sesquipedality
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: - The use of long words; characterized by long words or long-windedness: The quality or style of speech or writing that employs lengthy, often polysyllabic, words, sometimes to an excessive or ostentatious degree.
Usage
- This is a formal and somewhat rare noun, often used in literary or academic criticism to describe a verbose or pedantic style.
- It is typically used in a neutral or slightly negative context to comment on language style.
Examples
- The professor's lectures were marked by an unnecessary that often confused the undergraduates.
- His writing style, full of , made the simple instructions difficult to follow.
- While some admire his erudition, others find his constant tiresome.
Advanced Usage
- "A tendency toward sesquipedality": A phrase describing a habitual inclination to use long words.
- The legal document's tendency toward sesquipedality obscured its core meaning.
- Used as a stylistic critique in rhetoric and literary analysis.
Variants and Related Words
- Sesquipedalian (adj): Pertaining to or characterized by the use of long words.
- He has a sesquipedalian vocabulary.
- Sesquipedalian (n): A person who uses long words, or a long word itself.
- "Antidisestablishmentarianism" is a famous sesquipedalian.
Synonyms
- Long-windedness: The use of more words than necessary.
- Verbosity: Speech or writing that uses an excess of words.
- Grandiloquence: Pompous or extravagant language.
- Polysyllabism: The use of polysyllabic words.
Antonyms
- Brevity: Concise and exact use of words.
- Simplicity: The quality of being easy to understand, often using plain language.
- Laconicism: Using very few words.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "A sesquipedalian style": A direct descriptive phrase for writing or speech characterized by long words.
- The author's sesquipedalian style is not for the casual reader.
Noun
- using long words