marplot

English

Etymology

From mar +‎ plot. In earliest use as a character name in The Busy Body, by Susanna Centlivre, in 1709.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːplɒt/

Noun

marplot (plural marplots)

1. A meddlesome person whose activity interferes with the plans of others. [from 18th c.]
   • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XI, in The Understanding Heart:

     “The old marplot has discovered the baby,” Monica whispered. “I suppose it cried and woke him up, and now he thinks he's witness to a miracle.”

   • 2012, Michael Burleigh, “Keeping the Flame Alive”, in Literary Review, section 402:

     Unthinking Anglo-Saxons regard him as a Gallic marplot, rather than the great twentieth-century statesman he was – certainly the greatest Frenchman since Napoleon.

Derived terms

• marplotry

See also

• backseat driver
• busybody
• buttinski, buttinsky
• encroacher
• gatecrasher
• interloper
• intruder
• kibitzer
• meddler
• nosy parker
• peeping tom
• persona non grata
• stickybeak
• yenta, yente

Adjective

marplot (comparative more marplot, superlative most marplot)

1. (now rare) That foils a plot; interfering. [from 18th c.]
   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 83:

     Let us argue the point with this pert, unruly, marplot conscience of mine…

Anagrams

• Lamport