orotund
/'ɔroutʌnd/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Full, rich, and resonant in sound: Describes a voice or sound that is deep, strong, and clear, often with a pleasing or impressive quality.
- Pompous, bombastic, or inflated in style: Describes speech or writing that is excessively formal, grand, or pretentious, often to impress others.
Examples of Usage
- Describing sound:
- The actor's orotund voice filled the theater without a microphone.
- He is known for his orotund tones when delivering speeches.
- Describing style:
- The professor's orotund prose made a simple topic difficult to understand.
- The politician's orotund declarations were more about style than substance.
Advanced Usage
- Contextual Nuance: The word can carry a neutral or positive connotation when referring purely to vocal quality (e.g., a singer's voice). However, it often carries a critical or negative connotation when referring to language style, implying it is overly grand and lacking sincerity.
- Neutral/Positive: "The news anchor's orotund delivery commanded attention."
- Negative: "The document was buried under orotund phrases and legal jargon."
Variants and Related Words
- Rotund (adj): Can mean round in shape or, less commonly, sonorous (full and rich) in sound. "Orotund" is sometimes considered an intensified form of "rotund" when referring to sound.
- Sonorous (adj): Producing a deep, full, and impressive sound.
- Bombastic (adj): High-sounding but with little meaning; inflated.
- Grandiloquent (adj): Pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner.
Synonyms
- For sound: Resonant, sonorous, full-bodied, rich, ringing.
- For style: Bombastic, grandiloquent, pompous, inflated, high-flown, tumid.
Antonyms
- For sound: Thin, weak, reedy, faint.
- For style: Plain, simple, unadorned, straightforward, laconic.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- While there are no direct idioms using "orotund," the concept is related to:
- Purple prose: Writing that is excessively ornate or sentimental.
- To speak in platitudes: To express ideas that are dull, trite, and often pretentious.
Adjective
- (of sounds) full and rich
- orotund tones
- the rotund and reverberating phrase
- pear-shaped vowels
- ostentatiously lofty in style
- a man given to large talk
- tumid political prose