Zelig-likeadjective
Factsheet
What does the adjective Zelig-like mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective Zelig-like. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the adjective Zelig-like?
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.001 |
| 2000 | 0.001 |
| 2010 | 0.001 |
How is the adjective Zelig-like pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the adjective Zelig-like come from?
Earliest known use
1980s
The earliest known use of the adjective Zelig-like is in the 1980s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zelig-like is from 1983, in the Texas Monthly.
From a proper name, combined with an English element.
Etymons: proper name Zelig, ‑like suffix.
Nearby entries
- Zeiss, n.1876–
- zeitgeber, n.1958–
- zeitgeist, n.1848–
- zeitgeisty, adj.1966–
- zek, n.1968–
- zelant, n.1624–26
- zelatrice, n.1874–
- zelatrix, n.1865–
- Zeldovich, n.1956–
- Zelig, n.1984–
- Zelig-like, adj.1983–
- zelkova, n.1836–
- zelotypia, n.1566–
- zelotyping, adj.a1660
- zelotypist, n.?1632
- zelotypy, n.1623–1794
- Zemblan, n. & adj.1674–1805
- Zemblian, n. & adj.1674–1796
- zemi, n.1555–
- zemiistic, adj.1907–
- zemirah, n.1767–
Etymology
Summary
Meaning & use
- 1983–Designating a person who is able to change his or her appearance, behaviour, attitudes, etc., so as to be appropriate in any circumstance, or who is unexpectedly associated with important or famous people; characteristic of such a person. Cf. Zelig n.
- 1983
His comic fiction is laced with Zelig-like figures who bumble their way briefly into chance encounters with the illustrious.
Texas Monthly September 172/3 - 1988
In retouched photographs in the background he appears Zelig-like in company with Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean.
New York Times 18 June i. 13/1 - 1994
Whitewater began..as a metaphor for the Zelig-like nature of Clinton's persona... Who is this guy, really?
Esquire May 44/2 - 2003
Tonken's Zelig-like ability to befriend the stars and twist their arms into attending his events.
Vanity Fair (New York) August 162/2
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Frequency
Zelig-like typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zelig-like is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of Zelig-like, adj., 1980–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.001 |
| 1990 | 0.001 |
| 2000 | 0.001 |
| 2010 | 0.001 |