Definition

1. Noun:
   • An elegant, highly ornate, and artificial style of English prose: This refers specifically to a mannered writing style popular in the late 16th century, particularly during the Elizabethan era. It is characterized by its excessive use of rhetorical devices, elaborate figures of speech, and a deliberate, often contrived, elegance.
   • Any artificially elegant or affected style of language: More broadly, the term can describe any speech or writing that is excessively elaborate, ornate, or pretentious in its style, prioritizing decorative language over natural expression.

Examples

• Noun:
  • John Lyly's novels are the most famous examples of euphuism.
  • The diplomat's speech was criticized for its tedious euphuism, which obscured his actual message.
  • Modern readers often find the euphuism of that period difficult to appreciate.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in literary criticism to describe prose that is perceived as overly decorated, convoluted, or insincere due to its extreme stylistic affectations.
  • The author abandoned the euphuism of his early work in favor of a more direct and powerful style.

Variants and Related Words

• Euphuist (n): A writer who employs or specializes in euphuism.
  • Lyly was the leading euphuist of his day.
• Euphuistic (adj): Having the characteristics of euphuism; artificially elegant.
  • The dialogue was written in a euphuistic manner.

Synonyms

• Affectation: Artificial behavior or speech adopted to impress.
• Floridness: Excessively elaborate or ornate style.
• Grandiloquence: Pompous or extravagant language.
• Preciosity: Fastidious refinement, especially in language.

Antonyms

• Plainness: Simplicity and lack of adornment in style.
• Austerity: Severity of style; stark simplicity.
• Naturalism: A style that seeks to represent things as they are in nature, without artificiality.

Notes

• The style is named after the prose romances of John Lyly, particularly (1578) and (1580). Its key features include:
  • Balanced clauses and antithesis (contrasting ideas in parallel structure).
  • Extensive use of alliteration.
  • Elaborate similes and metaphors, often drawn from classical mythology or natural history (real or fabled).
  • Repetitive syntactic patterns.

Noun

1. an elegant style of prose of the Elizabethan period; characterized by balance and antithesis and alliteration and extended similes with and allusions to nature and mythology
2. any artificially elegant style of language