Heterolalia

/ˌhɛtərəˈleɪliə/ noun

Definition

A speech disorder where a person involuntarily says different words than those they intend to speak.

Etymology

From Greek hetero- (different) + lalia (speech/talking), combining to describe misaligned speech output. This rare neurological condition was named in the 19th century to distinguish it from other speech disorders.

Kelly Says

Imagine trying to say 'hello' but 'goodbye' comes out instead—heterolalia is like your brain and mouth are having a miscommunication that you can't control, which shows how complex language processing really is!

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.