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A.Word.A.Day--Horatio Alger

Horatio Alger (huh-RAY-shee-oh, ho- AL-juhr) adjective

Of, or characteristic of the novels of Horatio Alger, Jr. which depicted an impoverished youth who achieved success and great wealth through hard work, honesty, and virtue.

[After Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899), author of hundreds of novels and stories for young adults. His books were immensely successful, selling hundreds of millions of copies.]

See more usage examples of horatio alger in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

Read Horatio Alger's novels online: https://gutenberg.org/author/Horatio+Alger

"'Clinton reinvented himself as the boy from Hope, a political Horatio Alger,' said Stephen Wayne, the author of the 'The Road to the White House 2004' and a history professor at Georgetown University." John Tierney; Quick. Change the Brand. In Five Weeks; The New York Times; Sep 26, 2004.

"Still, Seabiscuit is the Horatio Alger hero of the turf, the horse that came up from nothing on his own courage and will to win." Seabiscuit: Horatio Alger Hero of the Turf; Saturday Evening Post (Indianapolis, Indiana); Nov-Dec 2003.

This week's theme: eponyms.

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