).
    — Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 23 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'portmanteau.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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